Update #33 - October 03, 2005
Westville, IL - 11,539 miles (18462 kms.)

I have about 10 more miles to ride in Illinois before I cross into Indiana. The trip is either getting close to a close for the year or I'll have an extended break in Ft. Wayne. I figuere that I'll be in Ft. Wayne by Thursday.

I'm looking for some time off the road if it is possible. The trip has been long this year. I need a break. I'm still in a kind of religious funk after my short experience with volunteering after Hurricane Andrew. I'm a little turned off with churches. It takes just one bad apple to spoil the whole basket and how that Methodist church in Alabama took advantage of the situation with it's disaster relief effort has been causing me to be wary of churches.

Getting back to what happened since the last update, I did have some good time with my friends in Granite City, IL. I spent three days with them. My friend's wife is doing pretty good after her second knee replacement.

The one thing that I've been remiss in my travels is not doing a thorough examination of the bike before heading out each day. Yesterday, I almost was stranded out in the country east of Paris, IL. I should have been checking the tread on my rear tire. It was almost gone in several places. I did get the tire used in Palmyra, NY so I had put around 4500 miles on it. I was able to ride the tire safely into Paris. A lot of prayer helped the tire stay up for about ten miles. It was lucky for me that I had a tire liner between the tire and the tube or I could have had a major blowout. Also, I was very fortunate in finding a tire at the local Wal-Mart.

As I've been mentioning in the last couple of emails, I riding to Ft. Wayne, IN to possibly stay with a friend of mine who might need my help. I've talked to here on the phone to let her know that I'm coming. Will have to see if I'll be there for the rest of the year. If not, I might be riding to SE Texas to see how the recovery effort with Hurricane Rita is going on.

I'll try and post and update as often as I can if my plans change.