Day 34: Vienna, MO (July 17, 1976) – 61 miles

Route Map

Journal Excerpts

From Butch’s journal:

The trip to Camdenton to Vienna, Missouri was 61 miles. We were really getting into hillbilly country. Their way of life is just like you see it in the movies. We saw a family pull up to a grocery store in a car that didn’t have any doors or hood or trunk lid, just a frame and a partial body. They were barefoot and dirty. It was hard to believe we were in the United States. There was no pool in the town we stayed at and no showers available, so we ended up in the local swimming hole. What a time! We found a rope swing that took you out about thirty feet and up about twenty feet over the river. Everybody had a great time.

The kids got their first taste of Coors beer from five hillbillies that stopped us during our ride. It was a little scary at first to see these five huge guys stopped at the top of a hill waiting for you. Two of them were well over 250 lbs. They were all drunk, and I didn’t know what to expect. Just about everything imaginable ran through my mind, but as it turned out they were very friendly guys, anxious to hear what we were doing. And besides that, the beer was great.

From Tani’s journal:

Some of the people in these Ozarks look like something you’d see on t.v., regular hillbillies. A jeep full of five big guys drove by us. They stopped at the top of a really super steep hill and opened up a few cans of beer, and we all took a few swallows. It felt great, but was the worst beer I’ve ever tasted. When we got to Vienna, we were interviewed again. The guy asked if we walked up a lot of hills. We all laughed.

From Nancy’s journal:

We got to sleep in until six o’clock this morning. We ate out at a restaurant that had really slow service, so we didn’t get on the road until nine o’clock. But it didn’t matter because we only had sixty miles to go. We are in the Ozark Mountains now. They are so much different than the Rockies. Instead of going up, up, up and down, down, down, they go up, down, up, down. I’ve found that if you build up enough speed going down a hill, then you can coast up the other side. So really the hills didn’t bother us too much. I was just in a great mood this morning, maybe because it is so beautiful outside.

We got into Vienna at about six o’clock. We couldn’t find a place to swim, so we went down to the river to swim. It was great! The water was really warm. The boys found a rope a little ways upstream and were going off it. Tani and I went up to watch and wouldn’t you know it, they talked me into going on the rope. So I grabbed hold of the rope, let out a big scream, and swung out over the water and let go. It was so fun! We just had a great time.

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