Rolla, MO to Lebanon, MO Temperatures here keep getting hotter; tomorrow is supposed to be the peak for a while. Oh, and today we passed the halfway point of the whole coast-to-coast ride. We started the day in the hotel breakfast room with a group of French nationals. One of them asked me which of the carafes contained milk (there was one for 2% and one for whole milk). I tried explaining it to her but she didn't understand. I asked what her native language was, French, she said, and I said I don't know hoe to say it in French. Later, "pas creme" and "plus creme" occurred to me. Probably incorrect, but might have gotten the point across. Anyhow, they were a group of 8 or so, riding Route 66 on Harley Davidson motorcycles. More climbing today, some of which was on roads that kept us away from the noisy highway for about half the day. At one point we were in forest that appeared to be mostly Oak with some conifer trees here and there. Very pretty. ✅ Visit the Fudge Factory in Uranus. Toward the end of the day we were confronted with a Road Closed / Bridge Construction, 5mi ahead sign. There were no easy alternatives for a go-around: either riding along the interstate for about 6mi or what looked like a very long backtrack and round-about detour. So, we figured we'd try our luck... Bike tour info can be found here: https://2025-big-ride.mostexcellent.fun/