Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 20, 2003

Jim, the best doggone dog... IN THE WO
The day started off great with a big breakfast at the church in Fayette and we got to hang out with the members of the church while we ate. They sent us off, bellies full, to Sweet Springs, MO for the night where we would be staying at another church. The morning ride was pretty quick because we were all anxious to get to Marshall, MO to see the famous Jim the Wonderdog. Sam got us lunch donated at a restaurant with great burgers and so after we filled up there we went to go find out what the Wonderdog was all about. In Marshall they had a whole memorial set up, almost like a shrine to the dog. (You can take a look at what we saw at this website)Inside the memorial were stories about the amazing dog that was said to have amazing powers of perception and extreme intelligence. One of the more amazing feats was when the dog was in a room with complete strangers, the owner told him to find the lady who just got engaged and the dog would wade through the crowd and find the lady with the engagement ring. Feats like this along with understanding several different languages and picking the Kentucky derby winner 7 years in a row were just a few of the remarkable achievements that earned the dog this fame in Marshall, MO. Personally I think the whole thing is a bit far fetched but I still think it’s an interesting part of the local folklore.



On the way to Sweet Springs we also met a rider who was traveling the Lewis and Clark trail from Delaware to Oregon over the summer. This guy was hauling about 100 pounds of stuff behind his bike and it was pretty amazing. It was pretty refreshing to meet someone in a similar position as us and we got to share stories and antecdotes from our journeys so far and then we split up, each of us going our separate routes across the country. We got to the church in Sweet Springs after a hilly ride and the pastor was there to greet us and he had set up a great dinner for us that evening. We got to eat and talk with members of the congregation and after that we had some free time so we had a female arm wrestling contest that ended in dispute but was entertaining nonetheless. A long day it was and that night everyone slept well as we prepared ourselves for our next state, Kansas.



A local newspaper caught up with us, Click Here to read their article.