Tuesday, September 8
Forgot
to mention that I did not ride Pegasus down Marshal’s driveway yesterday….Zac was
willing to help me out with that. Marshal
pulled the camping trailer down behind the Prowler so Kim didn’t have the
weight of it pushing him down the hill.
Got to the bottom, got the trailer hooked back on Kim’s bike and away we
went!!
So, yeah, the cabin was a step up from
tenting it, but don’t know that I’d make a habit of cabin camping. The real
bonus was having a bathroom a few steps away from where we were sleeping;
however, I fell asleep and didn’t wake up til 7 a.m. (CST). Had a good laugh this morning when I
realized the bathroom code needed last night to get into the shower room was
written on the swim bracelet that got us into the pool…had the code with us the
whole time. J There was a heavy dew and it was nicely cool this
morning at 7, but once the sun cleared the trees, the ground dried off and the
air got heavy and wet! Simply packing
the bikes was enough to work up a sweat….nice that we didn’t have to pack up a
tent, etc. J Left about 10:30 a.m…..heading for Poplar
Bluff, MO. No KOA there but other
campgrounds are available.
Last night, Kim said he’d like to get off
highways as much as possible today and just ride the 2 lane 55 mph type
roads. So, this morning we get on the
computer, pick a destination, look at the possible routes, etc. Since Phil uses Google maps also, we figured
it be easy to get him to plot the same route.
Wrong!! And he wanted to plot the
whole route at once…interim destinations were not his thing. So, we picked
cities along the route to Poplar Bluff, MO, and figured we’d plug them in as we went…..when
we arrived in Murray, we’d plug in Fulton, and when we arrived in Fulton,
we’d plug in New Madrid, etc. Sort of hopscotch
our way along the road less traveled. Even
told Phil to avoid highways as an extra precaution. Well, he let us down. Approaching a divided highway intersection, a
sign indicated that Murray is 12 miles away, but we have to turn left to get
there. As we’re waiting for the light to
change, Kim says that Phil wants us to go straight, despite what the sign said. No big deal, I say…just follow Phil’s
direction, maybe this is just part of him avoiding highways. **But before we can go anywhere, the light has
to change to green….and after 5 minutes, it showed no inclination of doing any
such thing, no matter how much we moved to try to trigger the sensor. So, as traffic cleared from both directions, Kim
yells “Let’s go!” and we shoot through the red light. A car had pulled up behind us just as we decided
to pull our version of Butch and Sundance jumping off the cliff….sure hope they
didn’t get a good look at our plates.**
Anyway, Phil took us on a very scenic route…to Mayfield, which is
farther north than Murray and not at all the direction we’re headed. What’s up with that?! Had lunch at a little diner, reprogrammed
Phil to take us to Fulton….where we decided that stopping every 30 miles to
plug in a new destination was madness. Told
Phil to take us to Poplar Bluff, MO….he gave us several options, we picked the
one that made the most sense and went with it.
Dipped down into Tennessee from Kentucky on our way to Missouri. Not how we had it planned this morning but
who cares, we made it! J
Stopped in Kennett, MO, at about 4:30 p.m…..where,
according to my phone, the temp was actually 94o but felt like 101o. Explains why I felt so wore out. Kennett was the first Missouri city/town we
came to after crossing the Mississippi River and therefore, it was the first
opportunity to stop; bikes needed gas and I needed to just get off the bike and
rest. While I would have preferred stretching
out in the grass under a tree, I was willing to accept leaning against a
mini-mart while sitting on a sidewalk. What
a difference those 15 minutes made…and probably all the water I drank helped, too.
Maybe 20-30 miles out of Poplar Bluff, the
sun went behind some clouds, a wind came up and the temp dropped a few degrees….made
for some nice riding conditions. However,
there were also some grayish clouds in the distance. L By the time we arrived at Poplar Bluff, the
clouds were darker and when I checked the weather, it showed an 80% chance of
rain for tonight. Decided to get a motel….and
on our way, I saw a few streaks of lightning, so I didn’t mind spending the
money for a room and getting an actual roof over our heads. Kim rode to a nearby grocery store and
reported that it rained ever so slightly, but don’t know that it’s rained any more
than that.
We didn’t get a Tennessee state sign
because it came up quickly and we were in the wrong lane. There was construction on the bridge over the
Mississippi River but as soon as we were off it, we parked the bikes and walked
the short distance to the Missouri state sign.
Talked to a couple of construction workers, who mentioned that it’s
supposed to cool down over the next 3 or 4 days…supposed to only be in the
80’s and at this point, that sounds like a good deal.
Passed through a town called Qulin, MO. I mulled over the pronunciation for a few
miles and when I had the opportunity, I googled it….it’s pronounced ‘KEW-lin’.
 |
| Sorghum |
The region of Missouri that we’ve been
riding through is agricultural. Crops I
could identify were soybeans, corn and cotton.
Acres and acres of a ‘mystery crop’, too….Kim thought it was sorghum and
that has been confirmed by Google Images.
J Also saw it growing in Kentucky. At first, I thought it was a weed but then realized it was in rows...weeds wouldn't be so organized.
When on the road, we tend to eat in local
restaurants/diners/cafes. The first
thing I look for on the menu is a BLT….and that’s usually what I order. Today’s BLT was fairly standard, yet good….and,
bonus! I had fried okra and corn nuggets along with it. Yum! Kim
gravitates toward the daily special, if there is one…and today he had liver and
onions, with collard greens, fried squash and corn nuggets. J
Observations from the road:
*Michigan license plates, our
stickered up trailer, bikes, monkeys….any and all are reasons for people to
stop and chat.
*It is impossible to describe
how good a shower feels at the end of a long hot day of riding.
*Roadkill smells the same everywhere.
Today’s mileage: 218 miles Total mileage: 1045
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