Tuesday, September 22
On Hwy 36 yesterday, we were coming into
the little town of Maryville, KS., a woman wearing a high visibility vest flagged
us to a stop. About 4 blocks away and on
a hill, another woman was stopping westbound traffic. I looked around and could see no reason for
traffic to be stopped. After about 2
minutes, a semi truck pulled around the corner a couple of blocks down, in our
direction. And it just kept coming..and
coming..and coming around the corner.
Kim estimates that it was about 150 feet. I have never seen a truck that long….it was
segmented and even had a steering mechanism with a driver on the tail end of it!!
It appeared to be carrying just a big storage tank. After watching it slowly
snake around that corner, I wondered how it got in that section of the town in
the first place. ---------
Yesterday, about 10 miles into Missouri
heading south on Hwy 29, we encounter a sign for a rest area. But the sign confused me….”Rest Area, 1
mile…no more rest areas in Missouri”.
Now did they mean in the state of Missouri or just on Hwy 29?
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We arrived at the KOA at about 7:15
p.m….and it was getting dark already.
The other side of that is this morning when I went to the bathroom at
about 6 a.m., the sky was already getting light . But that’s in Missouri…in Central Time. Anyway, so this morning is the first good
look I get at the campground…and we’re in the middle of a residential area! Back when Jeff, the boys and I were camping
in the pop-up, the campgrounds we stayed at were a bit more isolated. I’ve been amazed at the location of the
different KOAs we’ve stayed at this trip…while some have been isolated, most
have not been. But all have been within sound of traffic. But this is really my first major experience
with KOA Kamping….Jeff and I used to stay at state parks, non-chain
campgrounds, national forest campground or any area that at least had a pit
toilet available. Jeff had it in his mind that KOAs were ‘luxury’ campgrounds,
meaning expensive (they charged extra for our kids) and too cushy…not at all
what the camping experience was about.
He did cave in and buy a pop-up camper so I could at least be off the
ground away from critters. I eventually
got over that. J
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Day started out shirt sleeve warm just
being around the campground. But I added
a long sleeve shirt when we got ready to ride.
Just don’t like being chilly/cold when riding.
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Planned to take 24 East today, with the
possibility of meeting up somewhere along the way with Larry and Kim Glasscock
and their son, Jeff. (They’re on their
way to see the hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, NM.) Getting to 24 East from the KOA was a 4 mile
bumpy backroad experience….but once we got on 24, all was good. Nice road…60
mph most of the time…small towns along the way.
Was able to put on 100 miles before lunch….that’s a good pace for us. We were just sort of wingin' it, though...didn't have any destination in mind, just staying in touch with the Glasscocks to see if we could coordinate a get together. **Met up with Kim and Larry in the little town
of Rushville, IL….they’re pulling their camper, so we’re camping out together
at a city park…Schuy-Rush Park. Rode 24
East from Kansas City to Hannibal, MO, where Phil picked up another road to
take us into Rushville.**
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We’ve left the sorghum fields behind….two
main crops today through Missouri were soybeans and corn….lots and lots of
cornfields. It appears to be harvesting
time, also. Saw lots of activity out in
fields. Also saw a fair amount of apple
orchards and pecan trees. And I saw a
flock of geese in a V formation, heading south.
Is it really time for that?
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When it’s lunchtime and you’re on the road
and want to stay away from fast food, it pays to ask small town people where
the locals eat or else look for the diner that has a lot of vehicles.
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Crossed both the Missouri and Mississippi
Rivers today. We stopped after crossing
the Missouri and Kim’s remark was “That’s a big ass river!”
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We stopped in Hannibal to track down a Tom
Sawyer/Huck Finn statue. As it turns
out, a better photo op was in the parking lot of a restaurant/brewery….a wood carving of Mark Twain.
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So today was about the road and riding….not
a lot of photo stops. We made good time, too, despite stopping every hour or so...sometimes we just have to get off the bikes and sit on a curb. Also need to get my helmet off and scratch my head. J
Today’s mileage: 264 miles
Total mileage: 3714 miles
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