Day 64: 7/23/19: Tebbetts to St. Charles, MO

I spent most of today on the Katy Trail, and most of the surface of the trail was great.  However, I did occasionally get off the trail and ride on the road awhile.  A huge advantage of biking on the trail is the nice shade provided by the trees in a lot of areas like the pic below.

I got on the road near Portland, MO, and got into climbing some short, steep hills.  They reminded me a lot of the hills on the ridges around Chattanooga.

There were several areas I rode through today that had standing water on farmland.  There was also a baseball field in Augusta, MO, that was completely underwater.  It is going to take this area a long time to dry out from the recent flooding.  Below is a pic of a road that still has water standing on it.

On the Missouri State Parks Katy Trail map that I have it shows tent camping is available in St. Charles, so I planned to stop in St. Charles tonight.  When I got into town, even the board at the Katy Trail State Park shows tent  camping as one of the services available in the community, so I figured all I had to do was find it.

A call to the police department revealed nothing.  The officer googled camping in St. Charles and told me the closest shown is in Augusta, which I had passed almost 30 miles back.  Well, that's all the officer had to offer.

Then, a city parks and recreation employee comes by and I point out the tent camping services shown on  the board and asked him if he knows where it is.  He didn't, but he called a park ranger to ask about camping in the city park.  The ranger had to call his supervisor and ask him/her.  With it having to go through that many people, I'm sure you can guess the outcome - no place to tent camp in St. Charles.  You gotta be joking me. A city on the Katy Trail, a popular cycling/hiking trail, and no place to camp?  Or are folks in Missouri just wanting to get rid of me?

I must give a shout out to Matt from KC though.  While I was at the park trying to find a place to camp, he stopped and asked me about my trip.  When he saw I was having a hard time finding a place to camp, he gave me his phone number and told me I could stay with him in his RV if I couldn't find a place to camp.  He lives in his RV while working in St. Charles.

I didn't want to impose on him in his RV, so I called Lisa and she found me a hotel room.  I called Matt and thanked him for the nice offer, but that I got a hotel room.  He wished me safe and enjoyable travels.

Statue of Lewis and Clark in St. Charles.

What's funny is that as I rode into St. Charles, I saw a sign at the beginning of Frontier Park that read "Lewis and Clark Campsite." For a split second I thought this was the camping area in the city, then I realized it was a monument where they camped.  They had better be glad they went through when they did, cause I could tell them today they wouldn't find a place to camp here :)

Total miles today: 98.8