Day 9: 6/3/2022: Pilot Grove to Chilhowee, MO

Another good night's sleep last night.  The park is beside the city pool and early evening brought out a serenade of frogs croaking loudly.  I guess they were all hanging out at the pool.  It was humorous listening to them.  It was almost like they were all trying to get in the last croak.

There were 3 cyclists camping at the city park last night.

A few pics from the trail this morning.

I've seen a lot of touring cyclists the last couple of days, and almost all of them were doing the 260-mile Katy Trail.  Below is a pic of Greg, who is from Raytown, MO, and started his first extended multi-day bicycle tour today at Pleasant Hill, MO.  His goal is to ride all the way to DC, and then take a train back home.

Today I rode on the Katy Trail for about 48 miles to Windsor, MO.  I then got on the Rock Island Spur of the Katy Trail, and rode on it the rest of the day.

I am camping tonight at the city park in Chilhowee, MO.  As you can see from the pics below, it's main street businesses have been under for awhile. :(

In fact, the stores have been out of business so long the mannequins have even withered away to nothing.

Total miles today: 66.3

Day 8: 6/2/2022: Tebbetts to Pilot Grove, MO

This morning I was awakened by a chorus of birds and a rooster.  It was really cool hearing the rooster do his job.

I rode over 70 miles on the Katy Trail today with much of it looking like the pic below.

Below are some pics of Hartsburg, MO.

Pic below of Missouri River flowing next to the trail.

A lot of rock was chipped away so the train wouldn't have to climb (pic below). All I could think of while looking at those cliffs was there are roads somewhere between Hartsburg and Rocheport with some steep hills.

Before I left Tebbetts this morning, I ate 2 bananas, a pack of PopTarts, and some raisins thinking that I would stop and eat a real breakfast at Jefferson City about 25 miles away. When I got to the Jefferson City trailhead I discovered that the nearest restaurants were off the trail about 3.6 miles one way. I didn't want to detour over 7 miles so I kept going on the trail. I rode about 50 miles total before I came to a restaurant to eat breakfast at noon. It was Meriwether's Cafe and Bike Shop in Rocheport (pic below).

This is what a noon breakfast looks like....

This is what a noon breakfast looks like about 20 minutes later...

A tunnel on the trail right outside Rocheport.

Pics around Boonville below.  Any town that decorates street lights with old bicycles and bicycle wheels is okay in my books :)

Pics below of Pilot Grove, which is my stop for the night.  I will be camping at their city park.

Pic of the food I was carrying when I arrived at Pilot Grove. I ate several of those items for supper.

Total miles today: 75.5

Day 7: 6/1/2022: Meramec State Park to Tebbetts, MO

I had a super restful night's sleep last night.  I woke up at some point to use the bathroom.  I have no clue what time it was, but it was pitch dark.  I went back to sleep and it seemed almost immediately the birds started to chirp.  The birds are my alarm clock when I'm on a bike trip because they really get loud about daybreak.  This morning I thought to myself these birds are nuts because it can't be 5 a.m. yet.  Once again the birds were right.  It was 5:15.  I got up and packed everything just before a thunderstorm hit.

This morning the hill climb out of the campground didn't seem bad.  I guess I was just exhausted when I hit it yesterday.  I suppose as Jackson Browne sang, I was "Running on Empty," which was playing when I stopped by Walmart this morning.

It rained on me almost the entire morning, so I was not able to take any pictures.  Pics below were similar to most of my views today.

While pedaling uphills I have plenty of time to enjoy the roadside beauties such as those pictured below.

I was on a dirt/gravel road for about 5 miles today.  I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure my duck did.  It took the brunt of the abuse (pic below).  I also got behind the machinery pictured below.  It has been awhile since I saw one of those guys at work on a gravel road.

A couple of pics below of Stormy Hill, which is another little community whose small economy appears to have taken a hit.

Hermann, MO, on the other hand, seems to be holding its own.  It appears to be a historic tourist destination.  See pics below around town.

Pics below of Missouri River and pedestrian bridge crossing the river in Hermann.

After Hermann, I got on the Katy Trail, which is about a 260-mile trail that runs across a portion of Missouri (pics below).  I rode 30 miles on the trail to get to Tebbetts, MO, my stopping place for the night.

Total miles today: 92.2