Another state closer to VA

Missouri was different.

With the Missouri Katy Trail, we were able to ride smoothly without any large hills or cars to fight over the road. I do think that without the KT Trail, it would have taken us a lot longer to get to Illinois.

The last time that I posted we were in Mokane, MO.
We didn't get very far seeing as how we had a late start. We made it to Hermann, MO.
On the way, Vesper's tire lost air pressure so we stopped at Rhineland for some air.

The air compressor at all Conoco's are and have always been free, but at this particular Conoco, the air looked free and on, but the compressor just let all the air out of the low tire instead of blowing it up. So there we were stuck in a small town with one gas station that was closed on the weekends and a flat tire.

The owner of the bar next door told us that the owner of the gas station was greedy mean individual who turns off the air whenever he is not there. He offered to give us a ride to the nearest gas station so we may inflate our tire.

The next town we were to visit overnight was the cute town of Hermann. We were told that they were just finishing their Octoberfest celebration and that the City Park was a great place to camp.

Octoberfest was on its last leg, there were still kids partying there with groupings of tents.

As most people know, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series just the day before. There were a lot of chanting and songs with "We are the champions" being the main song to sing.

Hermann was cute city.

We continued on the KT to Marthasville where we were treated to Philly's Pizza.
After telling the owner's mother that we were cycling from Portland, OR on our way towards Washington, D.C. and were on a budget, she graciously offered anything on the menu for free.
After filling our bellies with there popular Philly's Meat pizza, we headed for the city park across the street to set up tent and get some rest once the birthday party that was going on there ended.
Some local kids were hanging out there at the park keeping us up with their loud laughter and screams as they played on the playground long after the park was closed. After making it clear to them that we were not happy with them, they still did not leave so we called the police.

We had a long day of riding the next day and needed to get some rest.
The next morning we continued east on the KT towards St. Charles.
When we made it to St. Charles, it was Halloween with tons of children in their costumes running about on sugar highs. We just wanted something to eat and a place to set up camp for the night.
However, even though there was a camping symbol not only on the KT Trail map for St. Charles but also a camping symbol on the kiosk for St. Charles on the KT, there was not a location for camping in the entire city. We decided the best place to find some more information was to go to the city Library.

After pedaling to the library, picking up the charger that I left in Columbia (thanks John for dropping it there for me), we were told that we couldn't use the computer with our paying $2 just because we were out of town. Needless to say, our research was done with my phone. We were able to find a campground in St. Peters, MO about 10 miles out of our way northwest.

It was getting dark as we headed towards the Lakeside Park campgrounds. We had to ride in the dark again with our lights on and made it to the park around 7pm. After loading up on Halloween candy there at the office, we set up camp in the primitive campgrounds for tents $10. We were able to take a cold shower before getting some sleep for the hard ride to get out of the greater St. Louis area.

We headed south and found ourselves on a biking trail. On this trail we met a couple of ladies who were interested in Yoshi and us in particular. We told them of our dilemma of finding a place to stay for that evening.

Vicki Ash offered to allow us to camp in her backyard in Kirkwood, which is a suburb of St. Louis.
We accepted and were given directions to her home that was south.
On our way we had to ride alongside quite a bit of traffic to arrive at her house.
We were about five minutes from her house on Manchester when Vesper was side swiped by a blacked out Ford Expedition! I was behind him and thought that the Ford came really close to me but it was even closer to Vesper. I saw it hit him on his right shoulder as well as hit the trailer Yoshi was in.
Vesper was so angry that he continued to chase the SUV down the hill as it was obviously on the run.
Our first hit and run. MO was kind to have the KT, but the drivers are not as kind.
Vicki fed us some warming Turkey noodle soup that evening as we fell right to sleep in our tent.
The next morning, we headed to the first Panera Bread store there on Manchester. After several cups of coffee as we waited for the local bike shop to open at 10am. We were able to get my tire patched after the flat that morning; Vesper bought some new toe straps for his pedal and some good direction on how to get out of the greater St. Louis area. Thank you

After leaving late again, we were not able to make it far seeing as how we were fighting rain all day long
We were headed to St. Francis Park 40 some odd miles away. On our way a guy in a car stopped Vesper and told him about a detour up ahead and gave him $40 dollars cash. The detour was dangerous due to low visibility and No SHOULDERS. On our way we stopped at Chick-Fil-A and got warmed up with free coffee and food. They also gave us 11 free coupons good for breakfast and dinner. Thanks Chick-Fil-A!

Traveling down Hwy 67 was gruesome. LOUD and the drivers were rude. We never made it to the park due to low visibility and we were soaked and cold! We stopped again. THIS TIME TO WARM UP AT A ROADSIDE CAFE. The locals said to try the town of Valle Mines and ask for the preacher there to let us stay at the church. We made it to the grocery store next to the church to warm up again. On our way next door to knock on the Preachers door, the lights went out! We went up there and rang the doorbell. Nobody answered! So...we went back to the store. We looked up there phone number in the yellow pages and called them. The preachers wife answered and said for us that there was no way they could help us. (Their house was bigger than the church beside it) The owner of the store, AL said we could stay at the apt. Upstairs from the convenience store he owned. We were so grateful to be dry and warm.

The next morning we set out to Chester, Illinois. This wasn't as easy as it seemed. The roads over to the HWY.61 were partially gravel, mud, and limestone and paved. Some hills were at least 18% grade. But this is beautiful country. We stopped at a small market to warm up and maybe get some dog food for Yoshi. This is where we met Debbie at her store in Bloomsdale, MO. The Wittus Store had a wood fired heater where we were able to let Yoshi inside for a warm up himself. Please see the picture we posted of the store.
Debbie was so nice; she made us Bologna sandwiches and gave us $10 for the ferry across the Mississippi into Illinois. Thank you Debbie.

We finally arrived in St. Genevieve, Missouri to take a ferry across the Mississippi River to Illinois. It was getting late and we only made it to Ellis Grove, Illinois. We asked for the preacher of that town to see if we could stay at the church for shelter. He and his wife greeted us outside of their house and said we could either stay on his couch or he could give us a ride to Chester and put us in a hotel. We took the ride to the hotel. This is by far, the best room we have had yet! Chester is also home to the creator of POPEYE the Sailor Man. Thanks Rev. William McCluskey for treating us to a warm meal and hotel! Oh, and he preyed for our safety and us. WOW! Amazing man.