Aaaargh!!!!! Internet on the road ...

Sporadic, low bandwidth, often nonexistent and NO internet cafes, all conspire to make life as we now know it frustrating to say the least. There are often no Starbucks, MacD's or DQs in most of the areas that we are finding ourselves in of late. So what is done? Curse, yell, pull out one's hair? Simply do without and become increasingly frustrated as the days go by.

That said, we do at times find restaurants that offer free wifi but usually it is when we don't have our computers with us, only our cells and that is limiting in and of itself. Some people are able to ;I've completely off their cell phones, our grands for example, but I find it hard to type on the small keyboards and often times the mobile aspect of what you are trying to do is less than stellar. hmmmm I wonder if I kept a small bluetooth keyboard in the car that I could attach to the cell. Will have to try this today - we have cell service, well 2-3 bars of 3G, in town.

Our tripping across and around America since our last blogging has led us to:
~in and around Texas, as I had a couple of doctor appointments and we had dentist appointments. Finally we were all finished and released and could go farther afield. Didn't take us but a day to revamp the holdings in the RV and set out. Our first stop for other than a night is ....
~Red Cedar, Oklahoma. From here we were able to car trip up the Talimena Scenic Drive, have lunch at the Lodge (yes it is once again open but the campground still has water issues) and down the other side in a circular route. Here we did a couple of geocaches leaving some for future visits. (is that a good excuse for not pursuing them all?) [photos] Danny was also able to get in some mountain biking off-road. Then it was on to ...

~Tulsa, Oklahoma where we had a wonderful visit with DS#2 and his lovely wife. Tulsa is a great city, full of opulent buildings, for the most part, done in the art deco style. There are also lots of green spaces and tourist attractions. One of the amazing museums is about the very affluent Afro-American community that existed during the boom years.
Our trip towards our next stop took us through a couple of interesting areas where we stopped  for an overnight visit and a touristing experience:
    - Roman Nose State Park, northwest of Oklahoma City which allowed us the opportunity to go about in the car [photo]
    - Kingfisher, Oklahoma where we visited a very well appointed Chisholm Trail museum.[photo] It is here that one of my firmly held beliefs was dispelled - the fact that Chisholm (photo) wasn't a rancher driving cattle, but rather a trader who was well thought of by the Indians and traversed the route trading that was to become the Chisholm Trail that the cattle drives followed. He was also the man responsible for helping the government to enter into treaties with the Indians, that they later broke. Oddly enough there was a geocache right in the living display of the museum in memory of the Ma Dalton (they have her old cabin) who had numerous sons of which 4 turned bad.
    - Red Rock Canyon, Oklahoma [photo] where we did a series of geocaches.

~ Caprock Canyon State Park, Texas was our next 4 day stopover. Here the buffalo roamed freely, even through the campsite [photos]. Danny was able to ride a Rails to Trails here that was overshadowed by a threatening thunder storm. There was a tunnel on this route that he was particularly keen on riding. Hiking in and out of the canyons gave for a beautiful scenic day, again overshadowed by the threat of the usual afternoon thunder storms. The wind blew furiously at times while at other times it was but a gentle breeze. This is a state park worth visiting again: the drives through the canyons are wondrous with steep grades at more than a couple of spots [photo]; the wildlife is abundant and not really afraid of people as there are so many visitors to the park; bird are also abundant; we know that there was probably rock art in the area but we certainly weren't adventurous to venture far into the canyons with the threat of thunderstorms and resulting flash floods; and let but not least, we were able to do a few geocaches.

~Albuquerque, New Mexico was our next stopover. Here Danny was hoping to get in some really good mountain biking but the trees had a better idea. The pollen was horrendous, the worst that I have ever known it to be. We both were laid flat with the resulting effects. In spite of taking antihistamines (the non-drowsy kind and thus less potent) we still suffered horribly. Still we got out for some much needed shopping and I was able to do a small amount of sewing. Sewing is hard when your eyes are swollen, watering, and itchy all at the same time.
As we left ABQ and headed towards our next stopover, we happened upon a great little museum a ways off of I-25.[photo] Commemorating the exploits of the Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe, New Mexico, the modern, recently built museum was a history lesson throughout. Much of the information I was already well aware of having traversed parts of it, stopping at all the waypoint informational signs, and yes, even in Texas. Mentioned was the information about a lady who had completed the whole historical "Royal Road" by whatever means it took to go on it, all the while photographing the points, people, and anything of interest. A great coffee table book and from it I can see a possible hiking/bicycling trail/ATVing/4WDing trail in the future. To be so lucky as to have it drivable. Imagine driving something that took a whole year to traverse in that time period.

~Deming, New Mexico was our next stop. This time to visit with good friends. The wind is horrendous so leaves little to no windows for cycling. Both are now in their late 70's, early80's and have slowed down just a very little. B still rides but often times he has to be pushed and prodded by P. to get out and do it. LOL Sounds like me and DH. We did spend the evening playing dominoes - Chickenfoot and within the early learning curve for Moon.

~Rodeo, NM was next up and here we sat at the base of the Chiricahua Mountains and National Monument. [photo] A short drive and we were in Arizona. The park is actually in Arizona whenever we went to the lodge to eat or to listen to the music of the hour, we crossed over into another time zone - 1 hour earlier - which we always forgot and consequently we were always an hour early for everything. LOL
A trip to Douglas, AZ on the border with Mexico [photo] was a day trip. Along the way we saw the monument for Geronimo's surrender. Didn't stop because we wanted to go to Agua Prieto, Mexico for lunch. It was too bad as there were geocaches all along the road and it turns out that the grands great grandfather was the person that Geronimo surrendered to and they would have loved to have a photo of the monument and sign. Oh well, next time.
From Rusty's RV Park in Rode we went to ...

~Reserve, NM where we are currently parked for the next 4 days. Reserve is little community that has  number of restaurants and a couple of hotels. They are a stop for refueling and refreshing for the hikers on the Continental Divide Trail. Our first trip into town and what do we see? A hiker thing to hitch a ride back out to the trailhead. Apparently it is 28 miles from town and traffic is mainly work trucks which aren't allowed to pick people up. So yes, we drove him out to the trailhead. Lo and behold, there are 6 hikers trying to hitch into town. The wait is long, for traffic is scarce: So yes, 3 are brought back to town and then the second 3 are brought in.
Hikers on these long distance trails all use trail names. On the AT (Appellation Trail) Danny's started out as Idigo, his Ngöbe name from Panama but quickly became Easygoing. This is how he introduced himself. We took Numbers out to the trailhead and brought back Paperweight, Sass, and NightWatch, who is from Gr Britain and S Africa. Then we brought back Half Mile (who is a name unto himself), A Float, and The Beast. Was fun talking with them all and hearing their stories. To follow any or all go to: [link them]
hikingislove.wordpress.com
longwayupthecdt.wordpress.com
loncooper.com

Listening to all their stories makes us yearn a little for doing our own hike. But first we have to get back into shape after me being off my feet for 6 months. NightWatch, as well as the other two in the car, were quite interested in the John Muir Way in Scotland [link] and he told us about the West Highland Way [link] as well. Oh boy, two that we can do in Scotland alone and through beautiful countryside - I would think a great late summer or early fall would be the ideal time.
We have one more hike to do after today's - this one actually is up and over the "mountain " and down into a valley in order to explore a trove of petroglyphs and not to forget, the two geocaches - one at the top of the "mountain" and one near the petroglyphs. Today's hike, the Apache Creek Interpretive Trail, was switchbacking up a "mountain", walking along a basalt cliff where many wonderful petroglyphs were found, and lastly a switchback trail down the "mountain".

We are headed towards Flagstaff in a round about way, with an arrival date of May 18. Why so specific you ask. It is so out of character for us. We are headed to the Overland Expo [link this]being held just outside of Flagstaff in Mormon Lake Lodge. Here we are hoping to find the answers to all our questions about a new vehicle (ours is getting to the point of no return) and how to outfit it for some longish trips to Mexico and possibly even farther afield.

A word about geocaching. For me this is a great way to get out and get more than the usual exercise. It is fun for the seek and find as well as the getting there. What isn't fun is when you don't have cell service to fuel you gps and the gps isn't as close to ground zero as it should be. We met a lady in one of the parks who has found over 12,000 geocaches and here I was thrilled when I hit over 225 finds. Will have to get busier than I am currently and find some more. If interested, go to geocaching.com [link] for further information.

And for now we head out again day on Friday heading up and over the mountains of Arizona towards our destination, Flagstaff. Our plans beyond are somewhat fluid after our upcoming trip the first week of June to DisneyWorld with the two youngest grands. That will be a lot of fun. Then we have a trip to Calgary, Canada for a July 2 wedding. Our niece is getting married and it is a great chance to see all the family again. Then, do we turn right and go East or do we turn left and go West? We probably won't even make the final decision until we are actually there. It would be nice to spend a bit of time in Banff National Park and we both are looking forward to an eventual trip to the Maritimes. Will it be this year? Tune in for a final decision ...

A weekend of music

Louisiana is a state, like all the states, of diverse cultural differences. The Acadians were shipped from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada to different places in the 1700s, with New Orleans one of these places. This has been immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem called "Evangeline", written in 1847. Their history, from their arrival in Louisiana down through time to today, is well documented in various museums and general information as it pertains to the specific area that is handed out in Chambers of Commerce and Visitor Bureaus. These people became what is known today as Cajuns and their music and food are the focus of our short visit to the area.

Basing ourselves out of Eunice, LA we have managed to cram in a lot in the short time that we have been here, starting with a trip into the fast food cuisine of Opelousas, our first stop. My favourite snack - deep fried dill pickles with ranch dressing, and the best that I have had to date. A small order but oh so worth it.

 and of course, one could make them like this: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/fried-dill-pickle-coins  but homemade never seem to be as flavourful as restaurant or kiosk style. Wonder why?

As is our norm, we like to make a tour of the state parks to see if we can park there with the RV, especially if we can get a senior discount. Very often these parks have 50Amp service and water in the site but no sewer, so that limits our time. Some great cycling out here but way too many hills to safely get in and out with the RV. Leveling could present a challenge as well.

Another norm is to stop at a local Chamber of Commerce to get the lowdown on the area and happenings of the time. The ladies at the Ville Platte, LA Chamber were just delightful

and all joined in to give a wonderful synopsis of everything, including that this area is the true Mardi Gras area and "why didn't we come down for that?" Leaving, we had our hands full: t-shirts, maps, pamphlets, booklets, and ideas.

 Saturdays in this area for us, all start early as Fred's Lounge (read bar), in Mamou, LA opens at 7:30am and is only open until 2pm with music from 9am til 11:15am.

 They do not serve breakfast, just drinks. So eat first and then come on in

 Where else can one have a bloody mary at 8am? coffee for me, thank you.

The musical part is a never ending line of local bands, each playing for one day, some more famous than others. Others call it a jam session where the players come together to form a band for the day, but I IMHO, doubt this. This part of the morning is actually a live local radio spot: KVPI 92.5 fm playing the Oldies. Smoking is allowed, so allow for stripping, washing the clothing, and showering as soon as you get back to wherever you are staying. People, as evidenced by a couple sitting next to us, come from all over the world to visit Fred's (they came from the US Virgin Islands), listen to music, and dance.

Another recommendation was to visit the Swamp Pop Music museum, which Danny did: He is more thrilled with immersing himself in this environment than I am. The whole culture is a very colourful one, both visual and auditory.

Saturday is finished up with a visit to the Rendez-Vous des Cajuns music radio show(again a live radio show) in Eunice. We have attended this before and enjoyed not only listening to the music but watching the people activities, of which most is dancing. Every Saturday has a different performer and band and is in a mixture of French and English with one week a month totally in French (we hit this one). This is held in the Liberty Theatre and sponsored by the Jean Lafayette National Park of Eunice. Again people come from all over to attend this.

 The RV park that we are staying in is renown for it's own hosting of the music culture of the area. Here we discovered that the week of Mardi Gras 2017 is already booked with only 3 slots left. Of course, we booked as we had tried for days to find just this very thing this year. A lot of good it would have done, as the area books solid a year in advance. So now we have a booking already for 2017 - go figure. It is an odd happening that we actually book so far in advance.

Sunday is not forgotten, even though this is a heavy RC area. One has seen movies with the old saloon down by the swamp, hidden away from all eyes. We Whisky River in Henderson, LA, outside of Lafayette, up and over and then tucked in behind the levee, would definitely qualify for this.

 

 Best we can tell, music is only played Sunday evenings but I am sure that is not totally correct. This again has people coming from far and wide to listen to the music and do some floor stomping. 
This evening was zydeco by a locally famous artist and his band, Geno DelaFose.    The music was very good, the smoke thick, and the people watching awesome. I saw more cowboy hats, belt buckles, tight blue jeans and boots than one would see at a Texan rodeo. Talking with the man who was selling hamburgers et al, most of the “blacks”,  who were the best dressed of them all, are all ranchers and farmers from around the area.
On our way up and over and out, we met a Fr couple who are touring the world over 4 years in their small RV "They do not dance like we dance".

The food has been awesome and if we stayed very long in the area, we would roll out of the RV and have to go on a strict diet. So much deep fried food. I wonder if this is a recently developed food form or has it always been so? And is it so tasty because it is deep fried? And do they deep fry in veggie oil or the good old fashioned pork fat? So many questions: Will have to think about taking a cooking class down here sometime.

 Everywhere you look in the fields, we saw varying stages of water filled fields. Are they growing rice? Mais oui, mes amies! But what are those weird things sticking up in the water? They are farming crawfish and the harvesting is done buy a very strangely adapted boat.

As do all great journeys, this one too had to come to an end. Heading back towards our own fields, we headed to Texas and to the activities that called us back. What will be our next journey, time will tell and you too can discover it simply by coming back to visit us here at Where Are We?

February 13 and .....

February 13 and that means ... Tah Dah .....> it's my birthday. Yes, today I celebrate another year older, not necessarily wiser, but definitely on top of the world. February is our celebration month - my DH and I both celebrate our birthdays, we have our anniversary and of course, there is Valentine's Day, the old "love" day. We celebrate sometime during the month as all the celebrations are spread out over the month. I leave it to DH to come up with something and we normally end up going somewhere for a weekend. So what will it be this month? Keep tuned for an update.  

We are currently sitting in Double Lake Recreation Area in Coldspring, SE Texas. We have been here a couple of weeks now. Danny is both mountain bike riding and road cycling.  I am trying to get some quilting done but there is always something else that comes along to interrupt the flow that Miss Mojo likes to keep going. For example:

On Wednesday we drove over to DeRidder, LA where we met a friend from the AT - Bert. He is cycling across the lower US following Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier maps. Danny rode with him Thursday from De Ridder, LA to Kirbyville, TX. I on the other hand, sagged this endeavor, and got us home that night. 

 A good time was had by all.

And now today, my birthday, we are heading to Houston to have seafood and maybe see a movie.

We will be moving on Thursday one again but we still haven't decided exactly where. It will probably be either Louisiana or Arkansas however. .......

NYC

The first full day after arriving is chocked full of things to do. The whole trip is so full that we actually made a calendar with times so that we wouldn't forget when and where, especially for the tickets that had to be purchased.

First, breakfast: the good ol' standby, Starbucks. This one had little seating and lots of people milling around. Still is was a great people watching experience.

Then it was on to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum by subway.

 Which stop do we get off at? Are we there yet?

The new World Trade Center, opened last year This is an impressive building, standing 1792 feet to the top of the communications tower.

 One of 2 reflective pools on the actual site of the World Trade Center Towers: Beautiful, reflective, and kind of eerie.

With the help of Yelp, we headed to lunch. Brook wanted a pub lunch so that is what we looked for. A short walk took us to an Irish pub. This one was typical but with a difference. It was right across the street from the memorial/museum and was where all the EMS/police workers went/go for lunch. As a result, there are patches from all over the world and is a destination for the same when in NYC.

 
Food was great! She  chose well.

A walk down Wall Street and of course, we had to see the bull. The tourists were the funniest people watching to be had.

 Sticking your head up his A@^* rather than sticking your head in the sand, where it probably should go.

 You buy, you play, sometimes you win. Brooke won more than she paid.

The evening is for the theatre and we went to see "Wicked". What a great play. The costuming and stage props were fantastic. 

 And now I know where the wonderful display at the Houston International Quilt Festival originated. 

Day 2 took us to the American Museum of Natural History. Never thought I would see the day that DGD wanted to go to a museum.But she continued to surprise me this whole trip. The rational behind this request? To follow the "Night at the Museum"s trail. A condensed view(you wander all over to get to the various places utilized in the film) of a wonderful museum. We will definitely have to return and explore this more fully.

We had to pull ourselves away from the museum. But pull we did and headed towards The Empire State Building to be there before sunset. 

 The lobby was not so busy and offered a great deco art interior. As has been our experience so far, the lines were short and we went directly up. The elevators were once hand driven and now are used to start the elevator trip to the 82nd floor. Danny got the honors.

 From here our views were awesome. The setting sun set everything a fire with a golden hue.

 And from there we went to the 102nd floor where we watched the sun set behind the clouds before setting completely. Met an amazing bunch of different people resulting in some awesome conversations.

 For dinner, well it had to be a Chinatown experience.

Day 4, our last full day and it is The Statue of Liberty and the National Park system. Nothing available for the crown tour but I didn't want to walk all those 182 steps anyways. [chuckle chuckle]

 We already walked the steps in the base to the look out but not these ones.

  some perspective here as to size.

 close up and spectacular

  we walked the perimeter as well. Sure are getting our steps in this trip.

 a ferry ride to and fro: to was light in people and from was packed to capacity.

 skyline from the ferry

Next up was the Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side, a Danny pick and one that we all enjoyed. Brooke says that it reminds her of her Grandma Zabielski's house. The only mishap happened here as we walking down the narrow flights of stairs on the outside of the building - yup the fire escape stairs. She caught her heel in the back open overhang and took a tumble down 5 stairs. It could of been nasty but she came out of it with a bruised shin and a scraped thumb, no breaks thank goodness.

Our train back gave us a wonderful subway experience.We had been hearing solo musicians all week in the subway but tonight we actually had a band. A band that played The Beetles, the Beach Boys and so on. 

 Day 5 and our day for travel back but not until late in the afternoon. The morning sported a return trip to Brooke's pick of breakfast bagel shops - yummmmmmm. Then off to walk Times Square. The rain or rather drizzle came in just as we set off but it was still fun. The highlight? Not the Hersey store, not the M&M store, but the Naked Cowboy

"What happens in New York stays on Facebook forever!"

 Yup, whitie tighties, cowboy boots, cowboy hat, and a guitar in 40 degree weather and drizzle, making a good living in Times Square for over 20 years. Brooke, where is your photo???????

Homeward bound and arriving in Dallas to a car that is dead, dead, dead. Tomorrow ......

Some thoughts ....

Why does the energy and drive take us to start things and work feverishly to complete already started ones as well as promises to ones self in the new year? That blank page needs to be filled maybe?!!!

And start to fill we do, with a planned trip to New York City with Brooke, our DGD. Leaving on the 5th of January, we arrived in town early enough to: get our metro passes, ride the bus and train to the station near our hotel, check in to the hotel where we quickly ok'd it, and then out for our first foray into the city. Brooke is all eyes as we start to wander and try to figure out the metro. She has her handy phone which has a map of the subway. Where would be nowadays without our instant gratification that used to have to be found and written down beforehand? Dinner planned for Chinatown  but got switched to Little Italy where we had pizza in the proclaimed "first pizza restaurant" in NYC. It was delicious. Then on to the Top of the Rock, the Rockefeller Center that is. What a view we had of the Empire State Building with it's Christmas Lights shining bright against the black sky of night.

 a bit blurry but it tells a story nevertheless

At the end of this wondrous lighted evening, our feet ached, our legs were tired, and we could hardly see straight we were so tired. Sooooo, we decided to try our first Uber experience. Standing on the sidewalk looking at all the lighted trees, we quickly joined Uber and called for a ride. It was great and so much cheaper than a regular NY Yellow cab.

And so started our trip to NYC.

January 2016

    Happy New Year to each and everyone of you. May 2016 be blessed with health, happiness and prosperity. The Irish blessing says it all:

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

New Year's Day: a new year and a blank page to write on. Gone are the half finished saved blogs of last year, gone are the downer days, gone are the not so charitable thoughts, but not gone the UFOs of quilting and my 2 Busy Hands. Today brings all anew and it will only be what I make of it. So here I am, a blank page staring me in the face asking to be written on and I am only going to be positive. "Tomorrow [Jan 1}, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one." Brad Paisley To me, this says it all, as your pages will only tell the story of what you do, want to do, your hopes and dreams, and your accomplishments, so do your best!

We are starting out the year with a trip to New York City with Brooke. We will be gone Monday through Saturday, arriving back in Longview late in the evening. A wonderful time will be had and our days are already filled to capacity. Can we find any more time to do some of the other things? Who knows, but we will surely try.

January 1 found us in Little Rock, AR. We were hoping for the festivities of the Waterfront but Mother Nature had something to say about that. The Arkansas River [the river of the Riverfront] was flooding and the Riverfront Park where all the festivities occur, was all River. So we had a wonderful dinner and a quiet reading wait for to ring in the New Year. This was followed by a fast drive back to Henderson where we will sit out tomorrow, catching losse odds and ends before leaving on Monday.

So, 'til later my friends ......

The Katy according to Danny ...

Riding the Katy Trail across Missouri had been a dream of ours since long before joining Peace Corps. The route sounded perfect; a rails-to-trails that travels through a mix of small towns and cities as well as farmland and wilderness, along the Missouri River for a good part. After spending a few minutes discussing whether this was the time to ride the trail, after all we were going to be so close to one of the trailheads,we could only find one problem and that was that we had ridden very little in the last three years. This was soon overcome as we realized that we could take our time riding the trail – our deadlines are of our own making. Of course, that wouldn't compensate for the wear and tear on our hands and rear ends - that would have to be time. 

The first challenge was to figure a way to get back to the start after finishing the ride. We went to a couple of bike shops and found that there were lots of shuttle services available. We called Debbie of Davidson Transport.  She was super responsive and we found ourselves and our gear (tandem and BoB trailer) transported to Saint Charles a few days later.

Our home-away-from-home was the wonderful Lococo B and B - an old St Charles home situated on the bluff, on top of a hill, about 12-15 blocks from the historic section of town. The homes were a mixture of the historic and the new modern replacements. 

 We stayed two nights in Saint Charles seeing the old downtown area and experiencing all of the the sights, smells and sounds.

 Daniel Boone was well known and liked in this area.  starting point for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
 
 the unique and the beautiful
 can you imagine coming to an old French settlement only to find Mexican bottled coke?

The second day in St Charles we rode to the start of the trail in Machens, which is no more than the Eastern terminus trailhead. 
along the way we experienced the first of many wondrous and enchanting vistas:  the hidden,  the informational (we stopped for every one of them along the route)  the scenic, the bypasses away from the traffic,  the open byways,  and the walled in, crunchy, leaf strewn, relaxing spaces,  the mighty Missouri,  the first of many refurbished 1800s homes (this one used to be a bar in the bottom and living quarters, rooms for rent in the top)

Eventually the trail will continue to connect into the River Road Bicycle Trail along the Mississippi in Illinois. Once at the trailhead, we both felt good and so decided to ride to a community named Portage Des Sioux for our first of many lunches in a biker bar, the only café in town, and, I might add, the best food to be found according to the locals. From here we rode a few more miles to the Mississippi to a monument to Mary who the locals believed saved their town area from a flood.

 and so begins our adventure; at the mighty Mississippi River.

After getting back to St Charles we found a combination bicycle and coffee shop. What could be better? They have only been in business for a couple of years but they have already outgrown their building and are moving. I guess this combination works for other customers as well.

Leaving St Charles after the harrowing ride down the hill from the B and B Bright and early the next morning, which is normally about 10:30 for us, after a wonderful nutritous breakfast

 we picked our way through the local Oktoberfest that was starting as we rode, no walked, through Frontier Park, the trailhead for St Charles

 

 we left St Charles headed for Klondike State Park just outside of Augusta. Our guidebook said that it was one of the nicest camping parks on the way. The author advised to make reservations for cabins, but said nothing about reservations for camping. I had the sense that it had some camping set aside for Katy trail cyclists or that there were no formal campsites. 

 the first of many,  the first trailhead outside of St Charles, also the first of many,  the bridges are all supported by informational signs as many are from the early 1900s and a coupe from the late 1880-90s, we are actually following the Lewis and Clark trail   at every trailhead there are informational signs on the area, the history and the Katy Trail as well as amenities to be found - sometimes lots, sometimes NONE.

When we arrived at the campground, we discovered that it was full. As it was getting late traveling further was not a good option. There were several groups of Boy Scouts and I approached one scoutmaster asking to share a campsite, and he said we could share their area. They were very nice and shared with us a Dutch Oven baked peach and a cherry cobbler that night and a egg, sausage and who knows what else casserole for breakfast. Yummmmmm  Troop 809, St Monica's, St Louis, MO

Our next overnight was going to be at Hermann, which is across the Missouri from the Katy Trail at McKittrick. First though, we passed through:

 many, many dicey (if you stayed on your bicycle, clipped in) road controls 

bikes of many shapes and types shared the trail as well as houses and restaurants, 

 some anticipated as a stop and alas, they were 

 closed and up for sale - nothing to drink here!

 but a convenient place to get a flat

all along the trail are many sponsored niches, some looking out over the vista and some looking towards the trail. A welcome respite if needing a break, a cool drink of water (some had water, most didn't) and a place to fix something

 the colors are starting to change from green to the warm and colorful fall colors.

Just as we stopped at the McKittrick trailhead, in order to figure out where to stay in Hermann, I saw a woman cleaning the restroom. I asked her if she knew of any places to stay. She pointed about a hundred yards away to Joey’s Birdhouse, her own bed and breakfast. When we said, yes, that we would stay, she replied, “I knew that this voluntary cleaning would eventually pay off.” As we were settling in she brought me beer and Shirley sparkling, tangy lemonade along with snacks. Later she made to-order, from scratch pizza and we shared it with her and her partner.  here we also met the first of some new friends who just could't help follow us along the trail.

 The German influence in this area is great, resulting in many Germanic looking buildings. One town even had Bavarian decorated buildings.

 Fun times

 a lot of photos were taken from my "Rear Admiral" position on the tandem, giving some interesting results

 the informational were often a mix of historical and general interest. This rock withstood the many floods and people started to measure the flood waters on the rock itself. 

  a combination name, for lack of anything better. Can you guess which stats gave this very small, once thriving community it's name?

Sign posts marked the miles, but not consistently. Often they were accompanied by other warning or "of interest" signs.

 Awww the colors, some alone, some all together and the longer we traveled, the more intense they became.

Tebbetts,our next stop brings us to our next overnighter. Our guidebook described Mrs. Turner as a small grocery store owner in Tebbetts who really liked cyclists. Mrs. Turner donated a building for cyclists to use as an overnight shelter and has since passed away.It has bunk beds, a self-service bike repair shop, showers with HOT water and a kitchen. When we got to the shelter it was locked, but a sign on the door directed us to a telephone pole where the key was hung.  anyone who can read would have a night's rest, if they only knew it. Not only that, it was on the honor system.
When we opened the door a sign asked us to send five dollars each to the Conservation Federation of Missouri in Jefferson City or to simply take it to the local post office in the morning. We shared the shelter that night with a group of six other cyclists from Kansas City.  a bank from times gone by, but look closely, can it be?  what could it be? aw shucks, it's closed!

as we left town we were given a courtesy - cute

We rode on to Jefferson City. Jefferson City is across from the Katy Trail on the opposite side of the Missouri River.  It is also the capital seat for Missouri.  We took a bike path into Jefferson City that circled like a corkscrew to connect to the bridge that crossed the river. fun to go up and to go down, and what a wonderful way to cross the river on a busy thoroughfare.  just wide enough for the bike to be ridden and if you met another cyclist, one of you had to stop and hug the wall. from the bridge, looking towards the capital
This was a short day, as we needed to do laundry and get supplies. We also learned while here, that the warm weather we had been enjoying was about to end. We decided that we needed to cover more miles per day to avoid being caught up in it and with this in mind, we mailed our camping gear home. Lightening our load would allow us to travel faster and it really did made a difference. I (Shirley) have one word for Jefferson City - HILLS!!!!!

Rocheport was to be our next stop. It was an interesting ride: houses of all shapes and sizes, vintage and refurbished, or not
Lunch at Dotty's.
 There were signs of the illusive beaver, but none more sad than this:   the boards are the recycled plastic bottle boards, not wood as he thought. He tried all over the bench.  We met a lot of riders on the trail this day, some single, some in groups, some in pelotons. Bikes of all shapes and categories.  At last we came upon a tail head, this one leading off to Columbia, and lo and behold, there was a check-in station.  It was the Tour de Ted - a fund-raising ride for cancer in honor of Edward 'Ted' Jones, the person responsible for getting the Katy Trail up and going. Some of the riders had begun their ride in Colorado City, Colorado.
 we've seen Stonehenge, Carhenge, and now Boathenge!
Sometimes, you just have to stop and smell the roses.
Rocheporte was a lovely river town full of shops and bed and breakfasts. Here we stayed in an expanded part of an old school house B and B where we were pretty much on our own. Dinner was a wonderful meal at a boutique restaurant, shoulder to shoulder with other diners. Here even the playground got into the spirit of things. 

The last day was our longest.  the one and only tunnel, just outside of Rocheporte  We had hoped to stop here to sightsee as well as in Columbia but the weather became the deciding factor as our ride came to an end.  The beginning of the Sate Fe Trail, some of which we followed farther west. Apparently the trailhead for the Santa Fe Trail moved further west as the eastern areas developed 
 more open fields and rolling hills than we had seen before. The fields were slowly turning yellow as the soybean crops were ripening.  a clay tile grain silo - once many, now a lone testament to days gone by.  Boonesville bridge soon to be broken down for progress.  Need we say anything more?  the old makes way for the new   of course the only blow out had to occur about 1/2 mile before a trailhead where there were seats. 
along the way were minute signs of the old railroad ...
We rode a little over fifty miles to Sedalia  where we stayed at an old hotel that had been redone. We got to Sedalia just as it was getting cold and windy. We had planned to go another thirty-five miles to Clinton, which is the terminus, but we clearly lacked the clothes.  We gave in and called Debbie and the next day she took us back to our RV, just outside of Clinton.

Although we had already rode part of the trail towards Clinton, the question remains, “Do we or don’t we, finish the last twenty-two miles at a later date?”

The trip was a success. We met lots of wonderful people; learned all about Missouri history; and most importantly, we had a great time.