New Haven, Mo to St. Robert, MO

Starting with the Picture description (Top to Bottom, Left to Right):

1. Tent and Missouri: Jill (my wife) kept warning me that if I didn’t eat right I would be a shadow of my former self.   If you look at the bottom right hand corner you will see her warning came true.   (Again bad joke attributable to Dave Wagoner’s bad influence on me for extended period.
2. Historic 66: I have been seeing Route 66 signs for two days.   The route stops, starts, and avoid notifying the “viewer” regarding any turns.   There was one sign in Rolla (if memory serves) that states that Rt 66 starts there.   That is after seeing signs 100 miles prior.   I can’t explain.
3. Tent and barge: How would you like to go to bed and wake up with a view over the Missouri River.   I did it once and it was pretty cool.
4. Miracle Go was able to acquire indoor lodging at the John Colter memorial.   John Colter was a mountain man, on the Lewis and Clark expedition and famous around New Haven.
5. Lewis and Clark surveyed a route to the West Coast.   They are honored in the John Colter exhibit.   What I didn’t know was how big the Louisiana Purchase was.  It basically added a third to the continental US.   This picture shows this in the upper right hand corner.

Summary: By definition this can only be a good day since I averaged 11.7 mph.   Honestly the morning was great, the afternoon difficult as the wind shifted from West to South (you guessed it) which is the direction I was traveling.   Then the afternoon got hard as I was trapped in a Natural Forest that went on and on and on.   I plan to do 80 miles a day.   Today I did 98.9 miles not because I wanted to but because there were no towns – none.   Luckily I stock up on liquids so it wasn’t a big problem but you never know.   I travel by towns.   Don’t leave me hanging!

Now for the shameful confession.   Since I hadn’t seen a town for quite some time when I saw and interstate stop with a motel I checked in.   My fear was if I passed up this oasis, there might not be another for lots of miles.   If I stopped ate, and went on then there again was a chance that nothing was ahead.   While I feel comfortable I could have found a place to camp.   I was not sure I would have a breakfast available.   So I stopped at a Motel 6 (they left a light on) where I ate at a Subway and will eat PANCAKES at a restaurant in the morning.  The restaurant doesn’t open till 6:00 a.m. so I will get a late start.

I am about 96.1 miles from Springfield, MO.   This is my next target.   Usually by big cities there are lots of towns.   I expect to stop short of Springfield to bed down unless the wind is scarce and I make better time than usually.

Story #1: My Daily routine

1. Wake up 2 or 3 times a night checking on time.
2. Wake up and stay up around 5:00.   Time varies depending on when the sun comes up and where I and going to eat.
3. Takes about 30 minutes to pack up “stuff” and load bike.
4. Eat breakfast.  Usually McDonalds since they have two sandwiches for 4 dollars.   I have two cartons of chocolate milk.
5. Get 30 miles by 9:00 a.m
6. Get 60 miles by noon.   Typically gone through about 4 bottles of water/Gatorade by this time.   I will have stopped by a fast food store to get two bottles of Gatorade.   I will drink one immediately and have the second in reserve.   The reserve bottle has saved me twice.
7. Finish up with 80 or 90 miles by 2:30 and look for a place to stay.
8. I will have watched road signs and targeted the town.
9. When I reach the town I will talk to a policeman, fireman, or town administrator to see what accommodations are there or not.
10. Set up tent and take shower.
11. Post my message.
12. Respond to email
13. Call my wife
14. FREE TIME! (Usually I try to memorize part of a poem or walk around).   No excitement.

That’s it for now.    May each of you be blessed many times over!