Day One of Our Reboot

Miles today - 46.2
Miles round one and two - 1046.2

Well, we made it through our first day. Mary Kay said the miles seemed like 100 instead of  46.  Most ou the day we were luky enough to ride in the beautiful shade of the Katy Trail. But wouldn't you know that as we neared the last 10 miles we were out in the sun most of the times it seems that I remember the last 10 miles of the day are always the hardest. The temp for the last 10 miles was near 90.

We started the day with a ride across the "Big Muddy" or the Missouri River. Mary Kay confirmed my suspicion from last night. When we got up this morning she said all she could think about all night was riding across the bridge. It didn't help that when getting directions we were told there was a pedestrian/bike lane. Of course I missed the turn and we got in the lane with the cars and trucks! Those semis don't seem to like us much. Fortunately there was an escape route before we got to the actual bridge and we were able to backtrack to the bike lane. It was much safer.

Wow I got the pictures I just can't get them in the right order. This is the end of the day as we approach the Mckittrick station on the trail. It was a vey welcome site! 

This is one of the beautiful sites we saw along the trail. It is pretty, but I think it is goldenrod.

Our lunch break at Mokane, MO. This was about 20 miles into our day. The place was an old general store with concrete floors and a few tables to sit at for lunch. The menu was sparse, but we had tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches. There were several touring bikers eating also and a group of ladies playing cards. The ladies left so we ate at their table. Gary a local came in so we invited him to sit with us. Gary had his own backhoe and Doug septic and water lines. He was about our age, lived a few houses down from where he was born and enjoyed his life. Some of the other bikers noticed our shirts and wanted to know about our ride. They were on a three day tour with a SAG truck. They couldn't believe our story and that we never had done much bike riding until we started our trip the first time. Then they told us that their group had come up on a man yesterday who had died on the trail. That was more info than I needed to know. 

So far the only animals we have seen this time are several turtles, this dog that stayed with us for awhile, and one deer. No snakes and no warnings to stay away from the rattle snakes. I can be slow at times, but even I can remember that advice.

Here is what should have been the first picture of the day.  Mary Kay actually riding across the bridge.  I was so proud of her! 

Now back to the end of the day story.  We got to our B&B, Joey's Birdhouse at 4pm. Hot, tired, and ready for a shower. There was a note on the door to go in in, that the door was unlocked and we could call Joey's partner Rich when we were settled. There was nowhere in site to eat supper so I called and asked Rich where we could go to eat. He said let me know when you are ready and I will take you to town.  He picked us up about 5:45 in his pickup truck and took us to Herman, MO. about 3 miles away. He took us to a friends restaurant, introduced us, and said he would come back in 40 minutes to get us.  Then he proceeded to sit down and told us his story.  It was interesting and was much like brother-in-laws Jim's story. He moved back to Herman because he loves the town and wanted to do something for it. He is a contractor, so he and Joey have bought several old buildings and have or are going to renovate them. He also ran for Mayor, but because of his "ideas" was soundly defeated. However he continues to dream and work toward making things in both Herman and Mckittrick better. After supper he drove all around Herman and showed us virtually every street, nook, and cranny. Then we headed back to our room and Rich had a glass of wine with us. It was an interesting evening. He left about 9 when Mary Kay said she needed to go to bed. 

As I finish tonight's post I am also ready for bed. Tomorrow we plan to end up in Defiance, MO at Parson.s House Bed and Breakfast. Hopefully we will be able to find a place to eat. We had a stretch today without any cell contact, so we missed out on making some post during the day to let our family know we were OK. We hope tomorrow will be better. Oh yeah, I didn't really say much about our physical condition. We felt good for most of the day, maybe even better than we thought. The mileage was about right. We did forget to buy sunscreen, so we are a little baked. It was good that most of the day was in the shade. We did get sunscreen tonight so if the muscles don't tighten up too much tonight we are looking forward to another great day tomorrow. 

Prayers and Peace

Jack and Mary Kay