Woke up around 7 AM to find out Tammy did not have a good sleep, a rather uncomfortable sleep, been awake off and on since 330 AM. I'd like to say I didn't do much better but I did...just not that much better. The mattresses were rather uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, the hostel was a roof over our heads, a kitchen, shower, all one needs, but not very comfortable. When I woke up I noticed it was cloudy and it didn't look that good. Tammy said check the radar. When I did, it brought back memories of when I took a group of guys to Florida in March a couple of years ago where it rained 6 inches on us. It wasn't that bad, but there was a wall of rain heading toward us...in a matter of minutes. I told the other couple and all of us started rushing to get our gear packed, eat breakfast and get out the door. Unfortunately it started raining heavily just before we left.
For the next 3 or 4 hours it rained off and on, some of it heavy, but mostly a light nuisance rain. If there was a silver lining in this that would be that it was not cold. But none the less riding in rain is not fun, glasses get speckled, its hard to see as Tammy found out, and you get the nasty skunk stripe going up your back from the mud flicking off your back tire (see picture below of Tammy).
By afternoon the rain stopped...BUT we had a strong east wind, and what made things worse is that we were out in the open most of the time with an east wind blowing up the Missouri River valley...not fun.
The couple that stayed with us at the hostel had the same problems. They were headed the same direction we were and at just about every rest stop they would catch up with us. They, Mike and Sherie, had done a few rails to trails rides, their longest was from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, about 300 or 400 miles. They are from Pittsburgh.
Our destination was Marthasville, a total of 53.5 miles from Tebbetts, and let me tell you, I stopped looking at scenery and wishing the miles would go by quickly. I, as well as Tammy, were losing energy and our butts were sore (I know, you heard me say it yesterday...well, it didn't get any better).
This sounds like a downer of a day, and to some extent it was, but Tammy and I are learning from this experience because we wish to do more rides like this. Not necessarily the Katy Trail, but other trails around the country. I told her while today was rather miserable, I was stll really enjoying this.
Along the route today there were many historic markers, each one saying "Lewis and Clark crossed the Missouri River here." After seeing so many, Tammy and I started to wonder if Missouri just made these up to make the trail interesting. And, how do they know this is where they crossed? What if it was several feet further? And, why is it important for us to know that they crossed there? What was cool was a standing rock next to the trail that had markings of each major flood since the early 1900s (see picture). It did have the 1993 flood marking.
For dinner there was Philly's Pizza in Marthasville. It was excellent! Our grandkids met us there and we had an enjoyable meal. About half way through the meal, Mike and Sherie came in...yes, they made it. They are camping near the soccer fields tonight. We are staying at the Little House Bed and Breakfast in Marthasville. One word...AMAZING! We got the whole house to ourselves! Plus there was laundry machines and the owner had made a fresh blueberry crumble for breakfast. I couldn't wait, we both had a piece before dinner.
The rain did manage to bring out the wildlife. Today we saw about 5 deer (got video of one that just stood in the middle of the trail until we got up on it), a turtle, snake, fox, and many squirrels. One squirrel shot out from one side of the trail, went between Tammy's wheels and to the other side...rather funny!
So far we have completed 151.5 miles since leaving Sedalia Monday afternoon. We have only 38 miles to go to reach St. Charles, our destination.
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