Day 73 ~ “Be a man!”

Last night's accommodations...Linda and Pat's Bunkhouse

Linda rode this Peugot when she rode the TransAm Trail at the age of 34. It now hangs in the bunkhouse that she offers to cyclists via warmshowers.org.

Steve Tuttle is a fellow Santana owner.

Once again we meet up with our buddy Mark.

Though we entered Missouri yesterday I couldn't resist a chance to take a picture at this sign. This is state #7.

Army Ammunition Plant

At another entrance to the Army Ammunition Plant we met Barbara. She gave us directions and we gave her our blog.

I just love beautiful barns!

Subway #1

Subway #2

Our first glimpse of the Missouri River

Gregory "put the hammer down" to try and catch this train at the end of a 50 mile day...

The Lexington Courthouse (Built in the classic-revival design of architecture) ~ During the Battle of Lexington on September 18, 19 and 20th, 1861 a cannon ball was embedded in the east column. It is a relic of the Confederate victory.

Sunset in Lexington

I took these while Mike and Gregory were in McDonald's asking for directions to a campground.

Guess where we camped?

Date: Sept. 30, 2009

From: Kansas City, Missouri

To: Lexington, Missouri

Route: Back roads mapped out by Mark

Passes:

Miles Today: 53 miles

TOTAL MILES: 2,166 MILES

Top Speed on this trip: 54.1 mph

Weather: Nice temperature but some wind

License Plates Collected: 5 Montana plates, 8 Wyoming plates (2 motorcycle) and 1 Idaho plate (found in WY), 2 Colorado plates, 1 Kansas plate (gifted from David of Baldwin City)

Today we missed an interview with the Kansas City affiliate for MSNBC! At around noon we met David Nelson at the Conoco mini-mart. He was so impressed with our trip that he went to his car and looked us up on his laptop while sitting in the parking lot. He then called MSNBC and put me on the phone with them. I provided them with our website and cell phone number and they assured me they’d call us if they could get a photographer. The catch was if we made it to our destination for the day, Lexington, we’d be out of their area and therefore they wouldn’t be able to cover our story. Well, guess who called at 6:30 P.M. just as we passed the sign for The City of Lexington? You guessed it, MSNBC! She congratulated us on the number of miles we’d made today but basically said, so sorry.

The biggest chuckle of the day came when we were leaving our Subway stop at around 4:30 P.M. where I had downed a couple of cups of iced tea and a sandwich. We hopped on the bike and started down the road and I said, “Brrrr. I’m a bit chilly.” Gregory’s comeback was, “Be a Man!” Both Mike and I just started busting up. We thought that was just hysterical! I don't know where he picked this up because we certainly don't say it to him. Who knows! Today was definitely a Subway day! We stopped at two. Mike and Gregory ate at the first one and I ate at the second.

We got a really late start this morning after a lengthy breakfast at Niecie’s Restaurant where we met Steve Tuttle a fellow Santana owner. He and his wife ride a polished aluminum Santana Sovereign. He joined us at our booth and we visited all through breakfast. Meanwhile the phone rang and it was Mark. He was hoping to run into us today as he was out on a ride in the area. It turned out that he knew Steve so we put them on the line together for a minute. After various phone calls we managed to get on the road around 11:30!

One of our calls was to Jeff Calaski at Outdoor Research. OR makes our EXPED Synmat air mattresses. Last night all three of us woke up because our mattresses were going flat. We pumped them up, situated ourselves and went back to sleep for a few more hours but awoke to flat mattresses again. Jeff was great. Though he wasn’t sure why this happened he happily made arrangements to have 3 brand new mattresses sent out General Delivery to our destination in a couple of days. Now that is what I call customer service. In the past both Mike and I have worked for retailers who pride themselves on their customer service (Mike was an assistant manager for REI and I was an assistant manager in Men’s Sportswear at Nordstrom) therefore we can really appreciate when a company takes care of their customers.

Such a late start made for a long day and we didn’t get into Lexington until the sun was setting. We pulled into McDonald’s for Gregory’s bathroom break and to ask about camping. It turned out that camping was about 5 miles out of town with at least 2 of those miles on gravel! Once again we had to opt for a motel. It’s nothing fancy but at least we weren’t riding down a dirt road and setting up camp well after dark.

Unfortunately the news shows thunderstorms brewing for this area. Our plan is to get up early and to try to make 50 miles to Boonville and The Katy Trail. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.