I had a good night's sleep, though, I did find out why this room was so cheap, it was right next to the railroad tracks. Otherwise it was good. The ear plugs did paid for them selfs last night, I didn't hear a thing.
It is cold this morning, 40°. The hand grip and seat warmers are going to get a work out. I'm starting to get far enough south that the weather will be going back to normal tomorrow, yea, I hope.
Liverpool fc play today, and as much as I'd like to watch the game, it's better I put on some miles. It's going to be BBC updates for me.
Well there is one good thing about changing time zones. The Premiership starts earlier.
I get to watch the pre show while eating breakfast. Though seeing Frank Lampart in Man City blue :-(.
Nice motel, I find that if you ask for disused towels to wipe the bike down, they are more than happy to supply them. I got the kind of pink towel really dirty. During the bike check up the HID headlights didn't come on. Thank god when I pulled the fuse and reinstalled it, it came back on. That's what I get for fooling around with the fuse box yesterday. It looks like the battery doesn't like the cold, a well known problem for gel batteries. Time for a upgrade AGM like I've got in the scooter.
On a hunch, I google to see if the Premiership games are on xm radio, and they are, so I get to ride and listen to the games.
It's cold outside, 40° kind of cold. Still it's within what I can handle and I've brought the gear for it. Once out of town, it's foggy, with hints of sun poking through. First stop is the red brick road. We still have one in Toronto that I know about.
It's really nice to look at, but kind of wavy to drive on. It also makes an interesting sound when the bricks shift while driving over. You can't drive really fast over it, as it's kind of wavy. You can see where they keep up on it, by the new bricks.
Next I'm over to some of the late 20 ' s, early 30 ' s section.
Model T's were narrow, and so where the roads. That and the sharp turns, made for some white knuckle driving. If you've ever wondered why it took weeks to get to the west coast, this is one of the reasons. Now for a fun stop. The turkey tracks. Bad turkey's. I needed the stop to upgrade my gloves. Even with the grip heaters my hands were getting cold.
Time for a coffee stop as well. As I've said on Facebook, it suprises me to how all these little towns, and I do mean small. Have good coffee shops. Since I do love my coffee, it's a good thing.
Then the "eagle rider" escorted tour shows up. I've looked into them, great services, But like everything Harley, you pay for it. First thing I did was get a reload on my coffee before they degeared. There where a lot of cold Brits in this group. Nice bunch though.
Well onto St Louis. First stop is the "chain of rocks" bridge. They used it in "Escape from New York"
Now I'm across the other bridge and on to Missouri. The only thing that I'm interested in seeing in St Louis is the Arch. I follow the route 66 on the GPS. It did take me through a levee. Where they slide in a huge concrete slab where you usually drive, cool. Then onto the getto. Not a bad getto, but the Clark Griswold getto of St Louis. The guide says just drive around and as it's already noon and the getto never seems to end, I hit the interstate for a few miles to the Arch.
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| Welded one section at a time. |
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| View of the Mississippi. |
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| Looking down. |
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| Not a ton of room up top. |
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| Waiting to go back down. |
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| Waiting for me on my return. |
Well it's 3 pm and time to get out of St Louis. I'm glad it's Saturday as traffic is quite. Still it takes a hour to get out of the city. That is with a couple of stops.
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| Just wish I could see it lit up at night. |
Ted Drews frozen custard stand (that's soft ice cream for us Canadian's). Which is just down the street from the donut shop. So I passed, that and the line ups.
Not to far passed here, your forced on I-44 for a few miles. It's nice to get a few miles on the slab. Past 6 flags amusement park. My GPS has a knack of turning off at important turns. One route I went down I couldn't turn around for a few miles as the road was narrow and windy. The second I missed and ended down a closed lane.
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| I hit the top of that doing 50 mph |
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| Ended quick. |
I used the break to have a apple and some water. That and to use the faculties (bush).
It's getting late in the day so I book my motel room and on to the Meramec caves.
Anyone who has traveled along I-44 has seen the signs. I'm hoping that they will still be opened when I get there. Luckly for me I make the last tour of the day.
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| Rocks for sale at a cave, go figure. |
The tour is 1 1/2 hours long. You walk a mile or 2. These caves do go on for miles (they've mapped out 16 miles). Is it worth going to? I'd have to say ya. The whole place is bigger than you think. By the time I finish the tour it's getting dark and my motel room is still about 1 hour away. On heading back to route 66, I encounter my first deer. I saw the eyes first. Now it's dark. Route 66 on this part is right next to the interstate. No fun in the dark. Next comes the possum. Well at least he got off the road before I hit him. The other thing is I can't see anything (attractions anyway) in the dark. So I hit the interstate and I'll back track a town or two tomorrow.
Well it's 9:30 pm and I've arrived at the motel.
I've gotta try and stay at some Route 66 era motels, so this will be the first. It has good reviews. Now that I've spent the night, ya its a good motel. Large room, good sleep.
Total mileage: 1301 miles/ 2093 km
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