Fleeter Logs: #69 Riding the MO Ozarks

April 16, 2007

375 miles

Moonshine
Day 5
Monday

The next morning at Danny's lake house on the Lake of the Ozarks, I walked down to the boat dock to enjoy the view and the still water.

Here's a cool view through a spider web covered with dew.

As I left the lake and pulled out onto Hwy 5 in Laurie, MO, I pulled in right behind this oversized load. And it stayed in front of me for what seemed like hundreds of miles. Actually it was only 20 miles or so when I checked the map. But it was 20 miles of Lake of the Ozarks area! Anyway, we finally parted ways and I had an open road again through some very nice riding roads!

I rode MO Hwy 19 south though the Ozark National Scenic Riverway area. This was the kind of road we riders often endure the boring, straight, and less fun roads in order to reach and ride.

Riding with Moonshine, Moonburgers, and the new friends I've met still on my mind!

After riding across several cool old bridges, I went down below and got the view from the angle below.

Eminence, MO make a very tempting offer to those passing through their appealing piece of this earth -- where the hills meet the rivers!

I stopped at the Ozark National Scenic Riverways Headquarters in Van Buren, MO for another stamp.

Today I passed in and out of the Mark Twain National Forest...a couple times.

After leaving the Ozark Scenic RIverway area, I took US60 back east to Kentucky. Along this route, I crossed over two kinda big rivers...I think they are known as the Mississippi and the Ohio. You may have heard of them?... This is the last chance to cross the Ohio before it joins with the Mississippi River and loses its identity.

Notice how this took me across the very tip of Illinois.

This is the first bridge. It crosses the Mississippi River.

There's the very tippy tip of Illinois and the Ohio River joining the Mississippi River.

Now to cross the second bridge over the Ohio River. Before this "fleetering about" is over, I will have crossed the Ohio River four times and ridden in every state that borders it.

Looking back to where I just came from...

Looking across Fort Defiance and the tip of Illinois, across the Mississippi River, and into Missouri.

Just the thought of this is really kinda cool to someone that grew up in South Texas where the nearest "other" state was hundreds of miles away no matter what direction you chose...unless you chose south...then you got to the Gulf of Mexico and closer to Mexico than any other State of the United States.

And a few feet later... Wa la, you are in Kentucky. Too cool!

This is the end of the pictures for today. The sun was getting low and I was getting anxious to reach the home of a new friend that I met at Moonshine. Joyce was waiting for me when I pulled up to her house in Symsonia, Kentucky on Monday evening.

April 17, 2007

185 miles

Tuesday

Day 6

I took Joyce up on the offer to use her washer to wash some clothes, kick back and relax a bit.

I probably could have stayed there for days visiting with Joyce and learning from her experience as a Long Distance Rider, but when we saw the rain moving into the area (on The Weather Channel), I finally realized that it was best for me to move on.

Reluctantly, I packed up late Tuesday and shot 185 miles down the road to Cave City, KY where I got a room at the Comfort Inn and set myself up to hop over to Mammoth Cave NP the next morning.

Check out the cool new riding pants Joyce gave me!

I move down the road in style and comfort now!

THANK YOU JOYCE!!