Not the best of sleep due to the campground noise. While our fellow visitors obeyed the campground rules, the locals, comprising of grasshoppers and tree frogs partied until the sun came up. While not as noisy as their pals, by early morning the mosquitos were also out in force and it wasn’t long before the scratching started.
A short cycle planned for today, across the Mississippi and into our third US state of the trip, Missouri (if you include placing a foot in Indiana). The last two days had been long, made longer due to the HSBC card issues, so we were treating yourself to less time in the saddle.
For some reason the Chain of Rocks Bridge across the Mississippi was a milestone that I remember vividly from planning the trip, so to be finally crossing it was special. It is a mile long, which is big in bridge terms, but not so in cycle terms, so before we knew it we were standing in Missouri.
Remembering our first day cycling along the Lakeside Trail in Chicago I was looking forward to the Riverside Trail in St Louis. Unfortunately, the word ‘Trail” in the name is where the similarities between the two trails stopped.
The St Louis Riverside trail was very industrial, which while not pretty, isn’t all bad as it supports industry and takes big trucks off the roads, with enormous cargoes being pushed along the mighty river by huge tug boats.
For much of the Riverside Trail, the river wasn’t even visible, hidden either by trees or by a massive flood defence wall.
With a minor detour due to part of the trail being rebuilt, we soon found ourselves under the St Louis Arch, the spot we have decided to take a nap. We did move to patch a little off to the side of the Arch, not wishing to spoil the holiday snaps from the countless visitors to the area, by having a couple of vagrants in the middle of their photograph.
After an hour or so, our snooze was disturbed by a smiling couple in their Sunday Best that had just come from church, feeling it necessary to share some Jesus love with a couple of smelly vagrants with expensive Dutch expedition bikes.
We chatted for a while about our cycle when all of a sudden they dropped the bombshell that it was forecast for heavy rain from 5pm. Not knowing if that news was broadcast on their car radio while driving over from church, or whether it had come from the big guy himself, we didn’t want to take any chances, it being 3pm with a 90-minute cycle to our Warmshowers hosts for the evening.
The cycle from the Arch to Webster Groves was through commercial streets, but a cycle lane painted on the road gave us enough traffic separation from the ride to be enjoyable, that is until the heavens opened 60 minutes before forecast. Either God had decided to turn on the sprinklers early as there was a good TV programme coming on or the weather forecast shared by our Christian friends was indeed based on a non-celestial source.
We eventually made it to the home of Tracey, Michael, Lyra and Carlos looking like drown rats. Lyra welcomed us as Tracey and Michael were getting ready to go out for the evening, but it wasn’t too long before Tracey was giving us a guided tour of their lovely family home, or at least the important parts, such as the shower, washing machine and dryer.
With Tracey, Michael and Carlos out for the night, we chatted to Lyra for a while before leaving her to her math(s) homework to head to the local supermarket.
We dined on a feast of ‘Mac and Cheese’ and mashed potatoes in a seating area that seemed to be reserved for partners that can’t be bothered to traipse around the store. We then headed back to the house, agreeing a time for breakfast upon Tracey and Michael’s return from their evening out, before getting our heads down for an early night.
Chain of Rocks Bridge way cool. Enjoying your trip, thanks for sharing.