Jurassic, Missouri

Went through two capital cities today, Lebanon and Moscow, MO.  I should have been keeping track because I’ve passed through many capital/European cities, such as, Madrid, Athens, Potsdam, Montevideo, Naples, etc.  I crawled out of my Super 8 bed that had felt like it was a decade too late for replacement, and packed up.  The room was typical and the AC offered up a soothing white noise, chugging away all night.  Reminded me of sleeping next to the Boeing engine test facility.  I didn’t have much luck with the backroads.  Oh, the ones I did ride were adequate, trafficless byway through Missouri farm and lake country, but to make Jeff and Heather Cairn’s house in Kansas I needed to do some four lane travel.  I had about 50/50 four lane vs. single lane backroads.  I knocked out about 420 miles in 98 F temperatures and 1000% humidity.  I soaked my t-shirt in the gas station bathroom sink a few times to keep from frying my insides, but alas, I made it.  I saw a couple of odd things today, the village of Tightwad, MO pop. 69—I’m not making this up.  I stopped in Climate Springs for a break, see fig. 1, where the population left sometime after the turn of the 19-20th centuries.  I had to cool off, give myself a breather with the gear off to let the core temperatures get down to a comfortable 150 F.  Two more observations: the native dress in Missouri is clashing camouflage.  I mean, really?  One type of camo on the boots, another for the pants, another for the shirt, and finally another variety for the ball cap.  Cabela’s is the new Nordstrom in Missouri.  I’m not much of a fashion savant, but the clashing camo has to go folks.  Wear the same #$%*@ variety, or just one item, but there is nothing in season and the combination of various camouflage just plain looks silly.  I did pass Creighton, MO; and I know this was the inspiration for Michael Creighton because Missouri exists in the Jurassic Period.  I have never felt or seen such numerous and behemoth bugs in my life.  What are these things?  I had these myriad pterodactyls smacking into me like a dorky kid in the middle of a food fight.  The splats looked like someone threw a can of yellow gelatin filled with clumps of fish eggs at me, and smacked into my boots, bike, helmet, anything in the slip-screen.  This required me cleaning the helmet & windshield at every gas stop.  One Pterosaur collided dead-center on the visor and blinded me with yellow guts and brain tissue, forcing me over to clean it.

Overall, a pretty uneventful day of travel.  In the evening I was treated to a steak dinner with the family, enjoyed conversations with the extremely polite and intelligent Cairn boys, and got to rekindle an old friendship with my Fraternity pal & gal.

p.s. Bought my least expensive fuel today: $1.73 gallon in Harrisonvile, MO.  Far less than the usual $2.20-2.40 range I’ve seen most of the trip.