Virginia
Kentucky
Illinois
Kansas
Colorado
Wyoming
Montana
Idaho/Washington
We spent 8 days and travelled 343 miles in Missouri.
The first day in Missouri was a hard day, lots of hills and the weather was very hot and humid. The storm the weather man had promised did arrive with vengeance. It did however wait until we were in a park shelter, so we were able to watch it tracking over us wave after wave. It certainly was something to see. There had been a tornado warning, which thankfully did not develop. We were very glad not to be at sea. The storms blew themselves out during the night so we were able to proceed the next day.
The days were warming up now; summer is not far away, so we got on the road early hoping to miss the worst of the heat. We had a short off route trip to visit Elephant Rock State Park. A curious geological formation where billion year old granite rocks stand end to end like a line of circus elephants.
We reached the foot hills of the Ozark Mountains, so we knew we had some serious riding coming up. But first we had a wonderful ride through the Ozark National Scenic River ways, which encompass the Current and the Jacks Fork rivers. Both crystal clear, spring fed waterways. The Current River begins its life at Montauk spring in the Ozarks. We had a lot of elevation gain and loss with some short, very steep climbs which sapped the strength from our legs.
We were advised to stay off the roads for the Memorial Day Celebrations. So we found a lovely camp site in Eminence right next to Jacks Fork River. We had just had a few very hard days on the road and were looking forward to a couple of days R and R.
Sunday was a lovely sunny, very hot day, perfect for a river trip. So we hired a canoe and set of on a 16 mile journey from Alley Springs to Two Rivers. We had a couple of close encounters with trees on the banks and came out of it mostly unscathed. We were enjoying a cooling of swim until we saw the snake. I didn't believe two people could get back into a canoe so quickly.
That night we went into town and found horses tied up to posts out side the bars just like in the western films. We dined out and finished of the perfect day with a couple of cold beers, and watched the fire flies dance around the tent. We stayed an extra day until the holiday traffic was off the roads.
The rest did us both good we were back on the road refreshed and ready to tackle the climb to Flat Rock lookout tower the highest point in the Ozark Mountains. We climbed the tower (fire tower) and were rewarded with a spectacular view.
The Ozarks were not the highest mountains we would tackle but they were the hardest because of the short steep climbs, we were constantly up and down. Having said that Missouri, up until now has been the most scenic state, blessed with its lovely tree covered hills, rolling countryside and magnificent crystal clear rivers.
