Day 26 Eldon, MO to Teppets, Mo

Sleeping in my usual loft bed in Tiggy that was parked by Randle's motel in Eldin, Missouri, I heard a couple of raindrops around 6 pm and decided that it might be a good idea to put my bicycle under the porch of the motel. About 20 minutes later it started to
rain harder. I grabbed an umbrella and headed over with my laptop to the motel room, where Charlie had the morning coffee ready (NOTE: when Charlie stays in the motel, he brings into his room the coffee maker, the grinder and the coffee beans into the room. In the morning he grinds the coffee beans and makes the full 12 cups of coffee that the coffee maker is capable of. If he is in the camper, he unmakes the bed in the dinette, sets up the table, sets up the coffee "altar", grinds the coffee, and makes the coffee) The four of us then have our coffee. Bill or Kris may make oatmeal that sometimes all four of us have, other times some may have cold cereal or soft boiled eggs. I have made pancakes on several occasions and once I made Matzoh Bria!)

SOO anyway, by the time I get to the room I am pretty soaked. Martha and Charlie were already there. Chris had decided to go across the street to a restaurant for pancakes.

It continued to rain harder and harder with rivers of water passing under Tiggy(see below video). Chris eventually returned - someone gave him a ride to get across the street and across the river of water. The question became: when would it stop and whether we would be able to bike at all today. Charlie was following the TV weather; Martha was checking the latest updates on her laptop. For me I welcomed the time to catch up on my blog!

The rain finally stopped around 11:00 am, with Chris and Charlie heading out around 11:30 am. Not quite finished yet, I left around 12:10. Fortunately we had noticed on the map that there were some back roads to take to Jefferson City rather than returning to the 4 lane highway that we were on yesterday, which was the RAM route. On such a road, we are forced to ride on the shoulder which is basically a flat tire waiting to happen. Also having cars and trucks buzzing by is DEFINITELY not fun.

On the back roads, there were the farms, cows, and even an occasional turtle on the road.

We arrived into Jefferson City, the State Capitol, and headed immediately for a bike shop to check out our bikes and to refurbish our stock of bicycle tubes that was dry due to all of the flats that we have been getting.

By 4 pm we were back on our bikes and passed by the Capitol and then over the Missouri River. Soon we were on Route 94 E which was close to the Katy trail, which is about 240 miles claims to be the longest Rails-to- trails trail in the country.

Our destination was Teppets, which the bike shop owner said that there was a hostel where people can stay for $5. When we entered the town, it said population 66 (although Jimmy the bar tender said it was actually about 100). We fournd the Turner Katy Trail Shelter, which was locked. But there was a sign on the door that said that people are welcome to stay and that the key is hanging on the nearby utility pole. Inside there were about 50 bunks, a large kitchen, a bathroom, showers, and a bike shop. Nobody else was there but us. Our intent was just to shower and stay in Tiggy which we parked next to the Shelter.

Immediately across the street was Jimmy's bar, which, lucky for us, was open. It actually is only open on Fridays, Sundays and Wednesday's. However, if the regulars want a drink when it is closed they can let themselves in and just leave the money on the bar!

We had a great time chatting with Jimmy, and also with Barbara Scheneder who lived next door to the Shelter. I also loved checking out all of Jimmy's stuff hanging around the bar. We had a great meal of stir fry followed by a game of Euker with microwave popcorn.