Today was going to be our "rest day", but we first needed to get to Hermann, about 40 miles away from Tebbetts. So it was back on Route 94 East, which is part of the Lewis and Clark trail. The first 1o miles or so were flat. The air was filled with the sounds of the frogs and crickets in the nearby ditches, which were full of water from all of the recent rain. The Katy trail ran parallel to Route 94 during the first 10 miles
Route 94 E then turned inland and we had to climb the bluffs. We were now back to the short steep climbs and downhills that have characterized much of our bicycling through Missouri.
After about 12 miles or so of up and down on the bluffs we were back down into the flood plain for another 12 miles before turning south towards the Missouri River and the very charming town of Hermann. Hermann was settled by the Germans, whose influence is very much still alive. There are wineries, museums, nice restaurants and a generally festive atmosphere. We had lunch at the Trapper grill outside on the patio with many people asking us about our trip.
Martha and Kriss decided to stay at a Bed and Breakfast across the street from the restaurant. Charlie and I proceeded to a nearby campground at City Park. Charlie's goal was reading and relaxing, while I was determined to check out the wineries and see Hermann. I visited several wineries, including the Hermannhoff winery, where I ran into a young couple, Brandan and Brooke, who I had met earlier at the tourist info office. We were tasting wines together and then they invited me to join them to drink a bottle of wine that they bought. I accepted and we had a great time together. Brooke is a Spanish teacher, while Brandan will be starting a new job in computers. They have a 2 year old, whom they had graciously allowed Brandon's parents to babysit for the weekend. We later struck up a conversation with another group of older people, one of whom was from Argentina. She and Brooke had a great time speaking Spanish together!
Did you tell them that you speak "un poco de espanol", too?
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