| August 14, 2005 The New Desert Midwest?
Everyone's been whining that there's been no rain... so the threat of rain has been welcomed by the farmers and all homeowners alike. But, of all the weekend's.... this was the weekend we had planned to ride- with our good riding friends' Jim & Cindy-- to Hannibal Missouri- and check out the 18200 acre Mark Twain Lake. We left Friday- it was nice at that time-- we just got back (and I'm here checking mail). We put on 760 miles, of which 400 was under water. My feet have been cold & wet (soaked) for 2 days. Not much there- at Mark Twain lake- alot of potential though. When we got to Hannibal the sun was out, and the day looked forgiving. Cindy kept worrying that the looming ominous clouds looked too close to the land, and some of the cloud movement patterns were circling. I was convinced that Mother Nature was one our side, so I pressed the group onward into the dark. Nothing ventured nothing gain, I thought. We never made it around the lake-- 1/4 of the way we got nailed by a huge, nasty black cloud-- that swepted gusts of sleet & hail -- and bikes-- across the asphalt mercilessly. Vic says I was being "a Joshua"-- having more balls than brains. We hunkered under a slim overhang in a little town's main intersection for quite a while. This dried up little downtown with murky windows, and a little flea market store. I now know where all the crap trinkets, "Super Dad" mugs, useless tupperware items, rusty tools, and outgrown baby stuff that everyone ever donated to a resale shop or gave to good will ends up! We didn't want to get stuck in this ho-bum town through the night, so we had to turn back - tail tucked between our legs, and struggling to see anything plus stay in the lanes. My eye sockets felt waterlogged, and crammed with road grit. We ticked across 30 bad bad miles before finding the first hotel - with vacancy. Squishing and tromping into the fancy lobby leaving a trail of puddles 5 gallons each; like soaking wet puppies- pathetic and beat. They let us park under the canopy for the night, and gave us king suites for the regular room price. A clothes dryer on each floor, and a hair dryer in each room-- we were in heaven. This created minor wags and cheer- coupled with hot coffee...before being greeted by another day promising to soak us all the way home. At least, the last 100 miles finally allowed us to pack the rain gear. I wonder if I can take a Hot Tub, while >> keeping my feet DRY ! I'll just have to try it again---next time. According to the online distance calculator the distance to the town of Hannibal- was 291 nautical miles---350mls via hwys Jim conceded that with as much water as we've taken in-- the Nautical miles should qualify. James K � a friend currently serving the US NAVY- writes: I may add credit for wind and currents faced � we can rest assured it was high tide. I'd have to confess it was worse than the typhon heading to Tomahawk in 2003. But, this valiant crew returns- hearty and ready for our next exploration adventure... minus a few screws that rattled loose off my bike leaving my air filter cover dangling- a battery that died suddenly, and Jim's floor board cracking off in mid-stream. All within 40 miles from home. |
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| Did it look that threatening? ---> |
| Okay okay... if you insist-- we'll put the raingear back on. |
| Didn't get far, huh? Sorry. |