This is a test to see Dennis is invited to read the post. Also I should tell everyone that my rotator cuff is intact but I have fractured a bone in my shoulder. I should be good as before in 3 months. Have to give it time to knit.
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Check out the height of this palm. Dennis is 6'2" Glass. This vine was attached to the tree. Real plant, some kind of Bird of Paradise Glass These are the most incredible lily pads that I have ever seen. Victoria Water Lily. I felt like I could walk on them. Gates to the rose garden sculpture amid plants This was the most impressive botanical garden that I have ever seen. If you find yourself in St Louis it's a must see!!!!
This is the "pod" we used to ride up to the top of the arch, another engineering marvel. We shared our pod with another couple who took this picture. THE GATEWAY ARCH (630 feet tall by 630 feet wide) designed by Eero Saarinen in 1947 and completed in 1965 as a symbolic gateway to the West. This is a picture of the Eads Bridge taken from the top of the arch. This bridge is the oldest bridge across the Missippi River, completed in 1874!!! It is also the longest truss bridge in North America. St Louis needed it to survive. It provided a way across the river. It is an engineering marvel, the first steel structure of any type. The stone pier foundations were deeper than ever used before. Workers were getting the "bends" when they surfaced too quickly. The term "bends" resulted from the men bending over in pain. Many lost their lives. View of the entrance from the top. Notice how small the people seem. View of the courthouse and downtown from the t
PAINTED SILOS Well we finished the ride. 27 easy miles. Another beautiful day. Such a nice group. We're all going out for our final dinner tonight. It'll be nice to say goodbye to everyone. I think it was a particularly nice group and that includes the support staff as well. They were fantastic, so dependable. My shoulder is still pretty painful but when I get it in position like when I'm gripping handlebars it feels okay and I was able to ride at a slower more controlled pace. I was a little nervous around loose gravel and always looking for rocks or black walnuts on the trail but it was good to finish with everyone and probably good to get on the bike again. Tomorrow we tour the Arch in St Louis and then home by way of Indianapolis. THE ACTUAL SUNFLOWER MAZE AT THE BASE OF THE BLUFFS BIKE SHOP ON THE TRAIL WITH BIKE SCULPTURES
As you can see we passed our 2500 mile mark on the odometer. I had to watch it for a mile so that I could get this shot. it's only been 13 months so we're pretty proud of that. Corn carving in tree stump. Like I've said before there's an artist in all of us. Apparently this was a bank at one time in Tebbetts MO Not a whole lot of stuff to photograph today. But this artist has murals elsewhere and he's pretty good. The very calm Missouri River. I tried to get a picture of some beaches but the trees were pretty dense. Still a beautiful river. Shortly after hitting my 2500 mile marker I hit either a black walnut or a hickory nut, maybe even a rock which threw my bike off the trail and when I tried to correct I went down. Landed on my shoulder mostly and my helmet. You should always wear a helmet. I put some dents in mine with this fall. Fortunately we were close to our lunch stop where Debbie and Dennis cleaned and bandaged the scrape. Then, (you're not
That's Dennis on the first bike. The ramp up to the bridge is in the background. It goes up to the bridge at the top of the picture. This was yesterday. This morning we came down this ramp in the fog after having crossed the bridge. If you look closely you can see riders on the ramp. It was a lot of fun. We wanted to go back up to the bridge so we could do it again.
You can tell it was a dull day on the trail. This was the first picture I took. I think it's a maple stump. I would love to have it but too hard to transport by bike. This rock is what's left of a limestone bluff. Everything around it eroded away. But the significance of the rock has to do with the 1903 flood of the Missouri River which is 3/4 mile away. The water level was up about half way on the rock. It's unbelievable how much water it took to reach that far. Now I think they must have some way of dealing with floods. This is a barge on the Missouri. This is the "lobby" of the place where we're staying tonight. The "HarborHaus" in Hermann, Missouri. Every room is different and you get whichever room was next when you checked in. We got this tiny room filled by a queen size bed. There is a desk but it's under the hangers which we assume is the closet. The bed is so high I need a step to get in and I have to jump to the floor get
Missouri State Capitol Jefferson, MO Capitol from the outside This is the bridge that we rode over the Missouri in order to get to Jefferson City where we are staying. This is the ramp we had to ride to take the bridge over the Missouri. We were pretty high up. The Missouri River There's some artist in everyone. This is called "Boat Henge". It's just to the side of the trail. This magnificent tree is the oldest (400 yrs) Bur Oak Tree in existence. It's a lot bigger in person. Same tree from a distance. Dennis is still in the foreground. This is a cave that Lewis and Clark supposedly used. Now it's private property and off limits. The Trail This interesting mural was on the side of the building where we had breakfast. You can see Daniel Boone, some Indians, a locomotive and we couldn't figure out the woman's significance. This is the Roucheport Tunnel which was pretty impressive from the outside. Today's ride was 52 miles which is one of ou