Day 29 and 30: Topeka to St. Joseph MO and Rest Day in St. Joseph

Missouri feels like the South.

It's not just the humidity, though that's certainly part of it. It's the people. I spent my rest day today doing anything but resting ... touring around St. Joseph and visiting the Psychiatric and St. Joseph Museums, Jessie James house where he was killed and the Patee House museum where the Pony Express was headquartered and walking through a downtown of condemned beautiful old mansions and buildings that fell apart after all commerce moved to strip malls by the interstate. But we won't talk about what's wrong with American Urban Development. Overall, St. Joseph is an interesting place to visit. Worth a stop if you're heading through there.

In between touring around I got the 3rd worst massage of my life (The two worse were Mr. Thumbs and the woman who cried through the whole massage because her boyfriend had just broken up with her.) This one the woman was incredibly nice, so thrilled to have us (Meiri and I) in, and just unfortunately poorly trained, for some reason skipped pretty important anatomical parts needing a little help, and pretty heavy on the oil. The rest of the day roaming around downtown I felt like the oil only enhanced my simmering in the hot, humid heat - stick a fork in me already.

But what really stood out today were all the random interactions with people. These St. Joseph folks are talkers. First there was the cab driver who told us how awful this town was and how he got stuck here. How? Well ... He was working the fishing boats out of Seattle and then his former high school girlfriend who just got divorced started writing to him. So he moved to St. Joe as he wanted to retire from fishing anyway while he still "had all my fingers and toes" and moved in with her. But that didn't work out ... apparently when her ex got remarried she went to his wedding dressed in a black dress and veil. (Meiri and I told him we thought he dodged a bullet there with that gal.) Then he met his current wife, married her and got stuck. But it must not be too bad because they spent all last summer riding motorcycles all over the west, and hoped to ride out with 2000+ Harley riders who are retracing the Pony Express route in September. (In case you are interested in that kind of thing).

This happened all day. The very nice lady who gave me a massage insisted on driving Mieri and I to where we where having lunch so we didn't have to walk in the heat - so we cramped into her tiny font seat in the pickup truck for a 2 mile drive. Very sweet.

The lady at the fabric shop initiated an extensive consultation on how to best repair the hole in my bike shorts that involved all the staff and a few customers in the store.

So an interesting day.

Getting here from Topeka was a beautiful ride - and quite challenging. Hills all the way - not huge climbs but enough to keep you working. I was pooped at the end ...

We rode through farmland and pastureland for the first 40 miles of our 85 miles ride. There was rain the first 10 miles and a steady headwind all the way to the Missouri River when we turned north.

A highlight was the town of Atchison on the Kansas side of the MO river. It is the birthplace of Amelia Earhart (born at her grandparents) and while her home was closed for tour it was a beautiful large home on a bluff overlooking the MO river. There were other beautiful old houses and mansions in the historic town on brick streets lined with large oak trees. Lovely town. A wonderful riverfront park ran for miles up from the town with a Lewis and Clark interpretive area (they landed here) and a bike and footpath filled with locals taking walks or rides. A great little town.

I crossed the river on a dicey bridge where some dumb head decided it would be fun to start a conversation while driving past me on the bridge. Jeez.

And then met up with the group I was riding with and we headed north up the east side of the river towards St. Joseph. Very hilly, tired legs, beautiful country.

Now that we are in Missouri I feel like we are truly close to the end of the trip - even though we are just over half way. Vital stats so far: Approx 2100 miles ridden. 85,000 feet of climbing, 101,000 calories burned.