Day 20 - Pratt, KS to St. Charles, MO

Hello humidity! After two weeks of dry climate, we felt sticky for the first time this morning. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed out at 7:30am. No heated gear needed today. Our total route would be about 500 miles and we made good time in the morning, despite the eastern rising sun in the guy's line of sight. The small oil rigs were working amidst the agriculture fields. 

Traffic was fairly light on our route the first few hours. We hoped to have a better day than this guy. He was struck by an 18 wheeler!

A few small ponds dotted the landscape.

And, the train crew was making repairs on the tracks.

We mainly stayed to smaller highways until lunch.

 

We crossed into Missouri around 11:30am. It was already 90 degrees!

Our planned lunch stop was Sinclair's Restaurant in Blue Springs, MO. It was rated the best restaurant in Blue Springs, so how could we not check it out? It was ice cold inside and we welcomed the chill. The wait staff thought our trip was pretty amazing, that we rode from VA to CA and back again since leaving September 2. We agree!

After lunch we soon got on Interstate-70 and had about three hours left to our hotel. The highway was super busy, and Michele was hot, so not many photos were taken after this point today. We did see interesting things on trucks or being towed, such as:

• A U-haul towing a pickup with a washer and dryer in the pickup bed
• Two trucks carrying about a dozen or more new golf carts each
• A pickup from Georgia with a large trailer of furniture and a tarp that was shredded up. That won't last. 
• A large smoker-grill named "Bubba"

Temperatures got up to 95 degrees. As we approached St. Charles, which is about 10 miles from St. Louis, rush hour traffic picked up dramatically. The gas tank empty indicator also came on. Rob said we "could probably make it" to our hotel before filling up. Michele preferred a guarantee. Why do these guys thread the needle?

We made it, with nearly 6.4 gallons put in the bike. The tank is 6.6 gallons. Rob insists he was "totally in control". Living on the edge, that one.

Dinner was just a few blocks away at Hendricks BBQ. It was a really cool place with huge drawings of famous musicians, rustic wood decor and excellent food. We had cocktails, homemade cornbread with various sauces, smoked meats (the smoked turkey didn't even need BBQ sauce, it was that good), a few side dishes and dessert. Tom and Mike bourbon pecan skilled pie with ice cream. Tom really liked his with several "Oh my" comments. Rob and Michele got a strawberry milkshake. Our waitress had a lot of energy and treated us well. Mike thought she was amped up on energy drinks.

Tomorrow we head for Ohio as our day's destination.