St Louis to Oklahoma City

The Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon
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Spending the night in the Blues bar showed the next morning when Chris pulled out into a four line highway heading into the oncoming traffic. Sensibly, I did not follow him, only to turn around and find that Bert had followed Chris and not me. Men drivers!!

Driving through Missouri today, lots of corn and little else. Fascinating to see the small towns along the route, once thriving business supporting the passing travellers, now more like ghost towns with boarded up shops and relics of old petrol stations.

Jesus saves!

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Route 66 is not a direct road nor is the route marked cleary on any map. Instead, we have to join together the old segments of road that snake back and forth across the new Interstate. Completely lost, we parked our bikes on a quiet stretch of road to look at our map (well I say map but in fact we were relying on a hand drawn sketch of 66 and a few written directions). We had not seen a car in miles, but no sooner than we had got off our bikes, a State Police Car appeared out of nowhere. Out stepped the policeman with his hand on his gun (just as they do in the movies), fearing that we were going to be chastised for stopping on a highway, we quickly volunteered that we were lost. Expressing some surprise that we did not possess a proper road map (!), he kindly gave us a state map and set us on our way.

Where did the tarmac go?
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The night was spent at the Munger Moss Motel, in Lebanon a classic Route 66 hotel built (and stuck) in the 40's - with the original bathroom fittings to boot.

I managed to drop the bike this morning (I am never very good in the morning), just as I was turning onto the highway. Two very nice young men appeard out of nowhere to help us pick it up and with five of us pulling and pushing from each corner, we managed to get it upright again. Only a few scratches (on the bike, not me!). Once upright, they handed me a calling card - a leaflet welcoming me to their church - and wished me "God speed". Perhaps I do have a guardian angel after all. Later in the afternoon, on a very old piece of road, we broke from our normal formation of Chris in the front navigating, Bert behind and me in the middle. I took the lead. Normally the road signs are ultra cautious, warning of oncoming bends and narrow bridges. On this occasion, however, someone had failed to put up a sign saying " Warning - tarmac road ends and turns into gravel". Realising this rather late, and travelling around 50 miles an hour, I skidded along the road (nearly loosing the bike from underneath me) and bumped along the gravelled and potholed road for about 50 metres before coming to a shaking and shivering stop. Luckily the two boys did not follow my example and managed to stop short of the gravel track. Chris quickly resumed the lead after that...(women drivers!!).

The Rock Cafe
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250 miles covered today, leading us to Claremore, Oklahoma. We saw our first cowboy today complete with stetson and cowboy boots. Ended up in the only watering hole in town. It was Karaoke night, and whilst Chris and I have been in a few Karaoke bars in the past, this one came with a twist - all the songs were sung in country and western style. Not being endowed like Tammy Wynette or Dolly Parton, I did not feel that I should participate, so instead we listened until all the songs and singers blended into one. Eight pints of beer for $11 - a very good night out.

Some history for you...
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We rolled towards Guthrie, Oklahoma the following day, passing acres and acres of cornfields and hundreds of churches. Once the original state capital, Guthrie is now an historic site with beautifully preserved victorian streets and bricked roads. We spent the night at a B&B surrounded by victoriana and bibles (I counted 6 placed in strategic places around the house). Breakfast was wonder to behold - we came down at 9am to a table set for a dinner party and were served with a three course breakfast complete with chocolate brownie and ice cream for 'pudding'.

Paul, Linh, Julian, Chris, Kim and Bert in Oklahoma City
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Now in Oklahoma City and meeing up with our good friends Paul and Linh (and 18 month old Julian) who had travelled all the way up from their home in Dallas to see us. Having a rest day after five heavy days on the bikes - approx. 1,000 miles covered so far an many more to go...