Day 7 - ending near Jackson, MO - The Great Plains Trail - Sort Of

May 21, 2023

Day 7 - ending near Jackson, MO

Day 7 - Chester, IL to Jackson, MO

Heart

Comment

I woke up at 4:00am, and decided to get started with yesterday's report writing. Done and sent in by 8:00am, which was good.

I'd taken a flash picture of Max last night when he'd arrived, but got a better picture this morning just before he left. He's from England. His bike is a Surly Cross-check, muddy due to a missed turn a few days ago. He'd ridden from Goreville, Illinois yesterday. Max took off, then Didier a little later. Safe travels to you both.

I turned in my set of keys at 9:50am. On my way to the first challenge for the day: get across the Chester Bridge, which has no shoulder. The Chester Welcome Center is next to the bridge, and provided an opportunity to get a picture of the bridge, a picture of Popeye, and eat a bag of vending machine cookies before I made my crossing.

I started across the Mississippi River at 10:23am. It took me five minutes. Initially, some vehicles passed me when the other lane was clear. Later a pickup truck slowed traffic down behind him as he followed me the rest of the way.

I made it to Missouri! Looks flat to start with. My hope today was to get to Little Ole Opry Campground near Jackson, Missouri. I was expecting hills. Those started at the bottom of the bluff, near McBride. I made it up to the top, with lots of stops to catch my breath on the way up. After that it wasn't exactly flat either, with lots of ups and downs.

At least the noon report was above ten miles: 10.8.

I arrived at Park-Et Restaurant in Perryville half an hour later. They were busy serving after-church dinner customers. I ordered a special - Turkey and Dressing Dinner. Afterwards I was too full to try their Four Layer White Chocolate Cake.

Outside, just before getting on the bike, a younger fellow came over admiring my bike. This started a fun conversation with Jonathan. He rides a Walmart bike which he got after figuring out it was costing him more for gas money to get to work than he was earning at the job. He wished me well as he left.

At 1:28pm I made my way through Perryville to Road-K going south. I split off onto Road-B when I got to that intersection.

These roads up to the interchange with I-55 were tough. In fact, I was wondering if I was going to be able to do this, if all the roads were like this. It was taking a long time. The hills, so many vehicles passing, and the unridable shoulder is what concerned me. I couldn't complain about the wind, which was a good north wind pushing me along south.

Near 3:00pm I passed over I-55, then stopped at Rhodes 101 gas station. I needed a break. This break was half an hour, and included a big soda with ice. The store attendant was working two cash registers at the same time. Back and forth, it was impressive. He, and even customers, wished me safe travels as I took off.

Very fortunate for me, Road-B became a lot less busy, the shoulder got better (somewhat), and the hills a little less steep. OK, I can do this.

At 5:18pm, I stopped in the shade of a water tower to figure out which roads to take for the last few miles. My pretrip plan, Google Maps, and my Garmin GPS all disagreed. I think I went with Google Maps (Roads 346, 347), since it was the shortest. I am surprised at how long it takes the Garmin GPS to get "on board" when I'm going against the way it recommends.

I arrived at the campground at 6:25pm. Jesse registered me and got me set up at a great site next to the lake and the bathroom. Camping here with electricity is just $15.

All set up at 7:19pm. I sent out my "I've arrived" email, then took a shower. Busy doing picture selection, I miss the actual sunset time, but the scene got prettier the later it got, so that worked out.

In bed at 10:45pm, thinking it might be cold tonight.

Jeff

Spent: $1.50 (cookies) + $15.92 plus $4.08 (lunch) + $6.16 (Vitaminwater, soda) + $15 (campsite) = $42.66