Day Twenty Five, Terre Haute, IN to Joplin, MO - 466 Miles

Greetings from the "Show Me' state, Missouri.

We left Terre Haute, IN, at 0730 this morning and hadn't ridden but a few miles before we crossed into Illinois, the Land of Lincoln, and set our watches back one hour. I guess you could say we got an early start this morning through no effort on our part. We motored across Illinois on Interstate 70 headed for St. Louis, MO crossing the state boundary around 12:30 PM. Entering St. Louis we crossed the Mississippi River with its gambling riverboats tied up along the west shore and tried to grab a few quick grab shots of the famous St. Louis Arch as we transitioned from I-70 to I-44 toward Springfield, MO, with the help of the GPS to get us through the maze of Interstate interchanges.

Having successfully negotiated the St. Louis inner city maze of freeways, we set course for our end destination today, Joplin, MO, where we were to meet up with Lane's step-daughter Amanda and her husband Will for supper. Around one o'clock in the afternoon hungries began to creep up on us and we simultaneously spied a billboard advertising Missouri Hicks BBQ just up ahead in Cuba, MO, on the old US Route 66. How cool is that? We get to ride the old Mother Road and have Missouri BBQ too.

We pulled into Missouri Hicks BBQ and carefully negotiated the gravel parking lot. One could smell the BBQ before even walking in the door, and what a great smell it was. We were greeted by the friendly staff and shown to a table in the back room. Perhaps our reputation had preceded us. We had fun chatting with our sassy young server, Cambria, who made recommendations on what to order. She was a lot a fun and a good resource. Our biggest challenge was deciding which of the eight BBQ sauces to put on our meals. I eventually put three different sauces on my pulled pork sandwich. My only disappointment was that I was three months shy of being able to order off the "Old Hicks" menu.

Departing Hicks, we continued into the town of Cuba, MO, where some of the boys once again elected stop at the post office to mail more clothes home, mostly T shirts. Did I mention that we stopped at two more Harley-Davidson dealers today? While the boys (Steve) were harassing the poor post mistress and trying to convince her that ten pounds of T shirts would in fact fit in a five pound box, I went for a stroll about town photographing the great wall murals for which he town is known. Upon my return to the post office, the post mistress wished us a good day and a safe journey, and asked us to drown Steve in the first mud puddle we come to. What can I say, she's a federal officer? We're looking for a mud puddle.

Now the highlight of the day, absent meeting Amanda and her husband, was just a few miles down Route 66. We came across the "World's Biggest Rocking Chair;" we had to stop! I hope you folks appreciate these sights we bring you. One would normally have to drive thousands of miles to see the sights we routinely bring to you free of charge right to your home computer. No need to thank us, it's our duty and obligation. Please enjoy!

Getting back on the road we battled a 15 knot headwind, 95 degree temperatures, and high humidity the remainder of the way to Joplin, arriving about 6:30 PM. A dip in the pool at the Hampton Hotel never felt so good, I just wish we were staying there. Just kidding, we are. We ended our evening with supper at the adjacent Outback Steakhouse with Amanda and her husband courtesy of Lane.

Thank you Lane.