Day 5 - May 27, 2002 - Jefferson City to Franklin (Milepost 189)
The Ramada Inn provided an All You Can Eat "waffles to omelettes" breakfast the next morning. What could be better for bicycle tourists? Answer - a bicycle lane on the bridge!
The shuttle van driver responsible for returning us to the Katy Trail explained in a thick Brooklyn accent that he was running late. Our bicycles lurched in the back as he dodged erratically through traffic. Since he could only take three of us at a time, he dropped the Helms and me off at the N. Jeff City trailhead first, where we waited almost an hour for him to return with Mike. We learned later he had gone to lunch between dropping us off and picking up Mike.
Finally we were off to a late start. In Hartsburg we met another entrepreneur like others whom we had met last summer. Young Maggie had set up her lemonade stand on the porch of the Cycle Depot bike shop. She was banking on business from thirsty Katy Trail bicyclists, and we obliged.
The section of trail between Hartsburg and Rocheport was particularly hard hit by the flood of 1993. Historic Hartsburg was under many feet of mud and water. The towns' people had worked for days with pumps and sandbags to try to hold back the river, but were unsuccessful. The landscape through here is sculpted by flooding and the levees built to control it. A section of Trail near Rocheport was eroded by the river, but recently repaired.
Lunch stop at Cooper's Landing. The 1993 flood waters here were well above the point at which I took these pictures.
Limestone bluffs on the north side of the trail make this one of the most scenic sections. I had hoped to spend more time in Rocheport to climb up to a winery there and get a classic view of the Trail, but we arrived so late that the shops and services were closing. All accommodations were full, so we pressed on to the Katy Roundhouse campground in Franklin with what provisions we had.
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1) Limstone bluffs near Rocheport and the Lewis and Clark Cave
2) Rocheport trailhead
Day 6 - May 28, 2002 - Franklin to Boonville (Milepost 192)
The old Katy Roundhouse at our campground
Today was a short day in which we intended to take a break. The Trail crossed the Missouri River on a bike lane and departed from the River's course at Boonville. From the bridge, we could see the bright pink Isle of Capri gambling casino. Gambling is only legally allowed on the River, thanks to outdated laws. Although this casino appeared to be built on solid ground, our B&B host in Marthasville, a structural engineer, explained that great effort was taken to build this so that it was technically floating. Make sense?
At breakfast in Boonville, Peter and Maren were persuaded to try their first sample of American biscuits and gravy, a dish that I admit, does not often look too appetizing. We got a motel and vegged out for the rest of the day. Dinner was at KFC, another first for Peter and Maren, and a bicycle tourist bargain at $3.99 for All You Can Eat.
