It’s day three and we have made some really good time the past two days. If all goes well, today we will be a whole day ahead of schedule. For this we’ll need to make it out to Lawrence, Kansas. After getting ready and running through the same grueling routine of re-loading the bikes with all our gear we set back out on the road. Things are going pretty well and boy is it hot. At the first gas stop we decide that stopping in St Louis, Missouri will be a good idea and we set our eyes on The Gateway Arch as our first destination upon arrival.
We’re driving down the highway when we get a glimpse of the top of the arch. “Yes! We’re almost there.” A few more miles and we cross the river and hit St. Louis. As we circle what looks to be the downtown area of the city we run into Busch Stadium. I’m in awe as we circle the stadium and take the exit off the highway. As the bikes roll into the city I notice how clean and calm the city looks. It’s mid day on a Monday so there are definitely people around. We take a ride and eventually pull into a parking deck and go for a walk.
The old courthouse has a nice fountain in front of it and we stop to take pictures. There’s a food truck called Seoul Taco around the corner and that’s where we buy our lunch. After eating we head straight for the Arch.
A woman at the tourist center tells Marco that we need to purchase tickets inside the old courthouse to visit The Gateway Arch so we make a bee line straight there.
It’s about 1:30pm when we get in line at the courthouse to purchase tickets. While waiting one of us notices a monitor that says “Next tour 3:30pm.” We begin wondering if that means the next elevator ride up the Arch is at 3:30. There’s no way we’re waiting for two hours, we have ground to cover. As we get to the counter to hand over our $10 we are greeted with the unfortunate news that yes that monitor means the next elevator ride will be at 3:30. We think for a minute and decide it’s just not worth waiting so we have a quick photo session with the Arch and then back to the parking deck to get our bikes.
On our way out we messed up on our directions and instead of crossing straight west across the city through I70, we end up going south and around the city and now have to take a different route that will eventually intersect I70 further west; way outside of the city. The traffic also doesn’t help and we lose a decent amount of time with this minor set back.
We finally get onto I70 and we’re moving along when we spot some gray clouds up ahead and it looks like we are riding into a bad storm. We pull over into a gas station and discuss whether we should wait it out or power through. We take too long to agree and the rain moves in faster than expected. At this point we are taking shelter under a truck fueling station and hopping from station to station as 18 wheelers roll in to re-fuel. Staying here is no longer an option so we suit up with our rain gear and wait for the rain to calm down a bit. It does, and we head out for Kingdom City, MO where we had made a reservation at, from the truck stop. The rain seems to be cooperating and we are getting closer to our destination for the day. Even though it’s not as far as we’d like to be we are still ahead of schedule and staying dry is more important than covering ground.
One mile from exit 148 on Interstate 70 we ride into a down pour. At about 70 mph the rain stings as it hits us. For a second we think we’re riding through a hail storm but it’s just heavy rain. We ride that last mile, take our exit and get to our shelter as quickly as possible, practically soaked. As we pull up to where we are staying for the night I realize that I had forgotten to put my boots on, back at the stop. I had kept my sneakers on and now my feet where soaked to the skin. Not good as this will now prevent me from using the sneakers tomorrow.
We settle in and pray that this rain passes us overnight.