Katy Trail: day 10

Monday 3 June

5 am: Billie and JD left for a 12-hour drive back to Roanoke. What a great adventure we had! And it was wonderful to spend time with good friends. 

A tornado touched down in this area on Friday night and created a swath of destruction 250 yards wide and 32 miles long in 35 minutes. This is the back patio of our hotel as of this morning, the biggest pieces had already been removed. The power had been restored just two hours before our arrival yesterday. Whew! 

I took a walk along Riverport Dr this afternoon to check out some of the damage.

Not our hotel.

No damage here, but it was fun to watch these window washers swinging around, washing/squeegee-ing, then lowering themselves down to the next section. 

There were only three of them despite what it looks like.

I'm packed and ready to fly home tomorrow.

Katy Trail: day 9

Sunday 2 June

Rhineland to Hermann - 7 miles by bicycle. Rhineland to St Louis - 83 miles by vehicle. The Katy Trail for today was flooded, so we decided to end our adventure one day early, especially since we were able to make arrangements for JD to get to St Louis via BJ, Lucy's son. Lucy is the owner of Loutre B&B.

While JD went to get his van in St Charles, Billie and I rode into the very cute village of Hermann. Debris on the Loutre (pronounced "looter") River unable to pass under the bridge:

German School Building, 111 years old, now a museum.

Riverfront Park completely underwater:

Getting ready to leave Hermann:

Back at Loutre B&B, a 3-D jigsaw puzzle to make it all fit:

The Gateway Arch in St Louis.

Katy Trail: day 8

Saturday 1 June

Jefferson City to Rhineland - 22 miles until rescued. (Now you'll keep reading.) By about 9 am, the rain had stopped and it was time to head out. 

The road in front of the hotel was flooded which meant we had to go out the back way to cross over the highway.

The Missouri River was high and filled with debris.

Back on the Katy Trail we had to clear away many fallen trees,

ride on SR 94 when water covered the trail,

carry bikes over trees too big to move,

walk our bikes under fallen trees

and across washouts, 

and even dodge cars using the trail when they couldn't use SR 94.

The water was still rising.

JD went first through this water and almost ran over a 30" fish. His front wheel nudged it. the fish flipped around and swam between his tires. JD was lucky he didn't go down.

The trail ahead was deemed impassable. Now what? 

To the right a flooded road, to the left, the town of Mokane. Hmmm, we were surrounded by deep water. Billie immediately began working on a solution.

We waded through, mid-thigh deep for me.  The people at the bar weren't much help and ended up arguing with each other about which roads might be open to get to Rhineland or maybe Rhineland was impossible to get to. This was a case of TMH - too much help.

The South Callaway Fire Protection District came to our rescue. Everything was loaded into the chief's truck and we were driven the very long way around to our destination.

Jeff became our trail angel of the day. We are so grateful for all he did for us today. Thank you!

Loutre B&B for Billie and JD. Lucy, the owner, graciously allowed me to 

camp in her front yard

and drove us to Hermann for dinner at The Cottage.

What a day, what an adventure, and the river is still rising.

Katy Trail: day 7

Friday 31 May

Columbia to Jefferson City - 32 miles NOT by bike. It looked like we might have a 4-5 hour window to ride to Jefferson City today before the next line of severe thunderstorms arrived. However there were also reports of widespread flooding and the Missouri River was nearing flood stage. So the trail that was so bad coming into Columbia would be worse and today's section of the Katy Trail is along the edge of the Missouri River. We decided to play it safe and rent a vehicle that could handle all our gear. 

Billie called every possible rental company but nothing was available. Finally she put on her jacket and headed out the door and said, "I'm going fishing." She was back in about 15 minutes with a big smile, "Pack your gear. I got us a ride." Aldo is the concierge at the Tiger Hotel. He'd provided us with amazing service during our stay. He did a load of laundry for us, ran to a local restaurant to get us a sample menu, brought us extra treats, and much more. When Billie told him of our dilemma, he said, "My cousin has a truck, I'll call him." We were so grateful.

Because this solution was probably out of the scope of Aldo's job, we were discreet. While cousin Edgar waited down the street at the corner, Aldo helped JD load everything into the truck and tie everything down. Then JD drove the truck to where Edgar was waiting to do the real driving. 

We were soon in Jefferson City.  Trail angels Aldo and Edgar, thank you!

State capital:

Lunch at Downtown Diner where it was

Free Pie Friday.

The governor's mansion looks a lot like Rivercene B&B. One of the Kinney daughters had a good friend who spent a lot of time at Rivercene.  Later that friend married a man who would become governor at the time when the mansion was designed and built. The similarities were deliberate.

The mansion overlooks the Missouri River. 

A great place for ice cream, all made on site.

At about 3 pm the severe thunderstorms began, the street in front of the hotel flooded. Even the cars in the parking lot were relocated to higher ground. Again, I'm so glad camping was not on the agenda today. 

Katy Trail: day 6

Thursday 31 May

Rest day - ahhhh. Today's goal was not to get on our bikes at all. Legs and butts were grateful. Our hotel is right downtown making a walking tour easy.

Revitalization of downtown, known here as The District, includes lots of public art.

There are 7 colleges in Columbia, including the University of Missouri, Columbia College, and Stephens College.

Each year the city chooses an artist to paint one of the traffic control boxes. On the other side, you see the back of the cat.

When you look "through" the windows, you can see the representations of the buildings that exist.

Lots of walking meant an afternoon treat at the Velvet Cupcake was in order.

Tiramisu cupcake and a peanut butter and jelly cupcake. Delish.

In the late afternoon, the rain began. Severe thunderstorms and local flooding are expected over the next two days. We will keep a weather eye and make a careful decision before leaving tomorrow.