The trip started out on a rain day. I got my last minute running done and finished my homemade leg rests waiting for the rain to pass as forecasted.

This never happened and at 5pm I decided to roll out wet and head west to outrun the storm front. In about an hour I was riding on dry roads and digging out the sunglasses.

I only got 2 or 3 hours sleep the night before so I was tired. I still managed to get to Marion Indiana just north of Indianapolis. I was planning to ride farther but when I made a fuel stop the hotel across the street lured me in.

Come morning I took off for my brothers place near Effingham Illinois. He rolled out on his bike and met up with me to ride the last hour in with me. That was a cool ride snaking around the back roads of middle America.

We got back to his place and fired up the smoker. Allen smoked ten pounds of chicken for the three of us having dinner. The chicken was awesome and the side dishes rounded it out into a feast. This was followed with an evening hanging out with his wife Mary and his neighbor Stick.

The next morning I rolled out and headed for St. Louis to meet my childhood friend for dinner at "The Loop".

It's in University City Mo. near where we grew up. I got in early and cruised the old hood. The neighborhood looked great. I then found the restaurant, Blueberry Hill at 3 or 4 pm and just sat back at the sidewalk cafe and watched the freak show walking by all afternoon.

Gerri showed up around 6pm and we had a blast talking about the stupid stuff we did as little kids. The place boosted of their award winning burger so I had to try it out. I fell in love with our appetizer. A midwest treat of toasted ravioli. After a couple of hours of food and fun we parted ways.

I threw on my leather and rolled off to get a few hours of the Ozark Mountains behind me before I called it a night. I threw in the towel a few hours later in St. James and grabbed a room.

I was excited at the chance to run rt66 the next day on my way to Tulsa Oklahoma to visit with my sailing friends Pat and Suzanne.