On The Flip Side: Boonville, MO.

I make this post while visiting the public library in Boonville, MO. Boonville is where the Katy Trail crosses the Missouri River and re-enters the Missouri River valley.

We spent Saturday night at the Henry County Fairgrounds, just behind the Clinton Community Center in Clinton, MO. The folks at the community center were as nice as they could be. They let us take showers, offered us ice and told us where all the good eating places are in town. Clinton is the western terminus of the Katy Trail and represented our turn-around point. The trip is now half done.

We spent Sunday night at the Missouri State Fairgrounds facility in Sedalia (again). The fairgrounds campground was nearly empty. The ragtime festival was over and the weekend horse, sheep, and fiber(?) shows were all over. Today was a wonderful day to bike. The temperatures were in the low seventies, it was clear and bright and the humidity was low. I hope this good weather holds as we pedal on down the Missouri River valley. Later this afternoon we plan to drop a few dollars in the local casino, grab some fried chicken at the Riverside Cafe and bike across the river bridge to Franklin where we will camp at the Katy Roundhouse Campground.

Today we met some folks on the trail biking for a fundraiser organized by the United Church of Christ. They are biking the trail back to St. Charles and staying at UCCs along the way. They invited us to have dinner with them tomorrow night and sleep with them in the UCC in Hartsburg. We had camped in Hartsburg on the way out and had planned to stay there again tomorrow night, so we are tempted to accept their offer. Their invitation does represent a moral dilema however. The Hartsburg UCC is just around the corner from the Hitching Post, the best bar and grill we have found along the whole trail. So, is it OK to eat at a church dinner, go out drinking draft beers and then go back and sleep in the church? How many beers can we drink? Will they pray for us sinners? I guess we'll see.

I have had a little feedback from our friends that are reading this journal, but I am curious how many folks are following our adventure. Please drop us an e-mail or post a comment so we will know who's listening. The posts have been infrequent during the Katy Trail portion of our trip, but I expect to post more regularly once we get off the trail.

Later,

Myron