Monday, June 23 – North Jefferson to McKittrick
We got up and loaded our gear and had to practically hog tie Denise to prevent her from cooking a big breakfast for us. She is a Pampered Chef Representative, so she started loading us up with seasoning packets and mixes for breads or brownies as “parting gifts.” Their generosity is endless! We took a few pictures, said our goodbyes and drove to the North Jefferson Trail Head.
Our first leg this morning was to the Tebbetts Trail Head, a 12 mile ride. We survived that so we continued on to Mokane, a short 6.2 mile ride. Followed by Portland, 9.1 miles. On this leg, I saw two young white tail deer, just when I was thinking I hadn’t seen much wildlife. One stood in the path and looked straight at me until I got close enough to scare it off, then down the path about a mile one bounded across the path right in front me.
The area around McKittrick/Hermann is called Rhineland. There are 7 wineries there which produce 1/3 of the state’s wine. Hermann was founded by German settlers to perpetuate their culture here in America. Since 1842 it has been the county seat of Gasconade County. Hermann was named after the Germanic chieftain Hermann der Cherusker who defeated the Romans in the battle of Teutonburg Forest in 9 AD.
The last stop would have been McKittrick Trail Head, but we were staying with Becky Aldrich who lives right on the KATY Trail about a mile short of McKittrick. So I rode my bike to her house while Liz and Mary Ann drove to Hermann for a few groceries. Top on the list – watermelon, a good summer cooler!
Becky hasn’t really changed in the last 8 years (we stayed with her in 2017). She came to the door with 2 Corgis, Pepper and Sugar and a little 4 month old Chi-weenie dog named Rocket, three little bundles of fur and energy!
She and I sat and visited while waiting for Mary Ann and Liz. Becky lives on a big farm acreage. She has horses and chickens and her dogs. She leases land to farmers who plant crops on it. She’s not only a farmer, she’s also a journalist. She covers two City meetings a month for the local newspaper, and both meetings were occurring the night we were there.
The sag wagon came rolling in and we unloaded our gear and took showers. Becky told us where to find the wonderful dinner she provided us and went off to her meetings. She made a special treat for us: 1 gallon of Missouri’s best vanilla ice cream, softened, stir in 2 cans of frozen lemonade & return to freezer. Then eat!! Oh my gosh it was sooo good!
After dinner we walked up and fed the horses each a carrot. Becky came home and had to write her articles from her notes, so we left her in peace and quiet and went downstairs to go to bed.
Sorry I’m running behind. I appreciate your patience and that you’re following our progress.
Sherri
PS from Marie -It is hard to fit everything into 24 hours. Sleeping, biking, touring, visiting with hosts and others along the way all take time. Sherri is doing an excellent job. She writes the day to day happenings, and I write the historical information to complement what she writes. Team effort.