Tuesday, June 24 — McKittrick to St. Charles
We woke up to the aroma of biscuits and gravy cooking. It took Mary Ann and me back to our grandparents’ farm where our grandmother made biscuits and gravy every morning.
Becky told us about moving back to Missouri and seeing the house and property years before she bought it and dreaming of owning it. The events that led up to her actually purchasing it were quite serendipitous; she just knew she was meant to live there.
We ate our breakfast, packed up and got on our way. We didn’t even have to drive to the trail head today. We rode our bikes down the driveway from Becky’s back door and onto the trail, then the short mile to McKittrick Trail Head and parted company with Liz until the next trail head at Treloar, 16.1 miles. We both thought that this 16 mile start was much better than the first one when we started the ride in Pleasant Hill 5 days ago.
Next stop, Marthasville, a mere 7 miles. Liz drove to Washington, a fairly large town across the river from Marthasville, to buy a few supplies. She came back with 2 bottles of wine that had been bottled in Hermann where Becky Aldrich lives.
The weather, so far, is a little better; we have some intermittent cloud cover and a nice breeze. The next leg was short, 3.7 miles to Dutzow. Along the short stretch there was a bridge built in 1926 by the American Bridge Co., still standing. The original gravesite of Daniel Boone and his wife Rebecca was a little ways off the trail. Their remains were moved to Frankfurt, Kentucky later on. Daniel Boone is legendary in expanding the growth of America from east to west and is still a symbol of the common man as a great American. He has a big presence in Missouri.
We continued on to Augusta, just 7.7 miles. We locked up our bikes and drove around the quaint little town. Very pretty little slice of Americana.
We rode on to Matson, 5.7 miles, then Weldon Spring, 4.6 miles. Weldon Spring was the site of the Uranium Field Mill Plant which produced yellow cake uranium ore. The Plant was closed in 1966 and sat vacant for 20 years. Site decontamination was started in the late 1980’s and completed in 2001. 1.5 million cubic yards of asbestos, radioactive uranium, and contaminated rubble was removed.
At Weldon Springs we encountered a gentleman who was stranded there with a totally blown out tire. We offered him a ride and since we were going to Greens Bottom, where he lives; he happily accepted. He was quite thankful as he was 10 miles from home and his wife was busy and couldn’t come rescue him for a while. We learned later that he made a $250 donation on-line to Bike for the Cure. Thank you Steve!!
We rode and Liz drove to Greens Bottom and from there we would ride the last leg of the bike ride into St. Charles, only 6.2 more miles! We will stay at the home of Eric and Lynn Burgdorf tonight. We found them through the Methodist Church there. They graciously “gave” us their home to stay in while they were away dealing with family matters. People’s generosity never fails to amaze me. Thank you Eric and Lynn.
St. Charles was the first Capitol of Missouri, from 1821 – 1825. During this time, the new state capitol (Jefferson City) was being built in the middle of the state. It is the third oldest city in Missouri, and where Lewis and Clark started their exploration of the newly acquired “Louisiana Purchase.”
Well, we did it!! Bike for the Cure has ridden the 25th ride to raise awareness and funds for Huntington’s Disease. Thank you all for following along with us, it’s been a joy to be involved in this effort.
Still hoping and praying for a cure….never give up! We are still accepting donations by check or on-line. Go to www.bikeforthecure.org for more information on how to donate.
Sherri