Great River Road to Memphis

From one awesome city to another, I followed the Great River Road to Memphis from St. Louis.

It was suppose to be a partly cloudy day. No such luck. When I woke up it was cloudy and about to rain. Luckily, I managed to pack up just before the rain started. It was nothing serious though. But enough that the drops stung my face and had to put my visor down.

Antigravity Battery

I stopped for my usual McDonald’s breakfast.

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A large coffee and cinnamon melt.

I needed to charge my cell phone but couldn’t find a plugin in the entire restaurant! I guess they don’t want me hanging around. No problem though. I pulled out my Antigravity Battery and charged my phone.

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This battery is great. It does everything from charging my phone to charging my motorcycled batter should it go dead. And I can charge it through my motorcycle as I travel.

Mississippi River

I really didn’t see much of the Mississippi River today as I rode the Great River road through Missouri, over to Kentucky, into Tennessee and finally into Arkansas. But I did see some of it.

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Lost

Somewhere between Clinton and Hickman Kentucky I got lost. I thought I was following the Great River Road signs, but suddenly they disappeared on me. As luck would have it I was running out of gas as well. It is nice having a GPS though. You are never really lost. I set it for the nearest gas station.

It took me through a series of gravel and partially paved roads through fields of corn and soybean. At one point I misjudged a corner. I had to lean hard to make it. The tires started to come out from underneath me. I thought for sure I was going to end up in a field. I was turning and braking at the same time. Not a good thing to do, but I needed to slow down fast. After a couple expletives under my breath I managed to make the corner thanks to my ABS. I was quite amazed how it transitioned from the paved to gravel portions of the corner in the wet.

I made it to the gas station where, of course, it started to rain harder.

Weather Shift

At this point I just wanted to get to Memphis and was thinking about getting a cabin at the KOA I booked. I rode through the rain on the interstate.

Now, I am not sure where the north ends and the south begins in the US, but I think I found it. All of a sudden I rode out of the swath of cloud the had engulfed me, and into blue sky and stifling heat. I watched as the temperature got up to 34 C. I got into Memphis and it was HOT and HUMID.

That is one think ab out riding a motorcycle, you feel all the different weather. Not like sitting in a car not feeling anything.

It was time for a cold drink and settle in my tent for the night.

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Route for August 23, 2016

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Anheuser-Busch St. Louis

What a great day today as I visited Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis and rode around seeing the sights.

Woke up today to clear blue skies. Haven’t seen that too often. And had a good sleep in my little Big Agnes tent.

There is a saying in adventure motorcycling, “all gear all the time,” AGATT. Well … I violated that today. I put on my jeans, golf shirt, runners and windbreaker and rode off to Starbucks. I did wear a helmet 🙂 Starbucks still doesn’t accept my Visa. After paying for breakfast with my Mastercard, it was off to the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis.

Anheuser-Busch

They have 3 tours at the brewery – Complimentary, Day Fresh for $10, and Brew Masters for $35. I took the Day Fresh Tour. The complex here is amazing. I was just as interested in the history contained in the buildings as in the beer making process. Throughout the tour you get samples of beer. And at the end you get a ticket for a pint of whatever Anheuser-Busch makes. Plus you get a gift pack of a bottle of beer pulled off the assemble line that day.

As for the history part, there are many historical buildings. Some date back to the late 1800s. Anyways … I’ll let my pictures do the talking here.

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At the end I sat in the Biergarten with my free pint of Michelob Golden.

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I had planned to go to Busch Stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals play and to the St. Louis Arch. By this time it was after 1 pm so I decided to go. I was tempted to stay a lot longer and have something to eat too. I should have. But you just never know.

Busch Stadium

A couple of things I was hoping for. First, to be able to see a St. Louis Cardinals game. But they weren’t in town today. I could stay until they were but the weather was turning bad. Plus, baseball is no longer the inexpensive sport to watch like it once was. Perhaps I’ll see another team along the way.

Second, was to get a great picture on me on my bike outside of the stadium. I rode around the stadium several times. There just wasn’t a spot without paying money for parking. Typical downtown I suppose. Anyways, I did quickly pull into this space and take a quick picture.

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St Louis Arch

Just like Busch Stadium, I drove around the Arch several times looking for a spot to pull over and take a picture without paying for parking. I even went to the spot I went to 3 years ago to take a picture. However, it was closed for church parking. Oh well. I saw it and have the picture from 3 years ago.

KOA

It was back to the KOA campsite after a good day. Time to relax and do nothing, which is hard for me to do. Something I am trying to do without much success.

It was fun riding around it though.

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