From Saint Louis, MO to Cuba, MO
From Saint Louis, MO to Cuba, MO
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I don't need the television to tell me that it is raining outside. The rain is driving against the big windows and the thunder while muffled is still quite audible. I turn on the television to see what the day's prospects are. Not good, it will be wet. Probably wet tomorrow as well. However, things will improve to the west and south tomorrow. I mull the several options and decide to head west and get positioned for a nice day of travel on Tuesday.
I take my time getting ready and heading out on the road. The rain should let up as we approach midday and there is no reason to get any more wet than necessary. Downstairs the grill fixes a wonderful, and surprisingly expensive, omelet. I've gotten accustomed to the short order style of omelet: something like a scrambled fried egg cooked on the griddle not in a pan. Today's omelet is pan-cooked, wonderfully fluffy and full of mushroom and Swiss cheese.
It is gray but dry when I get the bike packed up to go. The driving instructions suggest a left turn on 12th street but there is no 12th Street. I head out 14th to meet up with the onramps to 44/55 et. al. I notice a line of motorcycles parked in front of a ramshackle row of houses. I guess this is a club (gang?) house. The bikes are all Harleys, dirty because they are used daily. The doorway is dark, ominous and I wish I had the nerve to go inside and find out what that is all about. But the onramp is just 100 feet ahead and it is calling to me.
My driving instructions directed me to enter 55 southbound and immediately transition to 44 heading west. I think I've made it to a different onramp. I do the 55 south correctly and just keep heading south. There is a great view of the Mississippi River from the first mile or so. I won't be seeing you again for awhile. Out through the southern suburbs. I get nervous when I see a sign for Cape Girardeau. This is not correct. I get off the interstate to check a map and to get some gas. Damn if I didn't do it again!
I backtrack about ten miles to Interstate 270 to head north to meet up with Interstate 44. I check into a cute Best Western and then head over to Walmart. I need a variety of products: Shaving cream and blades (I need a lot more with a bald head), toothpaste, zinc (I still sound like Brenda Vacaarro selling tampons) to fight my sore throat, batteries and bottled water. The local people are buying TVs and other electrical appliances fried during the recent thunderstorms. The pace here is slow and the check-out line seems to move in reverse.
In the parking lot a woman approaches me to talk bikes. Of course we talk about many other things. I think that people in small towns know that everyone knows everyone's business so they are quick to spill the beans on themselves. Us urban-folk are slower to share critical information in hopes of keeping up our facade a bit longer.
In short order, I learn:
I'm not even asking questions -- it just keeps coming. My mind and heart are full and I need to leave. I roll through Cuba having a look see but notice some nasty lightening on the horizon and decide to get my errands done. A quick lunch and I'm ready to go back to the hotel.
I spend a lot of the afternoon outside watching the sky. We just don't have weather and clouds like this in California. The clouds are alive, moving and twisting and turning. The lightening remains about ten miles to the north and there is never any rain. I have a nice four hour nap in the afternoon.
I'm out in the sticks and can't get an Internet connection that will hold for more than a few minutes.
Depart St. Louis on Interstate 55 heading south.
At Imperial MO, turn north on Interstate 55.
At intersection with Interstate 270, head north.
At intersection with Interstate 44, head east.
Arrive Cuba, MO
(c) 2001 Thomas N. Engler Revision Date: 06/06/2001
