Charlotte to the Arctic

809 miles today, and I made it to st Joseph MO. It rained on and off all morning















But then it ended as fast as it came










Pretty countryside leaving Knoxville, and then it flattened out to the typical flat as far as you can see fields.










Finally with the rain behind me, I sat back and listened to some Christian music on my iPhone. As I tooled along I got normal "what the heck" looks from passing cars, along with waves and thumbs up. It seems like the kids are more interested than the adults....I guess that's why I like it!






Soon I came up on St Louis and traffic started picking up. I turned off the music so I could concentrate..they were having some airshow near the arches and a Harrier was showing off some cool air work. Unfortunately I could only give it a couple second looks and I continued on through





I crossed the Ohio River and the Missouri River twice. It was pretty windy in the middle and I was pushed from side to side of my lane, while buffeting along.




The time went fairly quickly. I stopped a few times for gas and a quick bite to eat then hurried back on the highway trying to get here before dark.




I found that there are 27 different positions I can sit on a motorcycle. If you rotate between all of them, it really doesn't matter, your butt still hurts.
I did use my highway pegs as leg rests which worked well.





I arrived to a very nice secluded campground, and set up camp. Another biker came and chatted while I made dinner.....yep ramen again!
Tomorrow I will have granola, as I already picked up a bottle of milk.




Tomorrow I will head to the Badlands. The flooding up here is still bad and the interstates are closed in sections, so I will go cross country on back roads to bypass it all. It will take a little longer, but it will be a nice break from all the fast moving traffic.

Tomorrow should bring a change in scenery as I head farther west. Talk to you then!