Here comes the sun… flowers

Day 8. 10/9/24. Augusta to St Charles, MO

Stats: 30 mi. AIS: 2:51min. 10.5 mph Eleven. 351 ft

Bed and Breakfast…

We had the whole house all to ourselves last night. This morning we woke up to an 8am breakfast and coffee. Our innkeeper was a “sub” for the owner. She wasn’t the friendliest host. Margie got her to crack a half-smile at best this morning. But yesterday she wasn’t even remotely warm and fuzzy greeting us. Exact opposite of “Jerry” from Pilot Grove! Not that any of that really matters. It just made us chuckle. It was a nice place to stay.

Katy was the volunteer sag driver today. She enjoyed the drive with the thriller hills then more valley flats. She stopped and walked around a few of the small towns enroute. She met us about 7 miles up the trail at Defiance, Missouri at the Good News Brewery.

It was a cool morning on the trail. A jacket layer was necessary but not for very long. After a few miles it was more comfortable but chilly in the tree sections of the trail.

First interesting stop was a park with a boat launch. There was a cruise yacht parked there. The Miss Augusta. We were told it goes up and back about 5 river miles with group cruises for lunch or dinner. It’s the only boat of that type we’ve noticed yet.

Jim and Paul took a side trail up to a park on the bluff. There was a nice lake and campground up there. You can even rent kayaks and SUP’s from a vending storage unit.

After that attraction came the best one of the day. The sunflower silos. Judge for yourself but I thought they were very attractive. So you get all the photos.

Back down the trail to meet Katy for lunch…10 miles.

We arrived in St Charles… our last town on the ride. We will be here two nights. Tomorrow we ride out and back to the eastern terminus of the Katy Trail…26ish miles round trip.

St Charles is on the outskirts of St Louis. It has a nice riverfront park then a historic 14 block long Main Street of brick buildings with tons of shops and restaurants. We are staying about a mile UP from Main Street in another neighborhood of older brick and Victorian homes. More to come on St Charles highlights tomorrow.