My alarm went off at 6 AM as set, but it was difficult to get out of bed. The morning was chilly, and my sleeping bag was warm. I revelled in how good it felt snuggled in my tent, but I knew that I had to get moving if I was to stay on schedule.
The plan for this day was to take the scenic (I hoped) route from Branson to Omaha. At Omaha, my wife and son were going to meet me at a hotel where we could relax and spend the night. In addition, my brother was working at a job site in Omaha, so he was going to meet us for supper. Then the next day we could take in the Omaha Zoo and head home from there.
As I crawled out of the tent, two things became immediately apparent. First, the humidity was extremely high, probably pushing 100%. The temp was probably in the mid 60s, but the humidity was so intense it made the slight chill seem much colder than it was. It felt like you could swim through the air.
The second thing was the fog. It was thick. Visibility was probably in the 100 yard range, and that was being optimistic. This visibility was going to make for an interesting ride if the fog didn't lift.
I was in need of a shower, not having one since the evening of day 1. However, after weighing my motivation, I decided that I would just hold off a few hours longer and take one as soon as I arrived at the hotel. I broke camp and loaded the bike. It was extra fun folding up the tent as the humidity had made it soaking wet.
Once loaded, I quietly putted out of the campground. I gassed up at a nearby station, then it was time to catch some breakfast before leaving town. Not knowing Branson, I decided to head back down the main strip and see if anything looked interesting. I happened across a Shoneys, which I knew had a breakfast buffet. I had eaten at one about ten years prior and seemed to recall it was pretty good, so I went for it and pulled into the lot.
It was pretty good. Bacon, eggs, muffins, Bavarian waffles and all sorts of other goodies. I ate a large breakfast, stopping just short of making myself sick. I figured in this way I probably wouldn't need to stop for lunch.
As I ate breakfast, I thumbed through the local entertainment magazine from a rack inside the restaurant door. The most amusing thing I saw was a review for one entertainer's all Jimmy Buffet performance. The review stated that he was almost as good as a Jimmy Buffet impersonator. So just so I understand this correctly, what this reviewer was actually saying was that his performance was sub-par enough not to rank him with people who don't have enough of their own talent to be known for something outside of imitating someone else? Gotcha...
As I was leaving, I got the obligatory sales pitch for a time-share.
I've heard that time-shares and boats are similar in that the two happiest days in their owner's lives are the day they buy them, and the day they sell them. I politely turned down the chance to receive free show tickets and headed out the door. I didn't have any desire to see "Buck Trent" perform, even for free. Even if he did invent the electric banjo.
Back down main street, I saw an old P-51 Mustang on a sign outside a museum. P-51s may be the coolest plane ever designed. I just had to turn around and pull into the lot to get a picture. The fog was starting to dissipate, but still was thick enough that it didn't allow as nice a shot as I would have liked.
My route for today was to take me north out of Branson up to Springfield. I would then swing northeast to Lebanon and head up highway 5 to the Lake Of The Ozarks. From there I would swing back northwest to Kansas City, then catch the interstate up to Omaha. I wanted to avoid duplicating the exact same route I took on the first day, and maybe see some new and interesting sights.
As I got on the interstate, the fog actually thickened and mixed in with rain. I decided I was going to have a slow, soggy day ahead of me, so I pulled onto the shoulder and donned my rain gear. Back on the road, I hadn't gone 5 miles when suddenly I rode out of the fog. Seriously, in the space of about 1/4 mile, it went from pea soup with rain to sunny and no clouds in the sky. It was one of the most abrupt weather changes I had ever seen.
So, now I was riding along on a beautiful sunny day wearing rain gear. I pulled over on an off-ramp and removed my gear. There were some pretty cool rock formations at the off-ramp, so I snapped some pictures.
Back on the road toward Springfield, traffic started to pick up. The interstate went up and down some pretty hilly terrain, but moved along at a fast clip.
As I rode through Springfield, I noted that it was a lot bigger than I had envisioned. A google search tells me that the metro area is around 400,000 people. For some reason, when I hear the name "Springfield" I think of a quaint Mayberry-esque community. Not so. It was pretty big and pretty urban.
On the north end of Springfield, I caught I-44 northeast. If one were to stay on this stretch of interstate, it would take you all the way to St. Louis. I wasn't going that far, however. As a matter of curiosity, this stretch of interstate runs along the original "route 66" of lore. So, I did my best to get my kicks.
Unfortunately on this stretch, the Shoneys was starting to kick me instead. My innards were churning and I was fighting a battle to not have to make a rest stop to alleviate the situation. I wanted to stay on schedule as I was unsure how long the ride through the Lake Of The Ozarks would take. I finally decided that I could hold out until I got to the next rest stop.
Well, to add an intensity to the situation, when I got to the rest stop it was closed for remodeling. But at this point the pressure had relieved itself slightly and I decided to hold out until I got to highway 5 at Lebanon.
There were many antique and gift shops located along this stretch of interstate. I was tempted to stop and browse (and I'm sure they had a bathroom) but I resisted the pull. I finally made myself an agreement that if there was a gift shop at the highway 5 junction, I would browse around there. There wasn't.
I did, however, come across a McDonalds. I decided that desecrating their bathroom could be understood, if not condoned. After a few minutes of private reflection, I felt much better.
As long as I was stopped, I used this opportunity to cake myself with sunscreen. I hadn't put any on earlier because of the fog.
Heading north on highway 5, traffic was getting heavier and it was obviously the leisurely no-hurry vacation type of traffic. Lots of campers and boat trailers. I rode along and enjoyed the day. The weather had turned about perfect.
I had never been to the Lake Of The Ozarks area before, but I had heard a lot about it. It certainly is a beautiful area. The lakes are good sized. It also looks like the kind of place that you should avoid if you want a relaxing weekend in seclusion. Things were pretty hoppin' even at 11 AM.
The road swung to the northwest, and I followed it. This next stretch of road turned into a lot of fun. It wasn't unusually curvy, but what it did have was lots of short steep hills. So I'd barrel down a hill then up the other side, and when I reached the peak the road would fall away again and I'd be heading down the next one. It reminded me somewhat of my old BMX days when you'd hit the top of a jump and feel that brief moment of weightlessness.
Once I was heading away from the Lake Of The Ozarks, traffic was much lighter. The road was scenic, although not quite what I had experienced in Arkansas.
Around noon I reached my gas stop at Warsaw. I bought a soda and called my wife to make sure we were still on track to meet in Omaha. They were going to leave Sioux Falls around 2:00. I also asked her to bring some different pain killers, as my body was really starting to hurt and the ibuprofen I had wasn't cutting it. Perhaps some Alieve would kick the pain. I then headed west on highway 7.
The closer I got to Kansas City, the duller the road became. I knew the second half of the day would be the dull stretch. Still, no amount of mental preparation can fully immunize you from the dullness that is western Missouri. I tried to amuse myself by taking pictures as I rode.
I finally reached highway 71 where I turned north toward Kansas City. After what seemed to be an eternity, I reached Kansas City. It was now about 2 PM, which was just a few clicks behind my schedule, but not bad. Remembering the gridlock I experienced a few days prior, I took 435 around the east side of town.
By the time I reached the north end of town, I was getting hungry. The Shoneys hadn't stuck with me as long as I had anticipated. I didn't want to eat anything heavy, however, as we had plans to eat at a buffet that evening and I'd hate to show up full and not get my money's worth.
I was due for a gas/bathroom stop, so I pulled into a truck stop and filled up. I then looked around through the fridge area, and saw an oriental spicy chicken wrap that looked halfway decent and something that wouldn't ruin my supper.
I bought that and an iced tea and went outside and stood in a shady spot to eat. The temp was now well into the 90's again, so the shade wasn't a whole lot of relief. As I stood and ate, a guy walked by with a t-shirt from my old alma mater, the University of Sioux Falls. As the guy went by I said, "Go Cougars!" He looked shocked for a second, then grinned at me. I told him I went to USF, to which he responded with a surprised look. Apparently after four days on the road in blazing heat without showering or shaving, I don't look like college material.
After finishing my snack I hopped back on the bike and headed on my way. As I went to turn left onto the interstate on-ramp, I had a lapse in brain activity. For some reason I overshot the intersection and by the time I realized it I had to u-turn into the right-turnoff of the oncoming lane in order to get back onto the interstate. Of course, who do I pull out right in front of? The guy with the USF shirt. Apparently I don't drive like college material either.
Finally, I was on the last stretch of the day. The home stretch. My mind started to salivate (if a mind can salivate) about getting to the hotel room, showering and stretching out on a bed in an air-conditioned room.
The anticipation didn't help the miles tick away any faster, though. Once again I found myself fighting boredom, fatigue and extreme body pain, especially in my left shoulder.
I pulled out the camera and tried to amuse myself again. Here's what the stretch of interstate between Kansas City and Omaha looks like:
Here's a truck that was behind me:
Here's me as I'm nearing the south side of Omaha. After looking at this picture I realized how grey my beard is getting. It's a good thing I normally shave. Aging sucks.
At long last, I arrived in Omaha. The hotel was on the south end, actually in Council Bluffs, IA. I checked in right at 5 PM, half expecting my wife and son to beat me there. They hadn't, which meant I had a few minutes to relax in the quiet cool comfort of the room.
I thought about taking a nap, but I think I was too wired from the trip. Even though I was exhausted, I didn't feel drowsy. But I did enjoy the rest.
I kept hearing what I thought was a cat screeching. I ignored it at first, but it didn't seem to let up. Finally I got up off the bed and looked out the window. There was a guy racing an R/C car up and down the back of the building. As it turns out, small gas engines sound like cats screeching.
Around 5:30, suddenly I had this feeling that I should go check the lobby. I padded down the hall and as I got to the lobby, sure enough my wife and son were just walking in the door. Freaky. I helped them haul their luggage to the room.
After catching up for a few minutes, I called my brother to let him know we were in town and then hopped in the shower. He showed up at the hotel room right as I was finishing shaving.
We all hopped in the car and drove over to the Golden Corral and ate buffet until we couldn't see straight.
Then we went back to the hotel where I finally succumbed to the rigors of the previous four days on the road.
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This page last updated on 06/28/2018