My alarm went off around 6:30. I groggily got up regretting that I'd spent valuable sleep time the previous night watching pointless TV. It happens far too often on my motorcycle trips (at least when I stay in a motel.)
My plan was to go down to the lobby and enjoy the continental breakfast while I used my laptop to check maps and maybe line up a hotel for that evening.
The breakfast part went as planned, with the hotel supplying some rolls, cereal and coffee. Unfortunately I wasn't able to connect to the wifi so I wasn't able to look up the information.
What I did encounter, though, was a weird guy in the lobby. He struck up a conversation with me, which was fine. However he was one of those people who didn't know the line between casual conversation and burying me with information in which I really wasn't interested. He continued to pile on the details of his work schedule and the various things he does each day. I sat listening to him until I finished my meal, then as politely as possible excused myself.
Up in the room I quickly packed my bag, then hauled everything down to the front desk to check out. The ladies behind the desk really didn't seem too interested that I was leaving, so I left my key on the counter and walked out the door. I could hear the weird guy talking and realized he'd cornered a different victim.
I loaded up the bike and headed out. My first order of business was to get fuel. I was pretty low on gas and had been keeping my eye out for a convenient gas station on my way in the previous night, but didn't find one. I most certainly would find one as I continued east on highway 18.
Sure enough, about a half mile down the road I came across a gas station where I filled up.
I headed east on highway 18 through Mason City. Outside of town I continued on 18 for a short while until the road intersected with highway 218. 218 is a four lane limited access highway that would take me all the way into St. Louis. It's dubbed the "Avenue of the Saints."
Around Charles City once again I looked in my rearview mirror and noticed my luggage about to fall off the back of the bike. I pulled over on the shoulder and rectified the situation. I'm not sure why I've started to have this trouble with my luggage.
I continued my trek south. I drive the route from Mason City down to Iowa City at least twice a year visiting family, so I'm pretty familiar with the route. It's not very exciting. Apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way because I saw a trucker who was falling asleep too.
At Waterloo, one has to take an off ramp to take the bypass around the north end of town. This bypass is about six miles long, then ends on a six lane thoroughfare that runs through town. Once again my luggage started slipping so I pulled over to fix it. At least I was getting brief stretch breaks.
On the south side of Waterloo I picked up interstate 20 for a short while and then branched south on interstate 380.
380 took me down through Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. At Iowa City 380 ends when it crosses interstate 80, and the road turns back into highway 218.
I was due for a gas and a stretch break, so I stopped at a gas station for both. I chatted for a while with a guy on a BMW who looked like he was loaded up for a long trip. As it turned out he was just going for a Saturday morning ride. He asked if I was heading up to Milwaukee because there was a big Harley gathering going on up there. That explains all the motorcycles I was seeing going the opposite direction.
After I gassed up and got a beverage I slathered on a layer of sunscreen and continued south. The next few hours weren't terrible as far as scenery goes, but also wasn't anything to write home about: typical Iowa/northern Missouri views.
A little after noon I reached Canton, MO. I was hungry and this looked like a good place to stop for some lunch. I only had 111 miles on this tank, but I decided to go ahead and fill up just to save me a stop later on. I went ahead and did that first.
With my tank full I rode the bike over to a parking space and went inside a Steak 'N Shake. As I enjoyed my burger, fries and shake, I hopped on the wifi network and made a hotel reservation in Paducah, KY. Not having access to a printer, I looked at the map on the website showing where the hotel was located, and scribbled some notes on a piece of paper to help me find it once I arrived.
After lunch it was time to hit the road again. The temp was getting warm and I was already getting weary. Unfortunately I was a little less than half way to my stop for the night. I knew this was going to be a long day, so I just resolved myself to keep pushing on.
As I was getting back on 218, I saw an old abandoned house that looked kind of cool, so I stopped and snapped a picture.
The next several hours were uneventful. I continued south on 218 until it turned into Interstate 64 in St. Louis. I rode around the south loop of the city which then angled east through downtown. Traffic was getting thicker but this being a Saturday afternoon wasn't gridlocked like it would have been on a weekday.
As I passed through the riverfront area, I fully intended to pull off the interstate in order to stretch and snap some pictures. If nothing else I figured a picture of the Gateway Arch was in order.
Unfortunately, I wasn't sure which exit to take. I thought I had one more exit to go before crossing the river, and the next thing I knew I was on the bridge heading into Illinois. Then I thought maybe I'd pull off on the east side of the river and snap some pictures, but again I didn't see any off ramp that looked promising. Traffic was heavy enough that I wasn't comfortable with slowing down and rubbernecking in order to find a suitable spot to pull off.
I felt a little depressed that I had ridden through St. Louis without stopping, but by this time my weariness was deep and I just wanted to get to my hotel. Looking at the map it appeared I didn't have much farther to go, but when you're actually sitting on the bike time seems to move slowly.
I was in need of fuel and hit my reserve tank. Several exits had signs saying gas was available, but the station wasn't visible from the interstate and I wasn't in the mood for sight-seeing to find them. I pushed on gambling on how far I could go without fuel. Finally I saw a station just off the exit ramp in Okawville, IL so I pulled off and fuelled up.
The day had grown very, very warm. I didn't realize how warm until I stopped and got off the bike. After filling my tank I pulled forward and went inside the store to grab something cold to drink. I bought an iced tea but unfortunately there wasn't anywhere in the store to sit and relax. I went back outside and stood next to the bike and sipped my drink. After a couple minutes I decided that standing in the heat wasn't any better than sitting on the bike, and the sooner I would reach Paducah the sooner I could really relax. So back on the bike I climbed and continued to head east.
About 50 miles east of my gas stop I reached the intersection of Interstate 57 and headed south. I rode this stretch for a while until I branched off on Interstate 24 that would take me into Paducah. This section was starting to get more scenic as there were much more trees and hills. The added scenery was too little too late though, and I was ready to get off the bike and call it a day after my 600 mile journey.
After an eternity (or so it felt) I finally arrived in Paducah around 6:20. I was happy I had arrived fairly early in the evening so I would have plenty of time to relax. I pulled off the interstate and started following the directions I had jotted down previously, based on the map I had seen when making the reservations.
I rode down the streets where it looked like the hotel was supposed to be located. I saw a few hotels, but not the one with which I had made reservations. Eventually I found myself heading out of town on the west side and reasoned I had ridden past it. I doubled back until I found the area near where I thought the hotel should be. I then rode circles for a while but couldn't find it.
Finally 40 minutes later I discovered the hotel was literally right at the end of the exit ramp where I had gotten off the interstate. I had ridden right by it because the map I saw earlier had placed it about 1/2 mile to the west of the interstate.
Frustrated, but relieved I was finally "home" for the evening I checked into my hotel. My room wasn't anything special, but it had air conditioning and a bed which is all I really cared about at the moment.
I showered up and put on some clean clothes. There were plenty of restaurants in the area and I thought about hopping on the bike and finding something interesting. Instead, I decided I had been on the bike enough for the day and walked across the parking lot to a Texas Roadhouse. It was a chain steak house but at this point I didn't care.
I went inside and found the place pretty busy. The waitress told me I might have to wait a while (which was fine by me because I had no other plans) but I wound up getting a booth nearly immediately. My waiter was excellent. I ordered a steak that was much larger than I really needed, and I gorged myself while reading my book.
I left a generous tip (the waiter really was top notch) and started to walk back to the hotel. I needed to make plans for the following night when my route had me staying in Nashville, TN. I have several friends in Nashville, so I decided to give them a call and find out if anyone was available for a visit. If they were, I could then book a hotel near where they live.
As it turned out my friend David was out of town, so I called my friends Trevor and Lauren. Their phone mail picked up so I left a message which probably sounded interesting because in the middle of the call a guy with a loud booming stereo nearly ran me down as I walked across the parking lot.
I got back into my hotel room and started to relax for the evening when Trevor called me back. I told him I was going to be in town the next night and asked if I could take Lauren and him to supper. He did me one better and told me to just plan on staying in their spare bedroom rather than getting a hotel. We made plans and I bid him goodnight after getting directions to their house.
I called my wife and then crawled into bed. I was dead tired and it was only about 10:00, but I was ready to sack out. Unfortunately like I do too often, I turned on the TV. Once again I started watching a stupid movie I had seen before but for some reason couldn't turn off until I saw the ending. So it was well after 11:00 before I finally fell asleep.
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This page last updated on 06/28/2018