This morning I left at sunrise to ride the 540 miles from Minneapolis, MN to Saint Louis, MO. I took my trusty SV650. It has been a great travelling companion; I’ve put nearly 60,000 miles on it since I bought it five years ago. This will be the trip to get that elusive 49th state and watch some MotoGP on the way back.
The first stop was Iowa of course. It was cool most of the morning in the low 60s. Perfect riding weather and a much welcomed change from the heat of summer. The early hour meant the roads were empty as well another bonus.
Why do you confuse me with signs like this Iowa?? Huh? Denver? waaay to flat. haha.
I stopped for lunch at Trumpet Blossom cake was involved. If you want to read more about it, check out my full review: Trumpet Blossom - Iowa City, IA
I saw this cool plane at the Iowa City airport. I had to make a u-turn to get the photo. It was fun to see.
Finally! Missouri! It was starting to get quite warm at this point, and I was tired of corn. Missouri actually has a few trees. I stopped near some and made a short YouTube video. Riding in US-61 in MO was familiar. I did part of it in 2010 on my Great River Ride when I rode the entire length of the Mississippi River.
I couldn’t resist stopping for this picture in Hannibal, MO. I recently saw “Damn Yankees” and one of the characters claimed to be from Hannibal.
Giant purple ape wearing a yellow ducky brandishing fireworks in front of an American flag. I don’t need to say anything else. It speaks for itself.
Finally, after nearly 11 hours of riding, I made it to Saint Louis and checked into my hotel to enjoy a cold shower and some air conditioning. I love they landscaped the front with these cool banana looking plants. We don’t have these in Minnesota.
Tomorrow, I will meet up with Keith and then head to Memphis!
Related Posts:
- Great River Ride 2010: Day 5 – Into Missouri
- Trumpet Blossom - Iowa City, IA
- YouTube Playlist: Road Trip 2015
- Road Trip Day #10–Iowa, Minnesota, and Home
- Road Trip Day #9–Indianapolis MotoGP
- Road Trip Day #8– Part 2/2 Motorcycles on Meridian
- Road Trip Day #8– Part 1/2 IndyGP and Motorcycle Motorcycle Midway
- Road Trip Day #7–Indianapolis
- Road Trip Day #6–More Mountains!
- Road Trip Day #5–Mountains FTW!
- Road Trip Day #4–Memphis to Chattanooga
- Road Trip Day #3–Memphis, TN
- Road Trip Day #2–MO to TN
- Road Trip Day #1–MN to MO
Awesome ... I'm sure the SV650 is thrilled to be going with you! Can't wait to hear about the rest of the journey. I'm jealous.
ReplyDeleteSo far so good. Sv and I are having fun while trying to figure out how to stay cool
DeleteGood to see you on the road. Enjoy your trip. The gorilla (or better it wearing that rubber ducky swim support) cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It had me laughing as well. So silly looking.
DeleteHooray, a road trip - and you get to meet up with Keith. Bonus.
ReplyDeleteCool ape too.
Yay roadtrips! And finally a motorcycle one. Keith was great to see again this morning.
DeleteLove the ape! Sounds like a lovely morning on an arduous day. I can relate on the getting tired of corn sentiment.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a long day. Today felt harder because of the heat even though it was 250 miles shorter
DeleteThat's a long day but it's always nice to get a lot of miles in on the first day. Now you leave it as a guessing game on what the 49th state is.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing FL…
I agree. Get as far away from home as possible on the first day.
DeleteNeed to borrow the ape's water accessory to get the last state...