Day 19 - Piedmont to Cape Girardeau, Last Day in Missouri

Miles: 82 Riding Time: 6 hours 20 min. Average mph: 12.9

This is our 3rd day of over 80 miles. We had intended to stop about 30 miles sooner, but we were at that destination before noon! So heck, might as well keep riding and Cape Girardeau was the next place to stop. We did treat ourselves to a rootbeer float at about mile 70!

But first a little digression. A couple of photos from the Alley Springs area two days ago. The first is the mill at Alley Spring. It was so picturesque. Martha and Kit posing for Bill. And then Kit and Martha at Big Springs where the water gushes out of the rocks into the pool.

The food photo is from last nights chicken fajitas, cooked up on our coleman cooker and portable propane grill in front of our small but adequate cabin in Piedmont.

So as for today, Martha and Kit started out in spitting rain that became "real" rain but never very heavy. It was nice to have it cooler and the countryside was rolling hills with the same that we have seen for days; green grass and lots of trees and some small farming. Bill gets a photo of a fixer upper, you see a lot of these, as well as businesses closed down. It, like so much else we have traveled through, gives the feeling of dying communities.

As I mentioned above, we get into our destination before noon and after a bite to eat decide to head onto Cape Girardeau. We stop 20+ miles down the road in Burfordville to see the historic mill there. It was built in the 1850's and then burned by Union troops during the Civil War. After the war it was rebuilt and the top floors added. The covered bridge was started before the war and completed afterward. It is only one of four covered bridges in Missouri. Very picturesque!




But we are off to ride again. There were some tough hills the past 20+ miles and there are more ahead as we head towards the Mississippi River. OH BOY! The MISSISSIPPI River!

We saw the "Big Muddy" through the sea wall as we strolled around old downtown Cape Girardeau. We were very impressed with the several block area, a happening place with a New Orleans feel. Buildings were in very good shape housing shops, restaurants and cafes. The sea wall hundreds of feet of murals. Locals and tourists were hanging out by the river for the evening glow. The bridge is spectacular. We ate cajun food at Broussards, a very busy joint.