Day 8 – Sept 6 – Ride Report

Today was spent riding in Missouri.  I left Branson and headed north.  Part of the Ozark range goes into Missouri.  The roads continued to be good.  Again, I have attached a few samples.  In several places the trees created a canopy over the road.

At one point early in the day, I met 25 – 30 early cars – like Model A and Model T.  It was neat to see so many of them being out and driven together.  I am not sure where they were heading.

The weather changed this afternoon.  About 4:00 a heavy thunderstorm came through the area and the temperature dropped from the low 90’s into the 70’s.  I had to put on the rain gear and even pull over and seek cover a few times because of the heavy wind and rain. 

I am spending the evening at the Suttons Bluff National Forrest Campground near Centerville MO.  When the rain came, I started to look for a place to set up camp.  There were a couple of private campgrounds along a river but they looked pretty junky so I continued on and saw the sign for this place.  It said it was 8 miles back so I thought hard and decided to give it a shot not sure what others there would be.  I finally found the place and it is very nice and very peaceful.  I asked 1 person about cell phone service and he said if you go back up the road 3 miles where it comes to a T, you can get service there – it worked!  I looked on my GPS for food; it says nearest place is 18 miles.  Guess I will snack on trail mix tonight and get something in the morning.

Tomorrow I will complete the loop in Missouri and head into Tennessee to pick up the Natchez Trace.  I will explain more about the importance of this once I get there.