Tuesday July 2:  St. Joseph, Missouri to Chillicothe, Missouri
Distance:  93.3 miles
Total time:  8 hours 1 minute
Riding time:  6 hours 15 minutes

So far the Show Me State has only shown me hills.  Today it showed me 93.3 miles of them, an unbroken line of rollers from start to finish.  I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I actually enjoyed today.  For the most part the hills were of manageable grade, and the downhills were long enough to build speed to take you a long way up the following uphill.  It was more interesting than a long flat ride.

The day started inauspiciously when we found that a "Bridge Out" sign actually meant that the bridge was out.  Another victim of the recent flooding.  Here we are waiting to see if the bridge is passable.  That's Zach impatiently riding ahead to see for himself.

That took us on a long detour over a gravel road until we could find another bridge to cross.  It added some miles to the day's total.  Here are Jamie and Michael, happy that we finally got off the gravel road.

I wasn't kidding when I said we faced an unbroken line of hills for the entire ride.  It looked like this all day long.

If eastern Kansas was the land of roadside folk art, northwestern Missouri is the land of interesting signs.  Some were religious in nature, like this one.

Some gave an indication of financial status.

Still others seemed to indicate a state of mind.

And I'm not sure what's going on here.  Husband?  Father?  Father-in-law?  Pastor?

I just liked the way this sign looked with our bikes parked in front of it.  This was in front of a convenience store where we all stopped to cool off.  The editor of the local paper spotted us and got the scoop of the week by interviewing us.

This one was in front of a church.

But the best sign of the day was this one on Anna's Bake Shop in Mayville.

Anna is Amish - Mayville is in the middle of Amish country.  When we went in her daughter was minding the shop.  We bought a gooseberry pie, which you see Jamie holding here.

We also bought bread, which Michael holds here.

We ate the pie on the spot.

It turns out Missouri street signs are also unusual.  We crossed a bridge over a river and the sign said "River 102."  They have so many rivers they number rather than name them?  And then there are the highways.  They give them letters instead of numbers.  Here we are at the junction of A and U.

When we entered Chillicothe this afternoon, we saw this mural.  It turns out that sliced bread was invented here.

Yesterday on our off day in St. Joe we visited the Pony Express Museum.  You may know that St. Joe was the eastern terminus of the Pony Express, and Sacramento was the western terminus.  The museum was very well done and informative.  Here are Allan and Sean in front of the building.

After an arduous day of sightseeing, we enjoyed happy hour in the lobby of the hotel.  Drinks and snacks were free - a rarity indeed on this journey.  The Brits don't drink their cheap wine out of plastic cups, however.  They carry their own glassware with them, as Allan demonstrates.  Civilized indeed.

This evening, in honor of the upcoming July 4th holiday, Michael presented our UK friends with commemorative shirts.  They say "Happy Treason Day Ungrateful Colonials."  They were delighted.  That's Andy, Steve, Sean, Allan and Chris.

Finally, and most importantly, July 3rd is our 37th wedding anniversary.  These are the flowers I sent to my dear wife Kristin in New Hampshire.  Love you and see you soon!