Day 11 and 12

Day 11 I woke up pretty early so I figured I would find a good breakfast place. When I got down to the lobby I asked Darryl where a good place was and he referred me to a place just around the corner. Now don't get me wrong, the place had pretty good food but I quickly found out the only reason Darryl sent me there was so he could get a free sandwich later. Haha

I didn't have to check out until noon and my route for the day wasn't too long so I figured I would take my time getting ready to go. When I finally left it was gorgeous out and I couldn't wait to get going.

On my way out of town I was able to see many of the amazing buildings St Louis had to offer. The cathedrals I passed by were incredible.

One thing I never really think of when planning out my day is terrain and how easy or difficult it can make things. Sure enough I hit some pretty big hills which really slowed me down. Therefore, when the sun started setting, I was still far from reaching Meramec State Park.

Realizing this I stopped in a small town called Labadie to buy a few things and ask if there were any places to stay nearby. The ladies at this shop were so very helpful and made sure I was all set to go before I left. I sort of felt bad for abandoning the plan we had forged and just setting up my tent in an abandoned field. Haha

That night I heard something in the brush right next to my tent that sounded pretty big. I was a little scared but I never did find out what it was. I even looked out to try to see it a couple times.

I got a really early start on day 12 because there was a school nearby and I wanted to be out of there before the students started rolling in. I was off to Meramec State Park!

I got there in pretty good time and proceeded to the visitor's center. They had some pretty cool exhibits there that I checked out. However, come to find out they stopped doing cave tours last month! I was so bummed but I proceeded to ask what else there was to do. She then referred me to Onondaga Cave State Park. It was a little bit out of the way (in addition to Meramec already being out of the way) but I figured it would probably be worth it. She also referred me to a local restaurant for some lunch.

So I was off to lunch followed by Onondaga. Unfortunately the place she referred me to was closed that day so I had to backtrack to find something else. Not fun. An inconvenience like that in a car is nothing but on a bike it's a bit more irritating.

I had been checking the weather all day because I knew a storm was coming in around 6ish that night. When I was only about 6 miles from the campground, it starts coming down and coming down good. Up until then I had always been a bit afraid to ride in the rain but when I was in it I was actually quite refreshed. I was joking with some of my friends that I think it was God's way of telling me I REALLY needed a shower.

After riding in it for a little while I stop at a small shop to try to wait out the really bad stuff. I get a few snacks and by the time I'm done with them, we're back to a sprinkle. Right before leaving I realize how badly I need to use the restroom. I ask if the store has one she says yes but she's still working on the bathroom and it's kind of a disaster right now. But she stills says I'm more than welcome to use it. Come to find out it wasn't even hooked up. Good thing I only had a code yellow situation going on. This lady was so nice she even poured water down the toilet to "flush" it for me. (I offered to do it myself but she wouldn't let me)

During the remaining 4 mile stretch, I saw a ton of animals. It was like they were seeing me through the storm. A couple of dogs, two groups of deer, horses, cows, a mini horse, and even a donkey. Many of which ran alongside me for brief stretches. Weird thing was, I didn't see any of those same animals the next day when the weather was fairly clear.

When I got to the campground I was fortunate enough to have no rain just long enough to get everything set up and ready to go. I knew it was going to get pretty bad overnight so I put a tarp over my tent to help block the downpour. Even with it staked down I'm pretty sure I almost lost it overnight. It was crazy being in a tent through such a huge storm like that with the high winds, torrential rains and regular flashes of lightening and claps of thunder. I was at the total mercy of the storm. Fortunately I made it out safe and dry.

Can't wait for the cave tour!