Dennis on the Katy Trail beside the Mighty MO

Day 4 - Happy Labor Day! We slept later than usual, but we still managed to get away a little after 9:00 AM, which wasn't too bad since I had to patch the tire tube from yesterday before we started traveling again. The wind was already blowing from the south, so we had an unpleasant crosswind again as we headed east, but we continued to enjoy excellent dry weather otherwise. We pedaled for 10 miles before stopping for a grocery store breakfast north of Hermann, MO. We were planning on staying in Hermann last night, but based on the way we feel today, I sure am glad we decided to quit early yesterday. We have seen a lot of snakes on the trail this trip (2 Green Grass Snakes, which are almost as pretty as the copperhead we saw yesterday, and many Garter Snakes). Unfortunately, I ran over a small Garter Snake after we left Hermann, but I just caught the end of his tail so hopefully he will be okay. The wet summer has taken its toll on the Katy Trail.  There are many sections where water has run over the trail and caused bad ruts which are not any fun on a tandem bike pulling a trailer.  The wind got much stronger during the day with gusts over 20 mi/hr. It made for a rough afternoon of pedaling, especially with the warmer temperatures, however, we did enjoy pedaling for many miles right beside the Mighty MO. We had to make several rest stops on our way east as the wind got stronger, the temperatures warmed up and we grew more tired.  We eventually reached a very busy Hwy 47 where we had to leave the Katy Trail and start to head south.  The wind was directly in our faces now and it was a big struggle closing the distance to Washington, MO. and pedaling in the heavy Labor Day traffic on a shoulderless highway.  It was especially exciting crossing the Missouri River on a very narrow old bridge with the wind and the large volume of cars, but we finally reached a motel with free Internet provided so I am able to download photos for the first time on this trip.  This is our first motel stay and we deserved it after the struggle we had today, even though we only covered a little over 40 miles.  Surprisingly, however, even with the wind we were still able to average over 10 mi/hr.