I had such great plans for this morning. We were going to get up early pack up and be on the road by 5:30, take a winding path out through the countryside enjoying the beautiful views. It would be a great start to our overnight ride.
Then I noticed that Penn was wearing flimsy shorts. I asked him where his long pants were and he said he hadn't brought any. So we got semi-packed up and headed off to his house to get him long pants. We also had to get a jacket and his glasses.
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| Picture in front of Penn's house, ready to ride |
By the time we got back, the hotel breakfast had started so we might as well eat that. Then we finished our packing and checked out. It was nearly 8:00 before we hit the road. But first we had to go put gas in the bike and buy some drinks.
We have blown nearly 2 hours and I didn't think we have the time for the Meandering path anymore. Instead we just hopped right on Highway 36 and headed due east for Hannibal.
I let Penn use my waterproof camera. We shortened the lanyard and put it around his neck and spent 10 minutes teaching him how to use it. And boy did he use it. I have tried to teach him to frame his shots push the button halfway down to let it Focus and then once he had a shot he liked push it the rest of the way down to take the picture. Instead I could just hear him back there Point click Point click Point click as fast as he could.
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| Halfway stop. Penn loves my spicy jerky but he can't have much |
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| A culvert? It was interesting to Penn |
By 11:30 we were rolling into Hannibal. I had promised Pendaryn that we would get lunch as soon as we arrived. I asked him - What do you want to eat? He said - McDonald's. I said - We are on vacation, don't you want to eat something better than that? With surprise in his voice he asked - Do they have a Wendy's here?
We took one drive down the main road looking for somewhere that looked good to eat, but we spotted a small farmer's market and decided to check that out first. We walked around and Penn found a paracord bracelet that he wanted. So we bought it and went back to finding lunch.
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| The Farmer's Market |
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| Penn bought the bracelet. I'd love to buy the dragon but no way to get it home |
I checked through Yelp and Google Maps and we wound up going to Becky Thatchers Cafe on the main street. Penn asked the waitress what was good and she said they had really good burgers, so he got his standard plain cheese-burger and fries. I got a rueben sandwich.
While we waited for our food, I took the time to figure out how to pair the waterproof camera to my phone. It took Penn and I about 30 minutes to figure it out. I noticed the "menu" button had wifi written below it. So I pushed and held the button. A new screen came up with instructions and a QR code to scan. Once my phone got paired I was able to view and download the photos off of the camera through a really nice interface. It was very well designed and worked flawlessly. Penn had taken about 40 photos and we got about 5 that were OK so I downloaded those and put them on my website.
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| Becky Thatcher's Diner |
When our food came, Penn inhaled his burger in about 4 minutes. He really must have been starving. He also ate most of his fries. My rueben was pretty greasy. It was as if it had been shredded instead of sliced so it fell apart almost instantly. I picked at it on my plate and ate my fries. I was full but I sure wouldn't order it again.
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| Lunch |
It was still too early to check into the hotel so we headed to the Mark Twain Caverns. These are the caverns depicted in the book when Tom and Becky get lost and come across Injun Joe. They are only 2 miles out of town so we rode over. The tours start every hour so we bought tickets for the 1:00 tour.
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| More interesting photos from Penn |
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| Arriving at the Mark Twain Cave - by Penn |
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| At the cave |
There were only 5 of us on our tour. We started with a short video relating the history of the cave and the fact that it really is the cave from the book. After that we began the tour of the cave. When we entered, the temperature difference was shocking. Outside it was 92, inside it was 52. It felt great.
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| The actual cave entrance |
Our guide gave us terrible pun after terrible pun intermingled with some facts and history. The cave isn't really that large and is highly interconnected. There are about 6 entrances now, but back in the day there were only 1 or 2. But still, I don't see how someone could be lost for days.
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| Typical passage in the cave |
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| Penn in the cave |
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| Penn with our tour guide |
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| A colorful section of the cave |
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| Aladdin's Palace |
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| More colorful sections of the cave |
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| The tunnel leading out |
Some of the interesting facts were that Jesse James once hid in the cave. Mark Twain signed his name in the cave. In the 1840s a doctor tried to mummify his dead child in the cave. There are over 250,000 names signed in the cave.
All through the tour, Penn would rush up to everything the guide pointed out, aim the camera and take a quick picture. He still wasn't waiting for the camera to focus. It will take a long time before he can develop the patience to take a good picture, but I also need to develop the patience to let him learn as his pace. I'm working on it.
When we finished it was almost 2:30. Walking out of the 52 degree cave into 95 degrees and 70% humidity was quite a shock. I get so used to Colorado's low humidity that these changes always shock me.
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| Penn posed as Jesse James |
I sure didn't want to stand around here so we headed back into town. We rode down by the river front and walked around for a bit. The river boat named Mark Twain was just pulling into dock. That's the boat we'll tour on at 4:00. We got some pictures then headed to the hotel. Check-in and unloading the bike didn't take long. Once we'd rested and hydrated for a bit, we got on the bike and rode the 4 blocks back to the river.
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| Penn with the riverboat Mark Twain coming in to dock |
We walked down to the gift shop by the boat to get our tickets. It was air conditioned and pretty soon it was packed with all the people waiting to get on the boat. I think they decided to let us get on the boat just to alleviate the crowding of the gift shop. The interiors of the boat were also air conditioned.
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| Getting ready to board the boat |
Penn and I walked straight to the back of the boat and the snack bar. Penn started oggling the hot dogs and other high salt foods, but I told him I'd only buy him a an ice cream sandwich, so that's what we got and it was very refreshing.
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| Out on the river boat. The bright sun was causing Penn problems opening his eyes |
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| Speaking of eyes, selfie by Penn |
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| Penn taking pictures on the front of the boat |
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| A group of boys out on one of the islands in the river |
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| Penn after I finally got him to take off that hoodie |
The boat ride wasn't super exciting. We motored north for 10 minutes then turned around and motored south for a while, crossed to the far side of the river and turned back north and motored back.
Penn took allot of pictures and about every 10 minutes he'd go back to the snack bar and stare at the menu. I kept telling him we'd get dinner right after the cruise by he'd still wander back and stare at the menu. I think it didn't help that the boat was filled with the smell of fresh popcorn.
About half way through Penn said he was getting a headache. We were sitting outside so made him go back inside. He was still wearing his hoodie. I kept telling him to take it off but he didn't want to. Finally I said "Take it off, now!" As soon as he did his whole mood changed and he started his normal jabbering. He was fine after that.
We rode back to the hotel then walked across the street to the Mark Twain Cafe for dinner. Penn got grilled cheese and I got catfish tacos. Then Penn got a funnel cake and I got a coconut cream pie for desert.
Once back at the hotel we put on swimming suits and went to the pool. We both went straight to the hot tub. The hot soak really helped relax my muscles and must have done the same for Penn. I soaked for about 20 minutes then got out and started work on this blog. Penn tried to get in the regular pool a few times but said it was too cold. So we finally went back to the room without him swimming.
It was only 7:30 but neither of us felt like doing anything else. So I wrote the blog and Penn watched some TV.
Daily Miles: 157
Total Miles: 827
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