Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Mammoth Cave to Rolla, Missouri


A mixed day. It started with breaking up camp; tearing down the tent and packing it and its contents. Part of the floor of the tent was damp, but it got packed anyway. Hopefully it will not mildew before I open it to dry.

Rushed to take a shower, but found that it took tokens ($2 worth), and the store that sold them was not open. So, I didn't shower (phew!!). Wanted to do a cave tour, so went to get a ticket to go. Got it at 9:00am, and the tour started at 9:00, so I had to rush to catch the group (about 50 yards ahead). Caught them and all was well.

The History tour was a 2 hour tour that covered 2 miles and several hunderd stairs. The caves are awesome!! Tremendous in size (one room, the Rotunda, was as large as a gym. Learned that they have mapped 367 miles (yes, miles) of caves, and find another 5 miles a year. They have estimated that they have found and mapped about hald of them! Would like to see more on another adventure.

After the tour, I rode around the park to see what else was there. Since most of the attractions are underground (duh; caves), the ride was pretty but saw nothing but trees, turkeys, and deer. Did find a neat ferry over the Green River, a single vehicle, runs when needed, ferry. Decided not to do it because it covered only maybe 50 feet of water and since I've done the Elwell Ferry south of Fayetteville several times, I'd rather do it.

Had breakfast (2 large blueberry pancakes) at the coffee shop in the park. They were okay, but not great. Had lunch at the Green River Restaurant on the banks of the Green River on Hwy 70 about an hour from the park. Lunch was good. Had dinner at (yes) a chain. I was so tired, the bike was very low on fuel, and it was getting late, so the Shoneys next door to the motel was my dinner stop. It was etible, but that's about all I can say.

Got back to the motel at about 9:00pm, washed dirty clothes, repacked the tank bag (looks like a rat hole), SHOWERED (YEA), watched some tv, did a blog, and crahed. Slept well.

Did 405 miles, including two major river crossings. Total miles so far is 990.

Today (yes, I'm still a day late--it's Tuesday as I write this) I plan to find and ride segments of old Route 66. The motel I'm staying in (Quality Inn) is on a segment of it.

More later....

1 comment:

Adrian said...

I didn't know you were going to stay at motels! I know you can't find campgrounds everywhere, however. It's amazing how large the caves are! It' gotta be a site to see.

Ride safe,
Adrian