Farmington to Twin Rivers.

The Black River at the Twin Rivers Camp Ground. This is the first ral clear river that we came across. We dipped our feet, and sat on the bank enjoying the late afternoon.

They call this the beach, but all it is, is fill brought5 in from somewhere. Rocks and all. But hey, you get what you get.

The Black River shot from one of many bridges crossing it.

At Johnson Shut-Ins State Park, we took a break to explore a little. The park had just opened after being closed for three years due to a dam that collapsed.

The rock formations block passage through the river. Therefore the name Sut-Ins.

Unleashing my artistic capabilities, I took this shot. Please, do not try this at home. I use a special technique called bull.

Lisa was in charge of the fire. She was able to get it started with just one match. She later told me that she was a pyro. At an early age, she set the neighbors yard on fire which involved the local fire department.
This is some sort of weed, and there were lots of them along side the road. Upon closer inspection, I found them to be quite beautiful.

The office of the Twin Rivers Camp Ground. When we pulled in, they gave us free snow cones of our choice. I think they pitied us.

This bug wanted his picture taken, so I did. I didn't even charge him.

Climbing up to this over pass was like climbing a big hill. One of many man made climbs of the trip.

This looked like a centry plant. Almost like the ones we have at home, but they only get about four feet tall.

Site number 34. Home of Ted and Lisa for the night.

Ahhhhhhh....................., If you only knew how good this felt. I could have stayed there all day, but i was getting hungry.

Lisa wanted to show me all these neat little rocks she found that made up the beach.

This moth was smaller than a dime. I was able to get within a few inches to take this shot.

If you ever go to Farmington, Missouri. I insist that you go to the Catfish Kitchen for dinner. You will not be disappointed. The wait was well worth it.


Day 33, Farmington to Twin Rivers, Missouri. “Johnson Shut-Ins”. 47.29 miles.

Welcome back. We don’t have internet access tonight, so I’m recording this entry in Microsoft Word, to be copied and pasted when we do get a connection. Last nights dinner at the Catfish Kitchen was great. Even though the place was packed, the crowd moved quite quickly, and we wee able to get a table within 15 minutes. Lisa’s parents stayed at the Super 8 next door to us for the nigh. While Lisa chatted and caught up on old times, I had a chance to do log entries. It was great having a bed to sleep on, and internet again.
In the morning, we all sat down for breakfast at the Super 8. They have what they call complementary Continental Breakfast. A fancy name for toast, coffee, cereal, and biscuits. It was free, and all you can eat, so I wasn’t complaining. We then loaded up the bikes, and bid Mary and Bill good by, and they wished us a safe journey. We were once again on our way. The weather could not have been more corporative. It was a sunny day, with out a cloud in the sky. We headed out toward the Interstate where we could cross over and take CR 221 which connected to SR 21. For those of you who don’t know, CR means Country Road, and SR means Scenic Route. We had beautiful wide shoulders for the first 10 or 12 miles. It was a treat since most of our riding had been on shoulder less roads. This gave us cushion to enjoy our ride. We were rewarded with more down hills than climbing. I guess yesterdays climbs paid off today. Most of our ride was through the Mark Twain National Forrest. We ran into a group of young collage students who had joined up from different parts of the country who were headed west to various destinations. We talked about our experiences, and they were amazed by our set up. They couldn’t believe the load we were carrying. After a short encounter, they were on their way. They were trying to get to Ellington, our destination for tomorrow. They were on a schedule, and did not have the freedom to enjoy the many wonders of a self contained journey like Lisa and I had planned. We stopped at a place called “Johnson Shut-Ins State Park”. I’ve never heard of the place, but am glad that we did. Apparently Lisa did some reading, and new about this place. We were supposed to camp there for the night, but the park was newly renovated due to a massive flood two years ago when the dam to the lake failed, causing total destruction to the park. We parked our bikes at the visitor center, and went for a short hike down to the river where people were enjoying the cool waters. Shut-Ins refers to a portion of the river that blocks passage to boats. There are rock formations there that are unique to these parts, that create three distinctive features. They are, The Dip, where moving water had formed holes in the rock surfaces , The Plunge, where water is still forming holes, and The Shoot, where water causes erosion creating a natural slide. After a short stay, we headed back to the visitor center to get something to eat. It was a well worth stop, and a great place to have lunch. We still had about 15 more miles to go to our camp site, so we reluctantly left The Johnson Shut-Ins and continued on our way. The rest of our ride consisted of two medium sized killer climbs. But the rest was mostly long down hill descents, and flat terrain. We arrived at Twin Rivers Camp Ground at about 4:00PM. Early enough to check in and enjoy the river. The lady at the office even gave us free snow cones. After a long hot day, it hit the spot. We picked out a place right next to the river where we set up camp right5 next to a family with a whole bunch of kids. They made good entertainment as we relaxed and had dinner. Tomorrow we head for Ellington where we will meet Lisa’s sister. Good night for now. Aloha, Ted.