Stephen H. Long Trail 1819 — 1820

Day 37: September 29th, 2008 Sikeston — Richmond

Map Sikeston to Richmond

Around seven I wake up and make myself ready. Because the weather is still nice, I fill up engine oil just to be sure. Lucky me, it looks like there is not too much oil dropping out. This should now work out until I am back home.

I am still curious to see, whether I will hit the bad weather front in St. Louis. But first I must check out. For breakfast they recommend the Country Boy Cookin’ located in the Factory Outlet Mall. I have almost missed it because the entry to the mall looks more like a delivery entrance. But when you have passed the backside of the buildings you see the mall parking lot.

The restaurant is really nice and the service is awesome. Also the food size is absolutely giant and the price is really low! I only choose the “Country Gal Breakfast”. But I am really having trouble to eat everything. Now I am really asking myself how the “Country Boy Breakfast” would look alike. This might probably be double that size. Well, if I would be three times as big…

I–55, MO

I–55, MO

I–55, MO

I pay and check if they have a 501 Jeans here in the mall. But unfortunately, they only have Wrangler and Lee. So I drive on and look for a gas station. Then I drive back to I–55 north. I make good miles and the traffic is not too bad.

I–55, St. Louis, MO

I–55, St. Louis, MO

I–44/55, The Arch, St. Louis, MO

I–44/55, The Arch, St. Louis, MO

Not till I reach St. Louis the traffic increases — and the driving style adjusts to the big city driving and gets way more aggressive. The Interstate takes me through St. Louis and offers a couple of views to the Arch before I turn onto I–70 and cross the Mississippi. At the same time I am also crossing the state line to Illinois, whereas I miss the state line sign.

I–70, IL

On I–70 is now way more traffic and driving is not as relaxed as the last couple of days. But I am still able to make good miles.

I–70, Effingham, IL

I–57/70, Effingham, IL

I–57/70, Effingham, IL

Next I pass Effingham in Illinois.

I–70, IL

I–70, IL

I–70, State Line IL and IN

I almost forget that I am crossing into the next timezone when entering Indiana.

I–70, IN

I–70, Indianapolis, IN

Then I drive through Indianapolis.

I–70, IN

Due to the new timezone it is already half past seven and not half past six when checking in. Nevertheless, available rooms are not a problem. The Motel 6 in Richmond is built on a very grand scale and to my gladness everything is only one story high! So parking in front of your room is not a problem. And I even receive the last room in the last block of buildings. There is no one around. Only on the other side are a couple of cars parking. Beside them it is pretty empty around here — and it is accordingly quiet.

I put my stuff into the room and fill in my 10 gallons of gas from my spare cans. Now I am sure I will not need them anymore. Then I take a quick look at the phone book. There should be a Texas Roadhouse — and according to my navigation software on my laptop it should also be very close, just down Highway 40.

I quickly program the GPS coordinates in my handheld GPS, then I leave. The parking lot is already pretty full. But I have no problems to receive a table immediately. Then I can enjoy a perfect dinner service from Rachel with again a filet as completion of my journey.

Around half past nine I pay and drive back to my motel. There I first check my video taping of today. Then I copy the pictures to my laptop and write my diary. After this I quickly check my emails because this is one of the rare Motel 6 where you have free WiFi. Now I am able to go to bed already around eleven!

The next day is in preparation…