Left Charleston, MO. The weather was crappy. Looked like it could rain, but luckily it held off. We stopped to fill up right outside the Super 8. Then we circled through Cairo, IL to see how run down it is. We were told it was something to check out. It is crazy to think what used to be there and what is left abandoned today. I take things like that for granted being from New York, where everything seems to be prospering.
From Cairo, we went back towards where we started and headed north. We hit route 60 which was long, flat, straight, and consisted of very strong cross winds. The winds were so strong that Gabe had to fight to keep his bike going straight. We followed this route until we reached Poplar Bluff. Then we took route 160 into Doniphan, MO and entered Mark Twain National Forest. This road was very twisty with some hills. It was awesome. There was nobody else on the road. It was complete freedom and lasted quite a while. This was a fantastic change of pace after taking mainly highways from home in New York all the way to Nashville. I think it’s one of the best roadways I’ve ever been on. Back home there are similar roads, but there was no traffic and they lasted what seemed like forever.
Just when we thought we were done and there weren’t going to be many more nice roads ahead, we came to Ava on route 14. These roads were awesome as well. Route 14 is really windy and curvy with more beautiful country side. We saw all kinds of cattle and roaming horses in these beautiful endless field’s. I tried to get a picture of a donkey right along the road but the GoPro I have didn’t capture it. I prefer taking pictures every two seconds. I like to think it takes many pictures without overdoing it. Somewhere along route 14 we went over a bridge with gorgeous blue/green water. It’s a river called 11 Point River. I will have to check that out online.
Anyways, we continued further on route 14 until we reached route 125. At route 125, we headed north to Springfield. The landscape, again, was so beautiful to look at while riding. From Springfield, we headed north up route 13 until we reached Clinton, which us just north of Truman Lake. This was a mainly straight highway. The idea was to gain an extra 100 miles before finishing for the day.
We actually saw a bunch of roadkill too while traveling through Missouri. However, it was not the typical roadkill like in the northeast. Most of these were armadillos. I had pointed it out to Gabe knowing he’s never seen one.
We finished the evening at Mallard’s Steakhouse. The ambiance and interior were similar to that of a nice log cabin. It was a great way to finish Day 4. We did 420 miles on the day.
Butt Pain Meter: 3/10 (only when getting off the motorcycle, but my knees were sore from being bent in the crotch rocket position)
Adventures of Matty Q 
What an adventure Matt, thanks again for sharing those wonderful turn by turn photos with us.
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