Cross Country Trip 3: Last 4 Days

We woke up and had breakfast with Eddie’s cousin. Then we began our trip back home. We left Denver and tried to make it as far east as we could. We wanted to make it home by Saturday, September 3. I thought we should take I-70E rather than take I-80E so that Eddie can say he’s been in another three states. And, we also took I-80W to get the trip started, so why not go a little different route? We stayed on I-70 for about 630 miles before we ended the day in Independence, MO. We rode all the way through Kansas. Independence is just outside of Kansas City, which is in Missouri. It seems a lot of people don’t know this or forget it haha. Just before we made it to Independence, Eddie’s visor screw came undone and fell out. After going through some tolls, we pulled off to remedy it with some electrical tape. When we finally reached Independence, we stopped at Gates Bar-B-Q for dinner.

On the second day, we left the hotel and headed back down I-70E for about two hours where I found an ACE Hardware in Columbia, MO. I’ve noticed ACE Hardware has a lot better selection for screws and bolts. So, we looked around and found a thumb screw that was the right thread and length. We used coupled it with a washer and VOILA! No more electrical tape. We hit the road and continued down the highway towards St. Louis. I thought that since we had to go through St. Louis, we should at least stop for lunch and see the Gateway Arch. It’s one of those monuments that’s really neat to see once. There’s an elevator that takes people to the top and there are some good views. After our stop in St. Louis, we crossed the Mississippi into Illinois on I-64 and continued east. We rode another couple hours until we crossed into Indiana and reached Evansville, where we stayed the night. We finished the day with about 400 miles. This was a little better than the first day heading home since there are some hills and mild turns.

Here are some Gateway Arch facts:
* It’s 630 feet tall
* It was constructed for 2.5 years from 1963 to 1965 costing $13 million equivalent to about $100 million today.
* Construction began after about 20 years of planning
* In 1927 it became a national park
* Its creation was to honor westward expansion of the United States
* The visitor center is underground between the two legs and it’s about 70,000 square feet
* There’s an elevator that takes people to the top

On the third day, we left Evansville, IN and we were hoping to make it to Morgantown, where West Virginia University is located. Eddie spent a semester there and thought it would be cool to check out the city after almost 14 years. We followed I-64 east and crossed into Kentucky. We went through Louisville. While riding through Louisville, we passed the KFC YUM Center and also the Louisville slugger Field. We rode for a while longer until we got hungry. We found a BBQ place off the the highway in Ashland, KY called Smokin’ J’s BBQ and Brewhouse. We both ordered their special burnt tip sandwich which was delicious. We got back on the road and rode another 4 hours or so until we arrived in Morgantown. By the end of the third day, I was getting anxious to get off the bike. My bum was finally tired of sitting. We finished the day with 515 miles.

On the fourth day, before leaving Morgantown, we rode passed some of the facilities Eddie used to attend and where he stayed. There has been a lot of improvements and new campus housing since he’s been there. After riding through the campus, we hopped onto I-68E where we crossed into Maryland. After a while, we merged onto I-81N where we crossed into Pennsylvania. Google Maps notified me that there was a 30+ minute slowdown near Hershey, PA. I looked for a place before this and came across Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg, PA. It was a nice facility and the food was superb. From there, we motored down I-81E until we crossed into New Jersey up I-287N until we reached Mahwah, NJ and through Tuxedo Park before arriving in Monroe. We finished this last day with about 420 miles. It was a relief to be back and off the bikes! It was another awesome trip and I cannot wait to do it again!

Overall, the four days heading home were long, hot, windy, and flat at first. The wind and the wind gusts make for a less than enjoyable ride. You’re constantly battling the wind, especially when each pannier and additional item act as a sail. For those that aren’t aware, eastern Colorado is quite flat and it blends right into Kansas, so once we left Denver, there wasn’t too much to see from the highway, except lots and lots of corn, milo, and wind turbines. Milo is similar to corn, but it takes less water and is typically used for feed grain. I learned this on my first cross country trip. At one stop somewhere is Kansas I was feeling a little dehydrated and found Gatorlyte in the Gatorade section. It worked amazing! I highly suggest this if you’re hot and dehydrated. The flats and stopped and hills and decent scenery started in eastern Kansas into Missouri and through Kentucky. As we got closer to West Virginia, it got even better as we were coming through the Appalachian Mountains. I didn’t take too many pictures on the way home because we were cruising along and things come and go fast! But I did manage to get a picture this turbine blade! Look at it compared to the truck!