Mizzourah!

The citizens of Osage City prepared us for entering Missouri, promising us beautiful scenery and gentle rolling hills. We were so happy to bid Kansas good-bye and head into our next state... until we actually got to the state line. While Missouri may boast green "rolling" hills that are beautiful from a car or indoors, they also have the worst roads in the developed world. When we had shoulders, there were huge potholes every 50 yards or so that could only have been created by strategically placed bombs, or perhaps by some sort of specialized road-wrecking machine. Thankfully, we were so happy to be another state closer to home that we were able to find the humor in the Misery (get it?) Asphalt. An hour or two later, we rolled into Harrisonville, happy to rest our tired legs. We ate at an Applebee's next door to our hotel, Chey and I visited Wal-Mart to pick up some much-needed supplies, and we played cards until bedtime.
The following day we were hoping to do a long ride to Marshall, MO. However, the weather had different plans for us, and several hours into our ride, the heavens opened up and we got POURED on. We rode in the torrential rain for 10 miles or so and were happy to see the Classy Motel in a small town called Higginsville. Whether or not our home for the evening deserves its name is debatable at best, but the owner was very nice to us, and even offered us her dryer for our clothes.
After being on the road for six weeks, our days were starting to feel a little monotonous... until our ride from Higginsville to Hallsville. When we were just about a mile shy of crossing the Missouri River, we had a real Tour de France-style pile-up. Allow me to paint a picture: Rider 1 (who shall remain nameless) was leading the pack, with the rest of us drafting tightly behind thanks to a wicked headwind that we had been battling for much of the morning. He (or she) lost concentration for a moment and rode right off the road, onto the gravel shoulder. All was not lost yet, until he (or she) decided to swiftly dart back onto the road - right into Rider 2, flipping me sideways off my bike and onto the pavement. Mike was behind me, and somehow managed maneuver around me and off of the right side of the road, escaping unscathed. Chey was headed ride for me, and kindly sacrificed herself to avoid riding square over my bleeding body. The tangle of bikes and limbs on the road made the day of some lucky man who witnessed the whole scene from his pick-up truck. Thankfully, we were all okay, ending up only with a couple of good scrapes to show off. Oops! Did I let the cat out of the bag and reveal the identity of Rider 1?? Mea Culpa.
The rest of the ride was a series of short, but terribly steep rolling hills, and before we knew it, it was 9:00 and we were in Hallsville. Chey and I dropped by the town's firehouse to inquire about camping, and they were happy to let us stay in their town park, which was a great spot. Everyone in town was incredibly nice to us - people were literally giving us high-fives from the side of the road - and it made the tough day seem worth it.
Our last full day of riding in Missouri took us to Troy, just west of St Louis. There, we locked up our bikes at the firehouse and were picked up by Terri-Anne Segovia and her friend Kelly, who drove us into St Louis for a day in their life. We were greeted at TA's apartment door by her dog Fenway and Kelly's dog Louie, who we could have played with for all of eternity, and their friend Hot Dogs (a human). We had a great tour of the hip neighborhood that the girls live in, ate a great dinner and then returned to their place for a relaxing night of conversation and dog petting. Sunday was a wonderful day of sleeping in, lounging by the pool, playing catch and BBQ. After more than two weeks without a day off, we couldn't have appreciated it more. St Louis is a great city and Terri-Anne et al are wonderful hosts! They more than made up for the bad roads.
Regrettably, we set our alarms for 6 and were up bright and early the next day, ready to cross the Mississippi and enter Illinois.