September 26, 2020 - St. Charles, MO to East Alton, IL

We had a warm and sunny start to the day today for the final stretch from St. Charles to the end of the Katy Trail at Machens. On their bikes, Tobey and Phil were ready to go by 8:30.

Not far down the trail, they hit the low point in elevation, only 436 feet!

The Black Walnut terminal was just 9.5 miles down the road and the eastern terminus of the trail was at Machens, just another 3.5 miles.


Machens is the “official” eastern end of the Katy Trail, but not the end of the ride for the day. They rode on a gravel road for a ways, then paved on their way to the Grafton Ferry to cross over into Illinois.

They caught the ferry and headed on to Illinois.

Rider and bike were $4.00 one way. Tobey and Phil were about the only ones wearing masks.

The lighthouse greeted them as they got off the ferry in Grafton, along with some fun sculptures!


They also spotted a blue heron on shore.

Marcia and I would not meet up with the guys until we got to Chautauqua near noon. We went on Hwy 94 and slowed down to let this guy finish crossing the road. He looked more like a swamp creature than a turtle!

As we got closer to the Mississippi we could see the bridge which we would cross to get to East Alton.
 

Marcia and I stopped to see the Piasa bird on the way to Chautauqua and the guys stopped on their way south. Googlemaps directed us through the town and down a one-way street that was so narrow we barely fit – and it said authorized vehicles only. I decided we were “authorized” and we went! We made it down to the parking lot and there was an easy entrance off the river road! Ugh. Anyway, Tobey said he could have sworn the Piasa Bird painting was bigger – but of course, he was a kid when he used to go there!



There were some caves near the painting, but they were from mining operations and fenced off to prevent people from going in.

We met in Chautauqua where Tobey’s grandparents had a vacation home when he was a kid. The lighthouse stands on the road to mark the entrance.

Chautaqua communities were founded all across the United States in the late 1800s and focused on education, religion, and recreation.
 

We walked all around letting Tobey relive his childhood memories. This is the church.

There is a huge auditorium/theatre where the have plays and performances. He remembers that they showed movies there when he was growing up.

Below is the house that belonged to his grandparents. We met the man in the house just behind it to the right and visited with him for a while. His parents owned the house he is now in and he remembered his grandparents, as well as Tobey’s Great-Aunt Ruth and her husband, Gene.

A few trees were starting to change color and it was a welcome treat to see.

This water feature was built in the late 1960s but was new to Tobey. It was dedicated to a resident’s wife.

After the trip down memory lane, we needed to get the guys back on their bikes for the final part of their ride today. We headed straight back to East Alton, and they made their stops at the Piasa Bird and views along the Mississippi.

The bluffs stand tall next to the river. They had to ride on the river road’s bike path for part of the way before joining back to a dedicated bike/walking trail.

These were a couple of the buildings as we came into Alton.

We are parked at the Argosy Casino for the night. The ride today was 39.5 miles, with a .5 float across the Mississippi!

One more day of riding tomorrow!

Sept. 25, 2020 - Marthasville to St. Charles, MO

We left Wilma and Wayne’s shortly after 8 this morning and headed back to the trailhead so Tobey and Phil could start their ride. With the bikes unloaded, they were ready to go about 8:30.

It was only six miles to the Dutzow trailhead, so Marcia and I went ahead to the Augusta stop, only 11 miles for the guys. We had some fog as we were traveling, but fortunately, it burned off quickly and we ended up with a sunny day!

Between Dutzow and Augusta, they rode by these cool rock walls.

They weren’t sure if these metal parts were from a train or if the large storage building they went by was coal storage or an elevator.

Tobey thought these bluffs were really interesting, and when he stopped, he spotted a cardinal in the bushes. He was lucky enough to catch a shot of it as it took off. He told me that the bluffs were haunted and it was a ghost when he showed me the photo on his phone!!


Just across the road from the Matson Trailhead is the Daniel Boone Judgment Tree Memorial. Marcia and I didn’t know we could see it was so close to the trailhead – and right along the road, so we zipped by (going 35 mph). About 2 miles down the road we found a place to turn around and go back to check it out. It is believed that Daniel Boone held court under the tree from 1800 to 1804, when he was the Spanish syndic for the Femme Osage District. In the late 1920s, lightening struck the tree and killed it. It stood until 1951 when it blew over in a huge storm. This tree was planted in memorial of the original. There were several signs telling about the tree, the history of the property, along with maps of the area. It was interesting, but I’m not sure it was worth the drive back to see it.

We met the guys at Greens Bottom for lunch and a short break and were lucky enough to find shade. After a short break, they only had about six miles to go to St. Charles.

We stopped at the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Museum and all went in to check it out.

They played a well-done video about the Lewis and Clark expedition and had some nice displays.

Lewis and Clark’s men learned how to build bullboats from the Mandans. Constructed from a lightweight wood frame, usually willow, they were small enough that the hide of one buffalo bull would cover it. During the return trip, four of Lewis and Clark’s men built two bullboats to travel down the Yellowstone River.

The 8,000 mile journey from St. Charles to the Pacific and back again took 28 months.

While both Lewis and Clark kept detailed journals, Clark did most of the day-to-day mapping during the expedition. Because they were on the move most of the time, Clark was not able to take detailed measurements and used a “dead reckoning” method, estimating distance and direction. Even so, his final map was very accurate! During the expedition, Charles Floyd was the only man of the Corps of Discovery to die (probably of appendicitis). He was buried on the Missouri River at present day, Floyd’s Bluff in Sioux City, Iowa. He died on the upstream voyage in 1804.

On the ground level of the museum, they have three scale-model boats displayed. It was gated and locked, but when we walked around the building, one of the workers let us come in to see them! This is the keelboat which traveled as far as the Mandan villages in modern day North Dakota.
We couldn’t get in them, but there was a ladder we could climb to look inside. He said they were getting them ready to take out for a run and filming for the museum.
Penny wanted her picture next to the statue of Seaman, Meriwether Lewis’ Newfoundland dog. Seaman was famous for being the only animal to complete the entire trip.

After our tour, we all got our bikes and went for a little tour of the historic downtown area of St. Charles – and Marcia and I got to ride a little on the Katy Trail!

We went by the statue of Lewis & Clark and Seaman.

Missouri’s first legislators met in the buildings of the first state Capitol State Historic Site to reorganize the territorial government. The second floor of the building was divided and used as Senate and House chambers, the governor’s office, and a small meeting room. The first floor of the Peck brothers’ building housed a general store and the Ruluff Peck’s family residence!

We rode up and down the brick streets looking at the old buildings which now house businesses and restaurants.




We headed back to the Museum parking lot about 5pm and with the police’s permission, we are parking here tonight.

The guys rode 40.9 miles today on the trail and an additional 3—4 miles in town.