Day 19: Saint Joseph to Chillicothe, Missouri 90 miles. 3700 feet of climbing.

Another night of tornado warnings and a day of rolling hills.

The calm after the storm.  Morning in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Today's 90 miles were actually quite enjoyable.  Most of the rollers were in the morning.  It didn't quite flatten out the rest of the day, but the rolling hills we faced this afternoon were more gentle than in past days.

In the early morning, riding through farmlands, I just loved this lonely barn standing by itself on the hill.

Besides the normal array of cows, horses and deer, it was surprising to see Texas Longhorns grazing in the fields.

About 25 of the 90 miles were on yet more State Highways; the remainder of the ride was on county roads running through farm and pasture lands.  The combination of the flatter lands, the farms and the moderate temperatures made it an ideal riding day.  The added benefit of a favorable tailwind towards the latter portion of the ride didn't hurt either!

Welcome to the Midwest!  Out here, county roads are lettered, not numbered.  The numbered roads are only for state highways.  I took this in front of our first SAG stop of the day.

The treat for today was riding through Jamesport, an Amish town in Northwest Missouri.  Not a large town (most of the towns we rode through today had populations of one thousand or less), Jamesport boasts a population just over 500 people as is reported to be the largest Amish community in Missouri.  

Welcome to Amish Country.

I wasn't quick enough to get a better shot.  We were advised not to take pictures of the Amish head on as they were strongly against such practices.  More surreptitious shots were acceptable.  I wound up passing this carriage shortly after taking the picture.  It felt very weird passing a horse on the road.

Lunch today was at Giegerich's Dutch Pantry, a wonderful Amish restaurant with excellent pies :-)   It was funny to see all the cars parked in front of it as the place was packed with Amish families.  No buggies double-parked.

We finished the day in Chillicothe.  The name comes from a Shawnee word meaning "big town."  It's claims to fame are two-fold:  The first commercially available pre-sliced bread was sold in this town; and the town is immortalized in the song "Hooray for Hollywood."

Downtown Chillecothe.  As has been the case with a number of small towns we've passed through, murals abound throughout the town.  Most depict episodes from the town's historic past.  Many are pretty schlocky.  Some, like this one, warrant a photo.  Take a good look at the window in the upper left corner.  Real or not?

Tomorrow, we tackle the infamous "Thousand Hills State Park."  It's no wonder that cyclists refer to this state as "Misery," not Missouri.