Oct 9: Saint Louis Detour
Not even one week into vanlife, we were able to practice one of its greatest perks: flexibility.
Our original plan had been to work our way through Kentucky and Tennessee over the next couple of weeks, meeting up with our Chicago friends to camp and ride in Pisgah, North Carolina on October 19. However, the weather forecast was not on our side. The entire eastern half of the country was calling for heavy rains daily for at least a week! Luckily, we now live in a van, and don't have to tolerate that kind of nonsense.
After sifting through radar maps and countless weather forecasts, we decided to detour toward Bentonville, Arkansas. We had heard that Bentonville was working hard to become a destination for mountain biking, and was on our short list of must-ride places during this journey. Plus, it was the closest place without a ton of rain in the forecast all week long. The drive would be close to 10 hours from Brown County, Indiana - much longer than we would like to accomplish in one day. Luckily, we had friends and great trails available at a convenient halfway point: Saint Louis, Missouri!
On the way toward Saint Louis, we passed a billboard advertising the World's Largest Golf Tee. Although we do not usually enjoy tourist traps, we decided that we should stop to snap a quick photo for Mike's dad, who is a huge golf fan. (Also, what's a road trip without seeing some of the "World's Largest" attractions?)
We exited the freeway and followed little green signs through farms and neighborhoods until we arrived at a very ordinary looking golf course. A small typewritten sign on the door asked those who were seeking the giant golf tee to please step through to the back terrace. The golf tee itself was more impressive than we expected, made of yellow pine and towering more than 30ft tall.
Low on time, we jumped back on the road and made it to Bluff View Park outside Saint Louis with just enough daylight to ride a quick loop at the Zombie trail. Along the first fast descent, I noticed a particularly strange looking patterned rock in the middle of the trail and realized just in time that it was a little tortoise! After barely dodging him, Mike and I went back to attempt to steer him off the trail so that he wouldn't get squished by a less keen rider. He was about the size of a baseball cap and was trying desperately to make his way up a steep hill on one side of the trail. Each time we tried to help him up the hill, he would pull all his limbs inside his shell and slide back down onto the trail like a Mario Kart turtle shell. Hilarious, but frustrating. Finally we gave up and just placed him on top of a log several feet up the little hill, where he thankfully decided it was safe enough to resume his journey.
We finished up our ride with huge smiles and tired legs, and made it back at the van in time to catch a glimpse of sunset through the leafless trees. We packed up and headed to our friends Kris and Sara's place in the city, racing some dark clouds and heat lightning. We arrived in the nick of time and made it inside just as the rain began to pour. We enjoyed a delicious meal and good company well into the evening, with a background soundtrack of rain on the roof and thunder rolling by.
Our original plan had been to work our way through Kentucky and Tennessee over the next couple of weeks, meeting up with our Chicago friends to camp and ride in Pisgah, North Carolina on October 19. However, the weather forecast was not on our side. The entire eastern half of the country was calling for heavy rains daily for at least a week! Luckily, we now live in a van, and don't have to tolerate that kind of nonsense.
On the way toward Saint Louis, we passed a billboard advertising the World's Largest Golf Tee. Although we do not usually enjoy tourist traps, we decided that we should stop to snap a quick photo for Mike's dad, who is a huge golf fan. (Also, what's a road trip without seeing some of the "World's Largest" attractions?)
We exited the freeway and followed little green signs through farms and neighborhoods until we arrived at a very ordinary looking golf course. A small typewritten sign on the door asked those who were seeking the giant golf tee to please step through to the back terrace. The golf tee itself was more impressive than we expected, made of yellow pine and towering more than 30ft tall.
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| The World's Largest Golf Tee can be found at Casey Country Club in Casey, IL. |
Low on time, we jumped back on the road and made it to Bluff View Park outside Saint Louis with just enough daylight to ride a quick loop at the Zombie trail. Along the first fast descent, I noticed a particularly strange looking patterned rock in the middle of the trail and realized just in time that it was a little tortoise! After barely dodging him, Mike and I went back to attempt to steer him off the trail so that he wouldn't get squished by a less keen rider. He was about the size of a baseball cap and was trying desperately to make his way up a steep hill on one side of the trail. Each time we tried to help him up the hill, he would pull all his limbs inside his shell and slide back down onto the trail like a Mario Kart turtle shell. Hilarious, but frustrating. Finally we gave up and just placed him on top of a log several feet up the little hill, where he thankfully decided it was safe enough to resume his journey.
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| Kamikaze tortoise blocking the trail. |
We finished up our ride with huge smiles and tired legs, and made it back at the van in time to catch a glimpse of sunset through the leafless trees. We packed up and headed to our friends Kris and Sara's place in the city, racing some dark clouds and heat lightning. We arrived in the nick of time and made it inside just as the rain began to pour. We enjoyed a delicious meal and good company well into the evening, with a background soundtrack of rain on the roof and thunder rolling by.
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