Hi, I'm from Missouri, May I help you?

ajayhawkfan · May 1, 2012

Hello All,

As I said I am from Missouri. I have traveled the State for over 25 year on business and even longer for pleasure. I have visited every county in the state many times. I believe I have visited most of the State Parks and State Historic Sites. I have also visited many lesser known sites such old grist mills/dams, battle fields, cemeteries.

If there is something that interests you please let me know. Maybe I can help or at least head you in the right direction.

A couple of general thoughts:
There is very scenic riding along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Consider either as part of your route to Sedalia.
Don't bypass north Missouri. The northern part of the state has beautiful rolling hills and you will have it all to yourself.
Missouri has some very historic towns that are worth visiting. Hermann and Ste. Genevieve are two of the best but so is Washington and Hannibal and many others.
Missouri has 1000's of springs. The largest in the country in Big Springs in Southern MO
Navigating St. Louis can be a nightmare. Consider taking the ferry across the Mississippi River just north of Grafton, IL (N of STL) or Ste. Genevieve (South of STL).
KC is not as bad as STL but skip it if you can.
MO was the third most fought over state during Lincoln's War. There are historic sites everywhere. And if John Brown and Bleeding KS interest you there are sites all over eastern KS. (The war started in KS 10 years before Sumter.)

Eddie
(ajayhawkfan@yahoo.com)

I also am very familiar with KS, especially the eastern 1/3 that includes the Flint Hills.

bmwgsrider · May 1, 2012

What would you suggest would be the "must do", "best roads" that you don't want to miss... I know there isn't always enough time to do everything... what would you suggest that I don't want to miss? Thanks.

k12lts · May 2, 2012

I'll be coming up thru northwestern Arkansas, what are the best roads to ride in south west Missouri?

ajayhawkfan · May 2, 2012

bmwgsrider said:
What would you suggest would be the "must do", "best roads" that you don't want to miss... I know there isn't always enough time to do everything... what would you suggest that I don't want to miss? Thanks.

I need a little more information. Are you looking for roads that are around the rally or as you come to the rally.

Overall you can't go wrong on any alphabet highway in Southern MO and most state highways.

If you are interested in the ride to the rally I would highly recommend exploring the Flint Hills of KS. East of the town of Eldorado is highway 177. That that north to Cottonwood Falls/Strong City (The book PrairyErth was about this area). Check out the Courthouse and historic downtown. Just north of Strong City is the Z- Ranch and the only National Park dedicated to the tall grass prairie. http://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm

Continue on to the historic town to Council Groves and it's many historic sites. Continue on 177 to State Route 4 (near Alta Vista) and go East to Highway 99. Go North to Alma. Alma is a small town that has many historic native stone building. The town also has a creamery worth visiting.

A little south of Alma is Skyline Road and it goes east. It is very scenic GRAVEL road.

That route will give you a good overview of the Flint Hills and most likely not see many others.

ajayhawkfan · May 2, 2012

k12lts said:
I'll be coming up thru northwestern Arkansas, what are the best roads to ride in south west Missouri?

I would recommend crossing Bull Shoals Lake on the Ferry (N36 29.603 W92 47.149) and then take 125 north to Bradleyville. Go right on 76 to Ava. At Ava pick up Highway 5 and go north to Hartville. At Hartville go east on 38 to highway 17. Continue north on 17 past the east side of Fort Lenard Wood, through Waynesville to the town of Tuscumbia.

From Tucumbia take 52 west to 65 and then north.

This ride take you a much more scenic route then 65 all the way and it by-passes the traffic around Branson and Lake of the Ozarks.

greenwald · May 2, 2012

Lincoln's War?

:brow

ajayhawkfan · May 2, 2012

Greenwald said:
Lincoln's War?

How about War of Northern Aggression?

ajayhawkfan · May 2, 2012

bmwgsrider said:
What would you suggest would be the "must do", "best roads" that you don't want to miss... I know there isn't always enough time to do everything... what would you suggest that I don't want to miss? Thanks.

A few more thoughts:

Head to the Missouri River and then follow downstream to Hermann, MO. Hermann is in the heart of the MO wine Country. They call themself the German Capital of he US. It is a fun area to visit with good roads in all direction. It is about 140 mile east of Sedalia.

The Battle of the Hemp Bales was fought in Lexington, MO. There is a nice museum in town and make sure you check out the County Courthouse, there is a cannon ball imbedded in one of the columns.

Another interesting and historic small town is Arrow Rock. There is lots to see and do in and around this town. http://www.arrowrock.org/

Ride to Brunswick, MO and find the USS Aries. It is a unique site in MO. It is not open to the public but worth seeing.

Interested in BBQ? Then go to a classic BBQ joint, the original Arther Bryant's at 1727 Brooklyn, KCMO. The neighborhood is not the best so only go there off of Interstate 70. It is about a mile south of 70. Your nose will lead you there.

lee · May 2, 2012

ajayhawkfan said:
Ride to Brunswick, MO and find the USS Aries. It is a unique site in MO. It is not open to the public but worth seeing.

.

I need to go find that thing. Do I need a GS to get to it?

I found this YouTube where someone rides a KLR back to the site.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyCT4lK99G4

Hope I'm wrong, but when I look at Google Maps and zoom in, it looks like you can see a ship laying on its side. Hope the Mo. River flooding last year did not swamp it.

http://g.co/maps/ns8yk

ajayhawkfan · May 2, 2012

Lee said:
I need to go find that thing. Do I need a GS to get to it?

I found this YouTube where someone rides a KLR back to the site.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyCT4lK99G4

Hope I'm wrong, but when I look at Google Maps and zoom in, it looks like you can see a ship laying on its side. Hope the Mo. River flooding last year did not swamp it.

http://g.co/maps/ns8yk

You do not need a GS to get to the boat. It is no more than 2 blocks from the blacktop and a pretty good road to about 25 yards.

The boat is not on the MO is it on the Grand. Flooding was not a problem.

lee · May 2, 2012

ajayhawkfan said:
You do not need a GS to get to the boat. It is no more than 2 blocks from the blacktop and a pretty good road to about 25 yards
The boat is not on the MO is it on the Grand. Flooding was not a problem.

That's good to hear. Since Brunswick is a short distance up the Grand from the Mo. I was affraid tailwater would have caused problems during the flooding.
In the link I provided, the ship looked tipped, but it looks good in your bing picture.

mneblett · May 2, 2012

ajayhawkfan said:
Ride to Brunswick, MO and find the USS Aries. It is a unique site in MO. It is not open to the public but worth seeing.

Interesting -- ex-USS Aries was one of a class of U.S. Navy Patrol Missle Hydrofoils -- a 70's/'80's experiment with high speed small patrol craft for missions in shallow water. One of my NROTC classmates was the CO of one, during the time they were being used primarily for drug smuggling interdiction off Florida. Seriously fast small combatants when they lowered the front and rear hydrofoils to lift the hull up out of the water. IIRC, in addition to the speed and chase endurance advantages, the (now removed) main turret contained an 76mm Otto Molera (sp?) gun -- the druggies didn't like 'em, at all.

drubery · May 2, 2012

Ferry Schedule?

"ferry across the Mississippi River just north of Grafton, IL"

Thanks for stepping up, it's greatly appreciated. From WNY I am trying to make the 1K ride and qualify for the Saddlesore 1000. Where can I find information on the ferry like running times if not GPS coordinates for it's berth. It may be late by the time I get there so how is St. Louis traffic at night mid week? Thanks!

-Dennis

ajayhawkfan · May 2, 2012

drubery said:
"ferry across the Mississippi River just north of Grafton, IL"

Thanks for stepping up, it's greatly appreciated. From WNY I am trying to make the 1K ride and qualify for the Saddlesore 1000. Where can I find information on the ferry like running times if not GPS coordinates for it's berth. It may be late by the time I get there so how is St. Louis traffic at night mid week? Thanks!

-Dennis

Dennis,

I'm happy to help. I enjoy sharing MO and KS with others.

Grafton has/had a ferry that goes straight to MO. I believe it is permitally closed. A few miles north of Grafton is the Brussels Free Ferry across the IL River (N38 58.007 W90 29.692). After crossing the IL you ride to the Golden Eagle Ferry (N38 52.312 W90 34.040) to enter into MO. For more information: http://www.greatriverroad.com/secondarypages/ferries.htm

STL is better at night and weekends but it can still be a pain. My wife was stuck on I-70 for 2 hours last Sunday afternoon.

Eddie

BTW. Grafton, IL is a historic river town with a number of good places to eat and watch the river go by. The area between the rivers (IL and MS Rivers) has some wonderful riding both black top and dual sport. I took a winter ride there this past February.

If interested here is my RR from that trip with photos of the Land Between the Rivers as well as across MO: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=757198

ajayhawkfan · May 2, 2012

mneblett said:
Interesting -- ex-USS Aries was one of a class of U.S. Navy Partol Missle Hydrofoils -- a 70's/'80's experiment with high speed small patrol craft for missions in shallow water. One of my NROTC classmates was the CO of one, during the time they were being used primarily for drug smuggling interdiction off Florida. Seriously fast small combatants when they lowered the front and rear hydrofoils to lift the hull up out of the water. IIRC, in addition to the speed and chase endurance advantages, the (now removed) main turret contained an 76mm Otto Molera (sp?) gun -- the druggies didn't like 'em, at all.

This one was as well:

greenwald · May 2, 2012

ajayhawkfan said:
How about War of Northern Aggression?

It's like the Titanic.

You 'lost' - get over it. :deal

ajayhawkfan · May 2, 2012

Greenwald said:
It's like the Titanic.

You 'lost' - get over it.

My guess, The War for Southern Independence does not work for you either. :bliss

bmwgsrider · May 2, 2012

Thanks for information.

ragtoplvr · May 2, 2012

k12lts said:
I'll be coming up thru northwestern Arkansas, what are the best roads to ride in south west Missouri?[/QUOTE

It is hard to beat 90 from Noel until it ends at 37. Take 37 to cassville, and then take 76. As 76 gets closer to Tablerock lake, it gets fun. Warning, there are some turns that have radius changes, you can see if if you are watching for it. This will take you into Branson, something to see if you have never been there. Spend the night, and take in a show if you can. The home base motel for the Branson Blitz is the honeysuckle inn, it is clean, very nice and reasona

At cassville you can always take a detour to Roaring River. Nice road, but I always get stuck behind a motorhome From Branson, north on 65 to springfield, therethis part I do not know hopefully there will be some other suggestions.

Rod

greenwald · May 3, 2012

ajayhawkfan said:
My guess, The War for Southern Independence does not work for you either.

Never underestimate the capacity for men to constantly rewrite history.

Hey - my bike is 'grey' - perhaps Confederate Gray. Yankee Blue wasn't available that year!!!

That said, at the end of the day, we're all Americans, and looking forward to the rich history in your state! :usa

Hi, I'm from Missouri, May I help you?

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