The morning began like most other mornings so far on this trip, dreary and a little cold. But the weather gods had promised a visit from the sun today, and good to their word, the sun was popping in and out all day. Our first stop was in Hannibal, MO, boyhood home to Mark Twain, and probably more than I originally realized, the setting for both The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and many other Mark Twain books. We went to the Mark Twain Cave Complex, which had 2 caves - the original Mark Twain Cave that has been open since 1819, and the newer Cameron Cave that opened in the 1970's. The complex also includes a campground and a winery.
       The first cave we entered was the newer Cameron Cave, they say newer, but the caves are actually the same physical age, it's just that the Cameron Cave opened to the public after people stopped using kerosene lanterns, stopped writing graffiti, and stopped breaking off souvenirs . So the Cameron Cave is still in relatively pristine condition. These caves are unlike the previous caves we have been exploring, as they are much deeper (over 250 feet below ground) so they are colder (52 degrees year-round), and except for a couple of spots near the surface, they are bone dry. So instead of formations, they are mostly a labyrinth of passages criss-crossing below the mountain. The Cameron Cave has over 450 passages in a 4 sq mile area. Since this cave wasn't electrified, we all carried small LED flashlights to illuminate our way. We stayed down their for over an hour, and with the myriad of paths, Jody and I would love to have been just let loose to explore for a few hours to see if we could find our way out. When we were done we kept our flashlights as souvenirs.
     The Mark Twain Cave was a lot more damaged, mostly due to the owners encouraging people to write their names on the walls until the 1970's. But, what I hadn't realized about why it was called the Mark Twain Cave, is that Mark Twain explored this cave many times in his youth, a even into his adulthood . Many of the landmarks inside the cave are described in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, when Tom & Becky were lost in the cave with Injun Joe. It makes me want to go back and reread the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn books. The locals still have a Tom & Becky festival every year where local 7th graders compete to be named this years Tom & Becky. There was even a section of the cave where Jesse James hid out for a while, and wrote his name on the wall.
     Even though it was about 9:00 when we got there, it was after 1:00 by the time we left. The afternoon ride was not much to write about. Northern Missouri and southern Iowa are pretty flat and straight. There was a small section of MO-79 just before Hannibal that had some scenic overlooks of the Mississippi River. But mostly the scenery was pretty, but the roads were not very adventurous for a motorcycle. The smells were a different story, they seemed to alternate between cow manure and toxic chemical depending whether the fields were being used for cattle or farming .
     We did make one stop for coffee and gas at the Flying J in Wayland, MO. as we went down the off ramp, there was a sign pointing to Kahoka, MO in one direction and Keokuk, IA in the other. I was half expecting one of the Cook clan to come driving down the road at any moment. Didn't really have time to stop, so I just waved in both directions and headed out.
     As the day progressed, it continued to warm and by the time we were into Iowa, it was about 75 degrees and sunny. When we left this morning, Jody was about out of chicken bullion cubes, she has low salt, and her doctor wants her to drink chicken bullion a few times a day. At various times on our trip, we had passed by a Wal-Mart, so Jody was keeping an eye open for one today so we could stop and get her bouillon. We had also decided, that we had enough of the fancy dinners for tonight, and were just looking for a Subway so I could get my BMT and she could get her ham sub. We were getting kind of panicked as we were coming up on the hotel exit and still hadn't seen a Wal-Mart or a Subway today . Imagine our surprise when we turned off Exit 54 on US-151N into Anamosa, IA and there it all was: The hotel was on the right with the National Motorcycle Museum just across the street. and behind the hotel was a Wal-Mart, and next to the Motorcycle Museum was a Subway. Everything was within walking distance. So we parked the bike at the hotel, checked in, and walked to Wal-Mart and Subway. It couldn't have worked out any better.
     Tomorrow, we get to sleep in, as the Motorcycle Museum doesn't open until 9:00, so it's museum in the morning, our final cave for a while in the afternoon, and tomorrow we sleep in Wisconsin, before turning west and heading for the South Dakota Badlands!

304.7 miles today
2387.2 miles total

8.214 gallons today
57.599 gallons total