Day 122: Maramec Spring Park, MO

The next few days we will be creating our own route in order to get back to a portion of the Great Rivers South route that we bypassed last fall.  Fortunately, the Missouri DOT has maps of various categories of traffic volumes, plus an overlay of sections of roadway with a four foot or wider shoulder.  So it was fairly easy to cobble together a route to Rolla, MO that worked great for us, with the exception of the last mile or so into Rolla.

We had a bit longer day than either of us likes to ride, so we once again split the mileage.  I did the first 37 and Alea took over for the final 25 miles.  My section was rolling hills and pleasant temperatures.  Alea's became roller coaster hills, highs in the mid-to-upper 80s and a brief but fairly heavy rain shower.

Just before getting to Rolla, her chain came off on the outside of the big chainring in front.  So I doubled back to help out.  I wished I had taken a picture, because it was seriously bunged up, but it wasn't long before it was straightened out and she was back on her way.  I was just thankful that it didn't snap off the rear derailleur.

Once we got to Rolla we found a bike shop to make certain the front derailleur was adjusted properly and we wouldn't have a repeat of this incident.  We replaced her brake pads at the same time, as there weren't that many miles left on them, especially since were are back in the Ozarks, so there will be no shortage of steep hills.  While she and Lana waited for the bike repairs, I went off to shop for groceries.

When I returned we loaded up and went quite a ways off route to Maramec Springs Park, which Allstays had described as a state park.  It isn't, it is managed by some sort of foundation.  So our night's stay there with only power was $36!  Twice as expensive as our stay the previous three nights and only about half as nice.  It was no surprise that we were the only campers when we first arrived, though we did end up with one neighbor a short time later.  In hindsight, we would have been better off finding a private campground closer to our route.  

The shower house was one of the more rustic public facilities we've been in, and it had those damned MASH-style showers.  But we were amused at their unique solution to making certain that the toilets didn't run out of toilet paper: 

But the park itself was nice enough - crystal clear spring water for Lana to romp in and cool off from the heat, and a couple of huge herds of deer in the adjacent meadow.  But between the heat and the showers we didn't have that much ability to enjoy the surroundings.