Cathy and Tim Mueller in Angels Camp: Day 14 -St. Louis, MO

We were up early, continental breakfast opened at 5:00. Based on the previous nights forecast, we thought our only hope to get to St. Louis, without threat of thunder storms, was to get a very early start. We were wrong! We were ready to depart by 6:00, but stayed in the lobby until 6:30 to let the heavy rain pass. We took off in a light rain... within 25 minutes the rain was coming down hard again. We decided to run for cover to a pole barn on the side of the road.

We debated returning to Ste Genevieve or trying to make it to Festus (halfway to St Louis). We decided to wait out to storm, watching the lightning strikes that were so close we became really worried. About 45 minutes later we decided to push forward. BRILLIANT decision!
The ride was hilly and cool, but did not include storms. When we arrived in Bloomsdale, a very friendly dog greeted us.

That friendly black dog followed us down the road for the next 2 miles, but it was very mannerly.
The roads were really nice, and the weather was working out well.

We got to Festus and decided we could make it all the way to St. Louis without storm threat.
We finally road into the city limits of St. Louis in the early afternoon, riding on well marked bike routes,

past the Anheuser Busch plant,
as well as some awesome old brick homes and buildings.

After cleaning up and grabbing a drink and snack, Tim and I made it to the Gateway Arch. 4:00 pm must be the perfect time to arrive... no waiting for tickets, to get on the tram to the top of the arch, nor for the documentary movie on building of this amazing arch.