de Tocqueville Tour

Joni Mitchell lamented the “paved paradise .. put up a parking lot”. Just the same …. there are some swaths of pavement that are nothing short of paradise to drive, and we found more than a few of those roads today.

Leaving Jefferson City we rode on MO-50 and MO-63 southeast to Rich Fountain before turning onto CR-89. There was signage at the approach warning of 17 miles of “road work”, however there was no evidence of work underway and no work crews. Instead there was a beautiful serpentine route with aged but nonetheless smooth tarmac the whole way. No traffic, just mile after mile of linked turns.

Leaving Belle on MO-42 there was more signage of “pending road work”, but in this case the road was clearly done as we found another 40 miles stretch of perfect road. Perfect in design with perfect camber and perfect asphalt. The road rose and fell like a roller coaster, undulating left and right in and endless succession.

South of Iberia we picked up a 60 mile stretch of super slab on I-44, exiting at Strafford and heading south on MO-125. South of Linden the bliss returned with another 60 miles of twisty’s ahead, terminating at a Ferry just inside the Arkansas border. While crossing a Bull Shores Lake we shared the ride over with a group of Harley riders out for a Memorial Day cruise. They were a bit surprised at our Alberta plates and the distance we’ve travelled thus far.

Disembarking from the ferry we followed Hwy -125 to it’s termination at Hwy 14, then tracked east towards Harrison where we stopped for the day. Back home in Canada there is a pair of riders who have travelled extensively in British Columbia and the Western states Washington, and Northern California. They’ve developed a series of guide books titles “Destination Highways” that describe the best motorcycle roads in the area. The terms “Destination Highways” refers to those roads that are worthy destinations on their own merits. If these chaps ever did a review of Missouri and Arkansas roads, the ones we rode today would definitely be on the list.

Over the course of our trip so far we have always patronized Shell gas stations whenever we can. Our hopes were quickly dashed when we saw a defunct Shell station in Missouri, however our faith was rewarded when we were able to fuel up at a Shell station in Harrison. Hopefully we’ll see more of the ‘Pecten’ as we travel through Arkansas in the days ahead.

Today was a ‘day of rest’ wherein we stayed an extra night to do laundry before continuing our journey. This also afforded us an opportunity to visit the Missouri Capitol early in the morning. It was a quiet day at the Capitol on this Memorial Day Sunday.

Missouri’s first legislators wrote in their constitution that Missouri’s capitol must be located on the Missouri river on a site within 40 miles of the of the Osage River. The site of the City of Jefferson, named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, met these requirements and become Missouri’s capitol city.

In addition to the usual legislative chambers (house and senate) the building also houses the Missouri State Museum. The third floor contains the Hall of Famous Missourians which is a collection of bronze busts of men and women who have made outstanding contributions in such fields as art, literature, science, entertainment, business and the military. Among them are Harry S Truman (33rd President), Mark Twain and Walt Disney, Scott Joplin (composer of the Entertainer ) and famous talk show king Rush Limbaugh where also notable honorees.

Following our trip to the Capitol we capped off our ‘rest day’ with a round of golf at Jefferson City’s Oak Hills Golf Center. A perfect day for golf – if a tad humid.

Setting out in the morning, our first stop was the Iowa State Capitol building. Built in 1871 (at a cost of ~ $3 M) it is the home of the state legislature (House of Representatives and Senate) as well as the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer and Secretary of State. It is the only state capitol with five domes and is one of 10 state capitols with a golden dome (gilded as it is to a thickness of 1/250,000 of an inch.)

The 2023 session of the house ended , so there was no activity during our visit. Among the more controversial recent bills was one that prohibited gender affirming care/surgery for minors. (a common type of legislation that has been gaining traction in many red states). The other had to do with extending work hours and eligibility for teenage workers.

The state house contains several exhibits, one of which is a scale model of the USS Iowa battleship. The Iowa escaped the tragedy of Pearl Harbour as it was stationed in the Atlantic, conveying President Roosevelt to the conference in Tehran in 1943. It eventually returned to the Pacific theater in 1944.

Security is in evidence in the Capitol. Metal detectors are located at each entrance. Visitors have to remove metal objects and place them in trays that are x-rayed, before passing through the detectors. However, if one has a ‘concealed carry’ permit, they can keep their weapon with them. This policy was confirmed by the local security guard (who was a retired State Trooper). Needless to say, he was probably carrying himself.

Out day started with a quick trip to the Iowa State Capitol. From there we proceeded south out of Des Moines continuing on Hwy 5 south east through Pleasantville and Albia. This was a sedate route along divided highway humming along at 100 kph. The weather (as has been typical for us) was beautiful – clear skies, mid- 20’s temperatures, low humidity, mild winds. Simply perfect!

In Albia we had a brief stop at the local Casey’s General Store – a popular convenience store chain in the mid-west – and was surprised at how busy it was. Could hardly find a place to park! We’ve noticed this chain throughout our trip, and invariably they were busy and well patronized.

At Moravia we left Hwy 5 and followed the Historic Hills Scenic Byway a surprisingly fun road with gentle sweepers over undulating hills along various county roads. An ATV club seemed to be holding an event at a local recreation area along the route. After passing Lake Sundown we picked up Hwy 202 south of Unionville.

Crossing into Missouri we stopped at Sunset View cemetery to witness the abundance of American flags on display. Today is the start of Memorial Day Weekend, which is a holiday designed to honor America’s servicemen who made the ‘ultimate sacrifice’. So flags have been very much in evidence all day. However, the number of people visiting this rural cemetery suggests that visiting deceased family members may also be a tradition on Memorial day.

Continuing south on US-63 we had two hours of ‘super slab’ on our way into Jefferson City where we ended our ride for the day.

Setting out from Dubuque we followed Hwy 53 south to Clinton, a small town on the Iowa shore resplendent with American flags (in anticipation of Memorial Day Weekend) with an old riverboat converted to a local theater.

Picking up Hwy 67 we continued south where we stopped in at the ‘Antique Archeology’ location (of the American Pickers fame on the History Channel) in Le Claire. Quite the collection of old artifacts and several fossilized motorcycles.

After Le Claire we crossed the Mississippi again, continuing around the Illinois side through East Moline and Andalusia before returning to Iowa at Muscatine. From there it was bye bye to Ole Miss as we needed to strike due west towards Des Moines.

We stopped for a coffee break in Washington Iowa, noting that Washington is a popular town/ city name in the US, yielding a Washington in each of twenty four states . The proliferation of Washington place names seems only matched by the profligate spending of the federal government in Washington DC, a controversial topic over our first week of the trip as politicians negotiate an increase in the debt limit so that spending can continue and the massive IOU owes to debtors worldwide can continue to grow.

Continuing west we angled slightly northwest on Hwy 163 before finishing the day’s trip in Des Moines.

Heading out from Red Wing we crossed the Mississippi into Wisconsin and picked up the Great River Road National Scenic Byway in Hager City. The Byway at over 5,000 km follows the Mississippi from it’s origins in Minnesota down to the Gulf of Mexico. Today’s objective was to explore it as much as possible.

We followed Highway 35 along the shoreline of the river down to Stockholm where we encountered a southbound BNSF freight train running between the road and the river. We kept pace with the train down to Nelson, where we left the Byway and explored some of the twisty county roads east of the river. This was a great stretch of roads leading us into beautiful hidden valleys with no traffic whatsoever.

Rejoining the Byway at Alma we passed by Lock 4 of the Lock and Dam system that regulates waterflows and allows for navigation along the Mississippi. We would encounter additional locks at Winona and Genoa. The Byway was a great route, following the river to a great extent and passing through several small towns full of mid-western American charm. The only disconcerting aspect to the drive was the number of road kill raccoons we found. They were surprisingly regular, almost acting as a macabre form of mile marker.

Passing through La Crosse we stopped for a coffee at Starbucks (difficult to pass up given how few we’ve seen on this trip so far) and fueled up at Prairie du Chien.

South of Bridgeport the Byway leaves Hwy 18 and follows several different county roads closer to the river. We had a brief stop at Potosi Point. There we met some locals flying a kite and taking photos of circling bald eagles overhead (their nest was visible in the shoreline trees to the north), and benefitted from their suggestion to follow the River Lane Road (also known as Rustic Road) as a further deviation from the Byway route. It was worth the slight detour.

Rejoining Hwy 61 we headed south into Dubuque where we checked into the hotel and explored the downtown area, looking for a restaurant. We settled on an Italian venue, had a great meal, and then enjoyed the local cityscape murals as we returned to the hotel.

Our visit to Minnesota’s State Capitol in St Paul provided us a real time experience with American Democracy. After parking our bikes in a paid lot at the south of the promenade leading to the capitol, we trekked up the hill, taking note of a group of school students queuing up under a glorious tree on the mall.

Entering the capitol we noted the classic architecture including the rotunda and the state seal inlay in the floor below the atrium. Although the house and senate were no longer in session, there was a bill -signing ceremony that day (it took place in the morning) wherein Governor Tim Waltz signed the omni-bus budget bill on the steps of the capitol.

as

Wandering around between the house, the senate and the supreme court, we noticed what appeared to be singing echoing through the building. At first it sounded like buddhist chanting (not a total surprise as there were a group of buddhist monks visiting at the time), but on closer examination we found a group of Uber drivers expressing their desire for Tim Waltz to sign a bill that would result in greater equity for the Uber drivers. The group were chanting “Tim Waltz – Sign the Bill” and —- well — given the grand acoustics in the building this sounded like singing at a distance.

One last grand look down the steps of the Capitol at the promenade and we returned to our bikes and continued our journey.

Today’s ride started early with light winds and temperatures in the mid teens. Our morning route took us on blue roads that ran south and parallel to I-92 on our way to Minneapolis and St. Paul. We headed south on Hwy 29 and picked up Hwy 55 at Glenwood. We encountered numerous lakes and small towns along the way. Every town had American flags in evidence, usually a small park in honor of veterans and tidy well kept homes.

Minnesota’s state official caption is “Star of the North”, however it’s unofficial nickname is “Land of 10,000 Lakes” which apparently is no exaggeration as there are 11,842. Today’s ride included a sample including Lakes Minnewaska, Koronis, Maple Lake, Buffalo Lakend Lower Lake.

We passed through Paynesville, Kimbal, Annandale, Buffalo and picked up Hwy 12 at Delano. This turned into I394 which took us to I-94 and from there to the state capitol in St Paul. After a 90 minute break to check out the capitol we headed south on Hwy 10, crossing the Mississippi at Hastings, before picking up Hwy 61 into Red Wing for the conclusion of today’s trip.

The phrase “interesting interstate” would be considered an oxymoron by any motorcyclist.  The interstate system was spearheaded by Dwight Eisenhower who – as a general – was alarmed at the difficulty of moving troops around the lower 48 states given the existing road system.  No surprise that – as President – he did something about it. The interstates were designed to improve road transportation across the nation, beginning with the Federal Aid – Highway Act of 1956.  So they are good a moving things fast, but otherwise are boring to ride. Nowhere more so than I-94 across North Dakota.

Today we left Bismarck and headed due east on I-94.  The weather was great – low to mid 20’s at least until we reached Fargo where it suddenly jumped to 31 C with increased humidity.  The trip was punctuated by periodic rest stops (fortunately there is one every 75 km or so).  We put on 357 km (of 2503 for the total length of I-94) before veering off to Pelican Rapids where we stopped for coffee. There we met some locals who advised us to take the Otter Trail Scenic Byway as the best route from there to Alexandria.  So we departed from our original plan and did as they suggested. 

It was a great change from the tedium  of the interstate.  We picked up CR-3 just south of Pelican Rapids and headed east following CR-24, CR-41 , CR-45 and CR-35 through Maine, Phelps to Battle Lake.  From there we continued on our original route through to Alexandria.

Today was a rest day – a day taken to relax a bit, do some laundry and otherwise prepare to resume the journey the next day. The day started with our trip to the North Dakota State Capitol building and finished with a good meal at a local steak and sea food restaurant. However, in behind we took a quick trip south to Fort Yates along a route that paralleled the Missouri River.

Starting south from Mandan along Hwy 1806 and quickly came upon the North Dakota Veterans cemetery. Set upon a hill facing southeast, the cemetery was comprised of all white crosses arranged in the beautiful lines reminiscent of Arlington national cemetery. Among the crosses were scattered a number of floral bouquets placed in honor of the fallen who payed the ultimate sacrifice.

Further south, just as we arrived at Fort Yates, we came upon the Sitting Bull Burial Site and Memorial. This was the location where the great Lakota warrior and chief was buried after he was killed. In Canada there has been a great focus in recent years upon our own history with First Nations – a movement known as “Truth and Reconciliation”. There has been an attempt at an honest acknowledgement of the terrible events that comprise our history. Which made the words from Sitting Bull – repeated below – all the more poignant for it brings the issue home in a new and unexpected way.

” What treaty have the Lakota made with the white man that we have broken? Not one.
What treaty have the white man ever made with us that they ever kept? Not one.
When I was a boy the Lakota owned the world; the sun rose and set on their land;
they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today?
Who slew them? Where are our lands? Who owns them? What law have I broken?
Is it wrong for me to love my own? Is it wicked for me because my skin is red?
Because I am a Lakota; because I was born where my father lived;
because I would die for my people and my country? “