Day 4: Jefferson City to Rhineland

We woke up from a great nights sleep in Jefferson City. The soak in the hot tub from the night before did a wonderful job on our muscles. We wanted to get an early start to make sure we arrived for "High Time" at our next Bed & Breakfast! The hotel has a little coffee shop that serves a small menu of breakfast foods. We opted to just grab breakfast there and then take advantage of the shuttle ride back to the Katy Trail, that the hotel offered. We had definitely had enough of riding & walking the hills of Jeff City! We loaded our bikes into the hotel's van and enjoyed a fantastic ride to where we left off on the Katy Trail at the North Jefferson Trailhead. We were so thankful that we gave the extremely nice driver a large tip.

We rode a quick 12 miles and arrived in Tebbetts. Don't blink or you'll miss this small town. They have the Turner Katy Trail Shelter Hostel, which is open to all who are using the Katy Trail. It's a two story building with 40 bunk beds. You must bring your own bedding. There are showers, restrooms, and a kitchen with a refrigerator and microwave. It's only $5 per night. Oh, and they have a soda machine! It's not my kind of place, but it's cheap and looked cleaned.

From the time I mounted my bike in Jeff City that morning, my tailbone had been bothering me. I thought my super cushy seat would be enough, but apparently not. I did not wear padded bike shorts, as I thought I had enough natural padding! We arrived at the Tebbetts Trailhead and as I dismounted from my bike, I felt an extreme sharp shooting pain up my tailbone. You know...that pain when you fall and land so hard on your tailbone that you feel nauseous?? Yes, that's the pain I felt. I just hung my head and couldn't talk or move for a few minutes as Sal stood there asking if I was alright. Finally I was able to move and hobbled to the bathroom with tears in my eyes. I thought about giving up, but then Sal suggested that I put his GEL SEAT over the top of my cushy seat. I gave it a try and it was like night and day. The gel was AH-MA-ZING! I will never ever ride my bike without a gel seat again. Sal had his padded bike shorts and a pretty cushy seat, so he was fine without the gel. He actually found that riding without the gel seat, and raising his seat a bit, relieved the pain he had started to feel in his knee.

So, we headed off to Mokane where we had decided to stop for lunch, because we wouldn't be hitting any other restaurants for awhile. The only choice we had in Mokane was the Mokane Bar & Grill. If you're hungry, this is the place to stop...the portions are huge! They also have pool tables, music and more. It was filled with bikers from the Katy Trail and we even ran into a few people that we had talked to along the trail earlier. 

Now, we were off to Rhineland where our 3:00 High Tea awaited. Now, let me tell you that while I do love delicious hot tea...what really kept us going were the thoughts of the "SCRUMPTIOUS HOMEMADE SWISS CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES, FRENCH-AUSTRIAN-SWISS PASTRIES AND  SIGNATURE LAVENDER ICE CREAM"!

 The next miles were pretty uneventful. We spotted a few turtles and rabbits. There was a lot of farm land and suddenly we started riding into swarms of tiny little bugs!? They covered our faces and arms and we had to keep swatting them off. Thank goodness we had sunglasses on, so they mostly stayed out of our eyes. We noticed these swarms were also hovering over some of the crops. We never did find out what they were, but they were very annoying. 

As we entered Rhineland, we knew the Les Lavandes B&B was located about 2 miles off the Katy Trail, and up a pretty big hill. We just thought of those delicious desserts and figured the hill wouldn't be so bad. Well, we ended up passing up the street to the B&B by about 1 mile. It's actually just before Rhineland, in Starkenburg. We rode around Rhineland for a bit, and then spotted an old farmer taking care of what looked like a community garden in the middle of town. We asked him for directions and he graciously pointed us back the way we came. He said the road we were looking for was just over the bridge and then make a right after the brush pile. It was coming up close to 3:00, so I called Myrta at the B&B and let her know that we were on our way back to the B&B. As we arrived at the HILL, we noticed a car with a lady waving us down. It was Myrta and she had come to pick us up! I was SOOOO happy to see her, as I had just gotten a look at the HUGE HILL and wanted to cry. We loaded my bike on the back of her minivan and realized that we couldn't fit Sal's bike in too. He was like, "No worries, I can ride up". So, I hopped in with Myrta and we drove up and up and up AND UP...I started to worry about Sal. Myrta and I arrived at the Gorgeous B&B and stood around chatting for what seemed like forever. I was just getting ready to start walking back down the hill to check on Sal, when he finally popped up over the hill!! He's much better at hills than I am, so when I saw him, I knew I never would have made that hill...no matter what homemade treats were waiting for me. Sal's adventure up the hill: He took off up the very steep hill. He stopped for a breath and looked around. He spotted a fence with big dead catfish hanging on the posts. Some were fresh and some dried up, black as tar. He was like, "What the ???", and immediately took off up the hill. The hills got steeper and steeper. He was very hot, thirsty, and out of breathe. He was done! He spotted a sidewalk and literally dropped his bike and fell onto his back. After a few minutes he looked to his left and realized he was near a church and in a cemetery...and he was wearing his skeleton shirt! Unfortunately, I wasn't there to take a picture (lol), but here's the shirt:

As he was laying there, cars were driving in and out of the church, but nobody stopped. After about 10 minutes he got up, grabbed his bike and started walking up the hill. After just a few minutes he arrived at the top of the hill and was so relieved to see the B&B! We were famished and Myrta rushed us right in for High Tea without even letting us clean up first. It. Was. Amazing!

Myrta and Richard are incredible and we will never forget them! This stay was the highlight of our trip. We highly recommend the Les Lavandes, just schedule a pick at the bottom of the hill and be sure they have their bike rack hooked to the car. They'd just had a little fender bender and didn't have the bike rack on that day. We stayed in the Swiss Suite and it is actually a separate house from the main house. It was impeccably clean, with a jacuzzi tub (which I enjoyed a soak in...possibly while sipping an American Honey on the rocks), gorgeous decor and down feather beds. There are no pictures of the suites on the website, and I didn't take any, but I'm sure it will exceed your expectations! The grounds are so beautiful with colorful flowers, lavender, fruits and vegetables. I never wanted to leave! We also opted for the 4 course dinner prepared by Myrta. There was another couple staying in the other suite (non bikers...they drove) and they joined us for dinner and wine. Needless to say, Myrta prepared a phenomenal dinner. Breakfast was just as amazing. Everything is made from scratch. She has her own cookbook, which I purchased and will treasure always. Myrta and Richard are truly kind, giving and welcoming. We felt like family and like we've known them forever. We can't wait to go back!

You can find some photos of the suites in these TripAdvisor reviews.