DAY 1 - Columbia, MO - West Plains, Missouri

After the night's sleep in Hojo we were up and ready packing our bikes for the first day of our tour together as a group of three bikers. Packing all the equipment of the motorcycle is quite a production and slowly we are getting better at at. Right as we were leaving we did our morning maintenance check and noticed that Uri's front tire had a leak. Luckily we were a mile away from a Harley Davidson shop and drove there right away. They were really nice and fixed Uri's front tire and even gave him a few spare parts for the future.

Now we are ready to ride!

We headed to Osage Beach and stopped in Jefferson city to fuel up. We took route 63 south and continued on 54 west. Missouri is a beautiful state (so far) and has magnificent views. We drove down to the lake and stopped for a coffee break. There is a feeling that there is not rush at all in our trip and even though we have daily dead lines, we feel as though time is no concern.

We got back on the saddle and headed down south. For some reason Highway 5 south was closed for construction, so we had to alternate our route which took us in rural american roads between state parks. I have to mention that for our first day we lucked out and the scenery became very nice and picturesque. From flat farm lands and dull crop fields in Kansas, we started seeing tall green trees, lakes and meadows. The air seemed a lot more fresh and healthy and we enjoyed the warm breeze which constantly hit our helmets at high speeds.

The sun started to set and we got a bit concerned we wouldn't make it before night fall. Even though we are equipped with all the latest technology, from GPS to laptop, it always pays off to ask a local for assistance. We pulled into the gas station in West Plains to fuel up and asked a local where is the nearest campsite. We found out that the closest campsite is 10 miles west of the town, so we headed to it. It was getting darker and we were getting a bit nervous that we won't make it before night. However after 17 miles down the narrow road we found a sign for a camping ground. We pulled in slowly and parked our bikes and started building our tents. Uri set off to make dinner and Dovid and I found a flat surface for our small tents. We used our motorcycle light to help us see, and got ready in less than an hour. Dinner was delicious and consisted of rice and sauce. However we weren't the only creatures there. Raccoons and Armadillos accompanied us while we sat at the camping table and ate our dinner. Quite a scene!

We woke up this morning and now are headed down to Memphis for the weekend.

200 Miles away.