The Dollar General in Ewing Creek was pretty quiet overnight. It’s just a shame that the temperature was uncomfortably warm all night. There wasn’t a hint of a breeze either.
After a bowl of porridge and some painkillers, Alan drove the RV back to today’s starting point in Steedman.
A lady was near the start line loading what looked like a load of junk into her truck. Perhaps she’d been evicted. Perhaps she was just taking the items. I guess I’ll never know.
A friendly dog also appeared to see me off. He crossed a road and the passing traffic tooted their horns at him/her. It was a curious little thing.
I set off at 06:21 thankful that this would be the last day on the Katy Trail. It would be a great place to cycle or go for an adhoc trek. Spending the best part of 4 days on its sharp surface with surroundings that rarely change in appearance, has been a real challenge. It feels much longer than 4 days actually. In that time the RV has had a punctured tyre and my feet have taken a right hammering.
I must admit that my morale was very low when I set off. Somehow, I was able to use that to my advantage and I was surprised to find a bit of pace.
After about 90 minutes into the day, I received an email from Terry, the lady I met yesterday. She’d read my blog and firstly apologised for not offering us a parking spot for the RV last night. The best part of the email read “We had a bumper crop of asparagus in the garden this year and I put away some cream of asparagus soup. I’d love to bring some to you and Alan along the trail today.”.
What a kind gesture! I started doing the calculations and messaged Alan to stay at the Tebbetts trailhead until Terry arrived.
I left the trailhead which was just before the 10 mile point. I wasn’t too disappointed to see that a part of the trail was closed.
Just before I reached the main road I spotted a familiar looking RV. Wasn’t that the one on series 1 of The Walking Dead?
I could see that work was underway to construct a bridge on the trail. They really seem to look after it well. I’ve seen maintenance men out every day doing work.
News reached me from Alan that Terry and her husband had dropped off some soup as well as some oatmeal and butterscotch cookies. Quite incredible kindness that restores your faith in humanity.
While I was on the road they drove past and waved. At the 17 mile point, I took my only break of the day. I soaked my feet, had some pasta and finished up with a 30 minute tactical snooze. It was a very shallow sleep.
I set off again and I’d had enough of the flies on the trail. I decided to run on the nearby road for a bit. A lady in a passing car offered me a lift. I told her to search for “Run Geordie Run” online. If she did and she’s reading this then thank you for the offer.
Due to the lack of a hard shoulder, I rejoined the trail at the 19 mile point. I caught a glimpse of the Missouri State Capital building.
I was quite lucky not to stand on a snake with only a few hundred metres left on the trail.
I left the Katy Trail for the final time just before the 21 mile point. It’s a section of this route across the USA that has threatened to ruin my feet as well as my mind. It’s almost succeeded too.
The next 2 miles took me to a spot between the Jefferson City Bridges. According to Google Maps there was a path to something called The Skywalk. This was the footpath that runs alongside the bridge. Unfortunately, I was greeted with the image below.
In hindsight, I should have gone that way. The decision I took was to clamber up a steep bank onto the bridge. The pain that I felt there was excruciating. It was like walking on hot sharp coals.
I made it onto the bridge and thankfully on the quieter inside lane. It didn’t stay quiet long and many a furious motorist gesticulated in my direction. You can just make out the “skywalk” in the image below.
It was a case of head down and move as quickly as my feet would let me.
I eventually made it off the bridge and into Jefferson City. What a relief! At the 24 mile point I sent a message to Alan to say that I needed to be picked up. My feet were in a really bad way.
Alan had been doing the laundry and found a place to get some propane gas (which powers the hot water and fridge). He said he was 16 minutes away. I continued along the route for another 50 minutes and made it to 26.15 miles before feeling very unwell. Alan had got a bit lost.
I stopped my watch for the day and sat on the only thing I could see for a seat.
I could feel myself fainting and slid nicely onto the nearby grass. Alan arrived not long after and I’ve never been so happy to see the RV.
We drove to a nearby Walmart. I had a much needed shower and wrote the blog while Alan did the shopping. Tea was roast chicken sandwiches and a thigh. There were some tremendous strawberries for pudding. I do hope that my American followers appreciate them words “tea” and “pudding”. Us English northerners tend to refer to dinner / supper as tea. I don’t think pudding needs too much of an explanation.
TUNE OF THE DAY: Mysterious Girl - Peter Andre. For some reason, this played on the iPod as I made my way across the “bridge of death” into Jefferson City. I wasn’t in a position to press “skip track” as I was too busy avoiding getting knocked over.
The charity fund continues to progress well in aid of St Benedict's Hospice and currently stands at £20,121.
^DA < Mark received an email today from Sheelagh, Head of Retail and Fundraising at St Benedict's Hospice "From all of us here at the hospice, clinical teams, fundraising, admin, volunteers and our transport team we thank you for the determination and what can only be described as sheer grit that you are showing along your incredible journey".
It's only right that these thanks are extended to you, the reader, for your continued messages of support and donations to Mark's efforts. All donations no matter how big or small are very much appreciated and all contribute towards the much needed support and services of the hospice. >
If you are enjoying following the journey and think my efforts are worthy of a donation to St Benedict's Hospice, please visit:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/rungeordierun2025