Curb Destroyer Chronicles: Indian Summer Sky Ride

Indian summer Sky

An expression given to a period of sunny, warm weather in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, typically in late October or early November, after the leaves have turned following an onset of frost but before the first snowfall. The generally accepted use of the term is when the weather is sunny and clear, and above 70°F, and all of the leaves of the trees have turned but before the first snow has fallen; a period normally associated with mid-October to late-November in the northern states of the U.S. Traditionally, Indian summer can only be a true Indian summer after the first frost, generally a killing frost, of the season.

Sunny Weather... Check
Fallen Leaves... Check
Mid to late November... Check
After First Frost... 1/2 Check, it's been below 32
Temp Above 70...Nope 55 degrees,

However I like riding when it's between 55 and 65 in the fall, so it's the perfect Monday.

Yes Monday, How could I be expected to handle work on a day like this?

As Ferris Buehler said . . . "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

So what's on tap? 4 counties [Jackson, Cass, Johnson, . . . (Yes Missouri was also in line when they were handing out Johnsons) . . . & Henry], and 7 Cities/villages (Lee's Summit, LoneJack, Strasburg, LaTour, Quick City, Blairstown, & Holden).

We . . . Crusty and I . . . started in Lee's Summit then headed to LoneJack. Just outside Lonejack is Cockrell Mercantile. It's a lot like Pryde's in Westport.

If you want kitchenware, or other household gadgets that are quality, you want to visit this place.
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Next Stop Strassburg, and the Pop Stop. Remember the Pop Stop From

http://curbdestroyer.blogspot.com/2008/07/rainy-80-errr-i-mean-90-miles-of.html

It's a little Convenience Store (Not Pictured) . . . That was supposed to be open. Well here a little look at Strasburg. They also have a bar, but they were not open either.

Since this ride is a self supported 80+ mile ride.It was real stategic in the planning of the ride. 20 miles down and the real possibility of not seeing a place to fuel up for another 40 miles.
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Oh the Fun Begins. Bynum becomes CC south of Strasburg, and State maintenance ends on CC just before 215th
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This is where I say . . . "Why does it get dark in the middle of the road like that"?
Crawford Creek 215th Street Bridge
http://www.bridgehunter.com/mo/cass/17782/
They say, Overview:
"Lost pony truss bridge over Crawford Creek on 215th Street" . . . Yea it was lost alright.
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This area of Cass and Johnson county Missouri is called the Praire lands.

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About 35 miles into the adventure we made it to LaTour. I didn't get any pictures for some reason. I did find this one on the "Interwebs".

"Latour, a prosperous village on the St. Louis & San Francisco railroad, was laid out when that road was built in 1885. This town is located on section 3, township 44, range 29. The original site was owned by Howard and Emily Stitt and the town plat was recorded July 21, 1885. Latour is a prosperous village with one bank, good school, church and several stores."
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Yea well that was in 1885. Today there is nothing more than a village of old houses. In fact I believe they unincorporated a couple years ago. I intended on finding that train depot, but we couldn't find the railroad. We didn't even find the usual green sign that would have said LaTour population 65.
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Down the road about 10 Klicks we did find these signs.

Arrrrrrrgh . . . of course. Were supposed to be . . . Darn I've been sworn to secracy about this next part. Guess you'll have to find out on March 19th.

Well, we figured we were some place northeast of Quick City. and with 40+ miles down, we figure we'd just head back. We zig zagged through the gravel roads back to Kingsville for fuel, then to Strasburg, back up to LoneJack . . .