Grum-pee in Tee-pee

The roadway-napping-opossum count is up to 3, rivaling Team Deer. That’s the latest from Villa Ridge Mo where today’s activities began. Old man Moe made me breakfast upon arriving in Saint Clair MO. A Las Vegas bartender, turned Missouri pizza czar, with a little car biz thrown in along the way, led him to create an art gallery-restaurant that couldn’t be nicer. Great food and even better conversation abounds. His is a personality that will stick with you.

Old man Moe more than made up for the grumpy teepee couple. Enroute to St. Clair, westbound, you’ll come across a 3 teepee curio sort of shop. It seems photogenic enough. That is, until the owner flies down the driveway to shoo you away after making you delete any images of her on your camera. She didn’t seem to care that I wasn’t capturing her image and that it was the teepees that I wanted. Her husband with a similar attitude was quick on the scene, as well. She lamented being tired of tourists parking in the driveway and along the roadside of her teepee shop. Neither of my fast friends would shake the hand that I offered as a sign of no hard feelings…because “too many people from around the world stop there and who knows what germs they may be carrying”. Just as I was about to mount up and clear out, she asked if I was going to come in and PATRONIZE her teepee shop. I bit down hard on my lower lip and slowly squeezed out the words, “Gee, those ARE lovely rugs that you are displaying, but I’m on a motorcycle and…”

Crossing the Ozarks on a motorcycle can be a sensory treat. Sure there are the views, but today’s warm weather and overpowering scents of honeysuckle, cut hay and musky rotting forest wood were exceptional.

Below you’ll find a photo of my new little friend Lili. Perhaps you’ve heard of her universally famous “Lili’s Lemenaid Stand”, in Devil’s Elbow, Missouri. If I could type the letter “d” backwards, I could show you the correct way to spell the name of her business. Please reference the photo for the correct spelling and trademark logo.

Springfield MO was about all that 225 miles could produce today. Tomorrow should wind me up somewhere in Oklahoma.