Conesville, Iowa to Hannibal, Missouri May 2022

May 2022 Hannibal, Missouri

Brad and I have rode north along the Mississippi River and ended up staying in Savanna, Illinois a few times.  Poopies, Iron Horse Social Club and east to Psycho Silo have been the highlight stops.  For 2022 we did something different.  We followed the Mississippi River south from Conesville, Iowa.  Hannibal is a small town in northeast Missouri known for Mark Twain’s boyhood home.  We camped at a campground near the Mark Twain Cave. The site was just south of city limits along a two lane rural road.  If you follow that same road south, you’d end up following the river to St. Louis. We did ride both sides of the river to and from St. Louis a couple times during our visit to the region. Excellent views on the east side leaving a well known biker destination, Fast Eddies in St. Louis. I remember trying to navigate to Fast Eddies Bar.  The map took me through some rough looking neighborhoods. All was good.

Mark Twain Memorial Light House

Bike Ride 2022 Conesville, Iowa

 Bike ride 2022 Iowa to Missouri. First stop CONESVILLE, IOWA

Motorcycle trip for 2022. Time flies- from Bill's memory: Brad and I met in Conesville, Iowa at the Redneck Revival Rally. The rally is centered around a drag strip in the middle of a grassy field. Participants can race any types of vehicles. I’ve seen all types of motorcycles, cars that are drove every day and elaborate classic race cars. One year those 4x4 side by side off road vehicles races, golf carts raced and a picnic table set up with a small engine zoomed down the race track! 

Brad and I have been meeting in Conesville because we’ve bonded with a few people over the years. Daryl, Connie, Fig, Dawn, Kaci, Paul, and several others seem to have been there consistently during the years I’ve been at the rally. It is always nice to catch up and be surrounded by familiar folks when so far from home. I appreciate the conversations around the campfires and watching the concerts and events with our small group. I’ve learned over the years that the motorcycle rallies are always more memorable and exciting when sharing the experience with friends. I’ve been the lone guy watching at many events. Neat but not as exciting as participating by meeting familiar folks and meeting new people. 

The Conesville rally started off with a windstorm as usual. The winds really do roll across the plains like a freight train picking up power and speed. Sometimes tents are blown over and camp chairs are tossed around for the owners to run and catch. I think there have been a few derechos in this area over the past decade.

Our group plans meals. Daryl usually surprises us with a meal on the first night. Then everyone takes turns cooking a dinner each night. We eat dinner then go off to watch the bands and shows. This year Brad’s bride Krista cooked fajitas for us. Those fajitas were really tasty.  I remember because Brad and I ate them for days after the rally. I have to mention it because there were about fifteen of us to eat that first night.  Brad says Krista cooked 82 pounds of fajitas! Not sure if it was 82 pounds but it was a lot and everyone got plenty to eat. I give Krista credit for always providing enough food for everyone.

At the end of the rally, Krista flew home leaving Brad with the rock star RV bus. We put our bikes on the trailer and drove to Hannibal Missouri. Hannibal is known as Mark Twain’s boyhood home.