Decided to stay on for two days in St. Joe. Both to rest & also to see the various museums that have caught ny eye. I haven't really done the real cultural sites much so far so but there were places here that I think are worth staying for. I didn't do much on Tuesday. I spent nearly 3hrs typing the blog, got a bite to eat & then it poured rain so I happily confined myself to barracks for the rest of the day.
Today I went in to town to see the Pony express museum which was good. This is a real icon of the wild west, and yet, it only functioned for 18 months. I'll follow the pony express route for its first 100 miles along the Oregan trail to Maryville and then pick it up again at Salt Lake City & follow it to its terminus at sacramento. To qualify to be a rider you had to be an expert horse rider of wiry build, preferably an orphan, not afraid of hardship indians or death and accept a wage of $25 a week. I reckoned I fulfilled some of the requirements so I asked one of the guides would I have made the grade? 'Nah, sweetie, more like the donkey express for you, honey!!'
I went up to the Jesse James home which still stands in the town, though not in its original location. The house has actually been moved 2-3 times over the years. Jesse bought the house in 1881 and, during April 1882 while planning a bank robbery with 2 others was shot in the back of the head by Bob Ford who reckoned the $10,000 bounty on Jesse's head was easier got. Instead of the bounty Ford & the other lad were arrested & sentanced to hang, but the judge pardoned them 2hrs later?? The bullet hole is still visible in the house where it passed through a wall after exiting James' skull.
I had a look at one or two other places in town but they weren't as interesting. In the afternoon I got Sancho (the bike) sorted for the next phase of the trip. I got a new rear tyre as the old one was now bald. The amount of wear on that tyre in the last week was unreal. Anyway the bike is now sorted again. I also got oil for the chain as it was starting to squeek a bit. So sancho's purring now. 'Isn't that right? Bud.' 'Yeah, deadly buzz man, deadly...'
I've been unable to post pics or video the last few times. Earlier today I got on a PC in the city centre & started posting stuff. I tried putting up a video clip but the PC was slow & ended up timing out. The PC's in this library have security settings that don't allow me to attach external devices so it will be another week or so before I get stuff up. Sorry about that.
Today I went in to town to see the Pony express museum which was good. This is a real icon of the wild west, and yet, it only functioned for 18 months. I'll follow the pony express route for its first 100 miles along the Oregan trail to Maryville and then pick it up again at Salt Lake City & follow it to its terminus at sacramento. To qualify to be a rider you had to be an expert horse rider of wiry build, preferably an orphan, not afraid of hardship indians or death and accept a wage of $25 a week. I reckoned I fulfilled some of the requirements so I asked one of the guides would I have made the grade? 'Nah, sweetie, more like the donkey express for you, honey!!'
I went up to the Jesse James home which still stands in the town, though not in its original location. The house has actually been moved 2-3 times over the years. Jesse bought the house in 1881 and, during April 1882 while planning a bank robbery with 2 others was shot in the back of the head by Bob Ford who reckoned the $10,000 bounty on Jesse's head was easier got. Instead of the bounty Ford & the other lad were arrested & sentanced to hang, but the judge pardoned them 2hrs later?? The bullet hole is still visible in the house where it passed through a wall after exiting James' skull.
I had a look at one or two other places in town but they weren't as interesting. In the afternoon I got Sancho (the bike) sorted for the next phase of the trip. I got a new rear tyre as the old one was now bald. The amount of wear on that tyre in the last week was unreal. Anyway the bike is now sorted again. I also got oil for the chain as it was starting to squeek a bit. So sancho's purring now. 'Isn't that right? Bud.' 'Yeah, deadly buzz man, deadly...'
I've been unable to post pics or video the last few times. Earlier today I got on a PC in the city centre & started posting stuff. I tried putting up a video clip but the PC was slow & ended up timing out. The PC's in this library have security settings that don't allow me to attach external devices so it will be another week or so before I get stuff up. Sorry about that.
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