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Reply to Washington
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Carol Smith from Warrensburg, MO on 4/2/2008 4:10:39 PM:
For anyone not considering a stay in Washington because of the bridge situation, I'd urge you to reconsider. We rode Clinton to Washington last week, and found it to be a very charming town, and a great place to end our ride. We ended in Washington because it's the last place you can conveniently catch Amtrak back to Warrensburg.

We called Yo, Taxi (formerly Hey, Taxi) at 636-234-6360 and were picked up within minutes. Just $12 to cross the nasty bridge. He does cover a broad territory, so it's good to let him know ahead of time of your plans (he just happened to be in Washington when we called).

When you end a trip, you often like to celebrate with an extra nice place to stay, enjoy a nice meal, and explore a nice town. We achieved this in spades:

1. Stayed at the Guest Haus - the quintessential B&B with a wonderful host. Fabulous house, fabulous accommodations, excellent breakfast. The home has been featured on national morning TV programs and major magazines. I wanted to take her kitchen and bathroom home with me, but they wouldn't fit in the panniers.

2. Ate at American Bounty, a terrific, creative restaurant with great atmosphere. Don't miss the cobbler, which you have to order at the beginning of the meal. It was hailing out, so the staff drove us back to the B&B. That's service.

3. We spent a whole lovely day at the end of our trip in Washington, because Amtrak runs twice/day through Washington (9:35am and 5:06pm), but only the evening train takes bikes. Very easy to spend an entire day there. Lots of antique stores, gift shops, museums and restaurants to explore.

 
family of 4 from Pineville,MO on 4/2/2008 7:21:22 PM:
I just confirmed with Amtrak that they allow bikes on both the morning & evening trains,
subject to availability. They encourage making reservations for you & your bike at least a
week in advance. It sounds like they wouldn't allow you to take your bikes on the morning
train because there was not room.

 
Carol Smith from Warrensburg, MO on 4/3/2008 6:59:44 PM:
Highly interesting, and definitely not what we were told by either the Amtrak phone rep or the conductor on the pm train.

Amtrak phone rep said "Bicycles are not allowed on the morning train, just the evening train." Period.

While riding back, we asked the Amtrak ticket guy why bicycles weren't allowed on the morning train, and he said "Different equipment is used, kind of a double-decker arrangement, and there isn't enough room for bikes on the lower level."

 
Teresa on 5/5/2008 1:11:28 PM:
I called Yo Taxi and was quoted $25 per person one-way, or roughly $50 to go across the bridge and back by van. I know gas prices are up but can this be right? $25 just to take a person a quarter mile?

 
washmo.com from Washington, MO on 5/6/2008 5:21:34 PM:
The Missouri River bridge in Washington, MO is a bit narrow. See for yourself on the page below. It includes a video of crossing the bridge heading North:

http://washmo.com/content/view/137/1/

Jason
http://washmo.com/

 
Trek on 5/6/2008 9:53:01 PM:
Wow! Thats some video......I've crossed some bridges but thats one I won't attempt.

 
cunninghamair from O''Fallon, MO on 6/20/2008 8:24:42 PM:
We live in O'Fallon and caught the train in Washington to Jeff City, then rode back. We got
the the Dutzow Deli and had lunch--then I chickened out. I didn't want to cross the bridge
to get back to our car at the train station. My husband decided to brave it--he admitted it
was a mistake. It is a long slow, steady climb up to the bridge from the trail, so he was
pretty winded when he got there--and had a scary, close call with a pick up truck on the
bridge. We are considering parking the car at the trail head, riding across the bridge early
in the morning before traffic starts on a weekend and then catch the train so we end up at
our car. But the cab is probably the best idea.