Through Southern Missouri, October 13, 2011

I find that I have lost my relationship with time.  I no longer have a clue what the time is.  We have discovered that breakfast and dinner seem necessary, but lunch can be skipped with no thought at all.  We left the car’s clock on Eastern time and let our phones keep track of local time.  We wake at sunrise and have coffee and work out before eating breakfast.  I am still concerned that eating in restaurants will result in weight gain and a serious lack of vitamins from fruits and veggies so we bought fruit from the grocery story (when we finally found one!).

I wanted to drive today – I really prefer driving through the rural areas, so today was my day.  We had a day of picture-taking and enjoying the serene and beautiful drive through the Ozarks.  Yesterday I described the terrain as gently rolling, but today we left gentle behind!  There were steep ups and downs and dramatic hairpin turns.  It was great fun to drive.  We started in Rolla with the goal of reaching Joplin before we stopped for the evening.

In Rolla we photographed the ½ scale model of Stonehenge.  It was created by the Missouri Science & Technology University students and staff.  We parked illegally in a staff lot and took a few quick but fun pix.  Then we hit the road.  We crisscrossed I 44 to stay on the “outer road.” And our first photo stop was at Devils Elbow.  The terrain was fiercely hilly and rocky and the road was very narrow.  We couldn’t even pull off when we stopped to take pictures, but we really had the road to ourselves today.  The bridge at Devils Elbow looks down on a sharp curve of the Big Piney River where the logs used to jam up because they couldn’t make the sharp turn.  It was a very steep drop and the view was breathtaking.

We stopped next in Lebanon at the Library to see their Rte 66 museum display.  The local folks have made a wonderful display that moved Dennis to take a short video of a pristine 1938 Buick Phaeton.  I was tickled by the huge salt and pepper shaker collection that was donated by one citizen.  It started as her mother’s collection and grew when friends traveled and bought the shaker sets as souvenirs.  Lots of them came from places along the Mother Road.  The library's map collection was truly amazing.  We saw one map of “Cloverland” – Michigan’s Upper Peninsula!  We also saw propaganda maps that were printed to stir up support for a national “good roads” system – contrasting that need to the building of the Panama Canal (the Canal was seen as a waste of our resources from which citizens did not benefit).  We were really glad we stopped there.

We worked our way through some confusing road construction in Marshfield so that we could take a picture of the miniature Hubble telescope in the town square.  Since you can see blue sky in the photo, you can tell it is not in space, but it was fun to see.  We have commented on the strong pride of place that we have seen in many Missouri towns.  Many of the water towers have the high school mascot name along with the town name, i.e., Strafford Tigers.  It is great to see the schools as such an important part of the community. 

Dennis did a great job of navigating us through Springfield and I paid attention with all my energy!  It was wildly busy with lots of highways and 4-lane surface roads.  I’ve been unusually cautious since I do not know the local laws.  I wanted to turn right on red but I wasn’t sure if MO allowed that – it does – and now I feel more comfortable.  But we’re headed into Oklahoma tomorrow and I have to observe and learn their rules.  After we left Springfield, we swapped driver and navigator duties and Dennis drove us into Joplin.  We did have one long stop when we sat in the car and waited on the “one lane road due to construction.”  When it was finally our turn to drive, our line of cars was escorted by a construction truck.

We chose to stay in Joplin today because we spend money wherever we stay and Joplin needs help.  It is a vibrant town with lots of events, and we have not seen the tornado destruction. We have seen evidence of a re-greening push to plant trees all over town. We found out that we are here one week too early, though, Octoberfest starts NEXT Thursday!

Traveling this way is an ongoing adventure and meditation on life in America.

Pictures from the THIRD day of travel!

The big Rocker!! MA wanted to check it out!

At the top of the Arch. 630 Feet up..... talk about getting high!

Note the bridge bending 22 degrees at the center! Incredible!

Crossing into Missouri, October 12, 2011

Oh my aching feet!  I had no idea we would be walking so much today.  We worked out at the hotel and left around 10:00 a.m. to find the Chain of Rocks Bridge into Missouri.  We have discovered that our guidebook often has terrible directions!  It never gives an estimated number of miles and rarely directs us to travel North, South, East, or West.  So we sometimes wander in circles.  We have begun to rely on our phones to help us find our way.  When we found the Chain of Rocks Bridge, we walked about one mile out and back and took pictures from the bridge (Dennis will post).  When we were in the middle of the bridge, we spotted a shoreline perch from which we would be able to take some great pictures, so we backtracked until we found the road that would take us there.  It was obviously a local fishing hole that was devoid of tourists – except for us.  Then we hopped on the highway and crossed the state line and exited to visit the Missouri welcome center. 

One of the workers there took pity on us and helped us with really specific directions to the Gateway Arch.  When we got there, we found parking that was a bit off the beaten path, so we walked some more.  We took the tram up to the top of the arch – awesome view!  Then we wandered around the museum of western expansion.  It is almost unbelievable when you see a covered wagon to imagine that people (families!) traveled the same distance Dennis and I are traveling under such extreme conditions.  It is amazing that the west was settled that way by such tough, determined people.  We are total wimps in comparison!

When we left St. Louis, we headed for Rolla – 106 miles away.  The terrain had changed dramatically from Illinois.  Now we were driving over rolling hills with lots of trees and rocky formations.  We are in the Ozarks.  We stopped at the Rte 66 state park in Eureka to see the great displays.  The park was formerly a victim of dioxin poisoning that has been cleaned up and memorialized with a great Rte 66 artifacts display.

We stopped at Stanton.  We wanted to see the Jesse James Wax Museum – a classic piece of Rte 66 kitsch.  We were so disappointed to discover that it is closed!  So we settled for a picture and jumped back on the road to Cuba.  Cuba is the Mural City.  There are 12 really beautiful and colorful murals on public buildings.  This was a brilliant idea of the community to bring attention to the local history and the many colorful elements of being part of the Mother Road.  We took pictures of one of the murals, but I have to tell you that this is worth the drive to see them all!  Outside of Cuba we had to photograph the giant rocker.  Hope you get a chuckle out of that picture!

We arrived in Rolla with the plan of staying at the “vintage” Xeno’s Motel and Steakhouse, but were greeted with the unpleasant aroma of cigarette smoke when we entered.  The reception desk was occupied by a man who looked like an undertaker (maybe even a vampire).  He told us that the rooms had wi-fi and that they had non-smoking rooms, but the only rooms available did not have wi-fi.  I said thanks but no thanks and we left.  That encounter set off all my “this is not a good place” alarms!  We drove back to the city center and checked into a Drury Inn hotel.  The pleasant young woman who checked us in commented on our wedding bracelets and on our fun journey.  We cheered up considerably and found our room to be comfortable, clean and satisfactory.

I really want to stay in a vintage Rte 66 hotel, but I really want the place to be clean and comfortable, too.  I will definitely post the results of this search!  When we were participating in the hotel’s happy hour, we met three other travelers: one who told us that Joplin is not back up to speed and may not have a hotel room when we need it (good warning for us), and two from Highland, Michigan.  This meeting of people along the way has been so much fun.  We are enjoying the road, the views of other places, the local people and the other travelers we meet.

We have found some fun things to do in Joplin so we may try to get all the way to Joplin tomorrow.

Rte 66!!!

Hmmmm I think she likes it!!

Our Lady of the Highway!!

Joe's Diner!!


We're traveling now!! Per MaryAlice's post, I am attaching some self explanatory pics. From Lincoln's Museum, His Tomb, and some other lighter images!!!

Springfield to Staunton, October 11, 2011

We did not log a lot of miles today.  Instead we did a lot of tourist-ing.  We visited the Lincoln Presidential Museum and Lincoln’s Tomb in Springfield.  The museum was an incredible history lesson and a powerful reminder of the incivility of politics and war.  I never liked history when I was in school.  The facts didn’t stick with me beyond the final exam and the battles were meaningless.  This museum presented hiSTORY – it illustrated the people and their interactions.  It showed the horror of war and death in the 1800s and the casual disrespect for the lives of African American slaves.

The power of the stories was real and immediate.  I learned more about American history in those few short hours than I did in all of my school years.  The story of President Lincoln’s first year in office and the beginning of the civil war was wrenching.  He was vilified in the media. I was surprised at our emotional reaction as we walked through the Lincoln white house years and saw the story of the death of his son.  One section that Dennis and I both loved was a great holographic presentation called the Ghosts of the Library.  Springfield’s most famous resident gave us a memorable morning.

For our afternoon we have to give two shout-outs: one to Jane Rogers and one to my brother Tim.  For lunch we went to Joe Rogers’ Chili Parlor (in Springfield).  Jane had told us about it and we have to say that her husband’s “long lost relatives” cook up a mean batch of chili and great tamales!  Tim told us about a place in Staunton that is vintage Rte 66 – the Country Classic Cars.  It looks like a used car lot but all of the cars and trucks are vintage.  Dennis will upload pictures of a few of our favorites.  Our only problem with the place was finding it!  We learned the hard way that some stretches of the highway have frontage roads on BOTH sides of the road.  So, we did not travel a lot of miles today but we experienced the southern reaches of Illinois and really enjoyed it. 

We are staying in Edwardsville this evening in a Comfort Inn.  It is clean, friendly, comes complete with breakfast and is completely acceptable.  The Illinois countryside has been beautiful.  It has been filled with farmers bringing in the harvest and has reminded us of the bounty of the Midwest and of our many blessings.  Speaking of blessings, one of our stops was at a small shrine called Our Lady of the Highway.  It is being maintained by a family (picture posted by Dennis) whose house is on the Mother Road.  It has provided a place for travelers to say a prayer for safe travels for several decades.  And, tomorrow we travel on to Missouri – we’ll make sure to capture the change.

To go along with what MaryAlice said below, Here are some pics of our trip on the first day!!
Yeah... that's MA hangin' with Jake and Elwood.... I forgot my harmonica : (

Route 66 in Illinois, October 10, 2011

We got to Joliet about 10:30 and went to the Joliet museum and Rte 66 welcome center for our first purchase of souvenirs.  Fun!  It was really a nice little museum filled with local pride of place.  We took a few photos, then we headed out on Historic Rte 66 which followed IL 53 – a four lane road that became a 2 lane road through IL countryside and small towns.  We stopped in the small town of Wilmington to snap a photo of the Gemini Giant who stands beside the now-closed Launching Pad drive in.  This kind of road departs from the regular way we travel as Americans on high speed, bland freeways.  There was a much slower pace and we traveled through Illinois farmland and small towns.

Our tour map book of Rte 66 notes all of the places where you can find “giants” on Rte 66 and Wilmington was the first of those.  We were amazed to see what looked like the cooling towers of a nuclear facility after we passed through Wilmington.  It was between Braidwood and Gardener.  We thought that might account for the giants along Rte 66! 

We stopped for lunch in Pontiac at the Old Log Cabin. It has been open since the 1920’s.  When Rte 66 was re-routed around the Old Log Cabin, the restaurant was picked up and turned around so it still faced the highway.  It was a pretty typical small town diner complete with friendly service, low prices, and good sandwiches.  We jumped back on the road again and I wanted to drive so Dennis navigated.  He had to get me through several really tricky back and forth stretches that were confusing.  Our guidebook took us along the frontage road most of the time, so we were driving in sight of I 55.  During several long stretches we could see the old, broken up roadbed of the original 66.  The creative folks in a few of the small towns had turned the old pavement into walking/biking paths.

We did have a few disappointments, though.  One of the “giants”, a statue of Abe Lincoln, was no longer at the designated corner in the guidebook, and an old car museum appeared to be closed – no entrance, no lights, no sign.  And then there is the hotel.  I cannot recommend it. First, it was very difficult to find!   It is not in the heart of visitor attractions but is near I 55.  The room is small and dimly lit (not in a romantic way) and it lacks charm.  Oh well – we are still up for the adventure and glad we made good progress today.  Tomorrow we will take in the historical sights of Springfield – Lincoln-related, of course, and we will head a bit further south to check out Country Classic Cars in Staunton (at my brother Tim’s recommendation) and we’ll take time at the Our Lady of the Highway for a traveler’s prayer.  We will also shop for a motel and see if we do a better job this time!

Dennis will upload some of our photos.