The Sandcastle

Day 14? We’ve really only been doing this two weeks?! Huh.

I spent the entire morning writing blogs trying to catch up with my backlog of notes  It’s more challenging to write them when they are not fresh in your mind but I think I did OK. We left camp about 1 p.m. and headed into Springfield, Missouri.

The rig had a new squeak. Dave though it might be the springs that hold the new carpet on the retractable steps. When we stopped along the way I discovered we’d left one of the slider windows open. I closed it. No more squeak  We’re glad we don’t have to figure out an alternate way of holding the carpet on the steps.

The Rest Haven Court has been in existance in 1947 which means it was built the same year we were born. Now it is advertising free Internet. Glad to see it has also kept up with the times.  I thought I had a picture of that sign but, if so, I don’t know where I stored it.

We had planned to go to WalMart next but since we got such a late start we decided to skip it and go on to Steak N Shake for lunch. This place still has the original 1962 architecture. You can still get curb service and the guys still wear paper hats. They had some funny signs inside. One said, “It’s important to study the classics.” Another one defined a milkshake as “milk a-la-mode.”

Next we drove by the Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque. I wonder what today’s Shriners think about being so clearly identified with Islam?

 

We drove by the Gillioz Theater but there was no place to safely stop to take a picture of it. Then we drove by the Old Calaboose which was built in 1892 but we couldn’t find a place to park since we are too tall a rig to fit into the parking garage next door to it so we only got a picture of the back of it.

The Melinda Motel is a place I would be wiling to stay if we didn’t have our own house with us. I like the individual cabins so you don’t get a lot of neighbor noise.

 

The only thing worth photographing at Danny’s Service Station is the old sign. Every thing else original is long gone and what’s there now is nothing special. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stop close enough to get just the sign.

The Yeakley Chapel is out in the country. It has been standing since 1887 and is still an active Methodist Church today. Note the two front doors from a time when men and women were expected to enter and sit separately.

Traveling on down the road we came to this gas station and took a break here to use the restroom. We had to use our own since the building is closed. It must have been a real something once upon a time though. Notice the change in stone where they “fixed” the false front roof. Gas was 31.9 cents but Ethyl didn’t have a price listed.

  

The writer of the turn-by-turn book sometimes gets poetic. Today he suggested that we somehow revive the relics we are looking at by rebuilding them in our minds. I find that idea amusing in a likable sort of way.

When we entered Carthage, Missouri, we decided we’d better make that WalMart stop to resupply our RV. While there, we decided to try using our freezer so we bought a bunch of frozen dinners to microwave on those days we have electrical hookups. Then we decided it was late enough to just stay at WalMart overnight. So we moved over near other RV’s and semi-trailers and sort of set up camp.

TTYL,

Linda

Bennett Spring State Park’s local claim to fame is as a great fishing site.  This is what we saw as we left the park on this Saturday morning.  Those are waders hanging from the awning support.

  

Back in Lebanon, Missouri, we picked up one more box at the post office (a Scan Gauge) then we visited the new Route 66 museum in the new library.  This is a small but powerful museum. The first cafe photo is not a serving cafe but is one of the displays in the museum. The bridge picture is the Chain of Rocks Bridge we visited several days ago; notice the bend in the middle to counteract the force of the water flowing by.  I don’t know what the collection of salt and pepper shakers has to do with Route 66 but it is emblematic of the 1950s; my Mom had a collection that might have been this large if she displayed it all at once. We also ate lunch in their cafe; the picture of the piano tiled floor was taken there. 

        

There was a young family with their grandma eating in the cafe.  The daughter, about age 3, had apparently never had a hot dog before.  She had to be taught how to eat it.  She loved being able to put her own catsup on from the squeeze bottle.  Her older brother had new cowboy boots; he liked listening to the heels strike the floor as he walked.  I’m pleased to report they were well behaved children as we see so many who are not nowadays.

Next we stopped at the B&D Auto/Truck Plaza where we bought diesel and propane.  It’s nice to know we can keep running our furnace at night without worrying about running out of propane in the middle of the night.  I am looking forward to getting far enough south that we won’t need the furnace, though.

As we came into Conway we saw a sign that said, “Speed Limit 45”.  Right next to that was a sign that said, “Speed Limit 25 where not posted”.  How do we know where “not posted” starts?

Driving down County Road CC while watching the center lines wander all over the place made me wonder about the painter.  Was he new to the job?  Or drunk?

We passed several obviously new businesses using the name Route 66.  That irritated me. Then I realized Route 66 had always been a road advertising the businesses along it.  Why should that tradition not continue in the names of new ones?

We passed a horse motel. Lots of people travel with horses and they need a place to spend the night, too.  I got a chuckle out of the fact the barn had been painted to look like a strip motel.

In Strafford, Missouri, we stopped and shopped at Camping World.  We now have new carpet on our steps which I hope will help keep down the amount of dirt we track in.  We also have a second magazine rack to install to hold all those maps I picked up the other day.  But we didn’t get the electrical things Dave had on his list–out of stock or not available there.

Now we are camped across the highway from Camping World at Stafford RV Park.  It’s basically another parking lot but it is giving me a place to catch up on all these blogs. I guess I’d better post the URL for this new blog on the old blog so you can all read these, huh?

TTYL,

Linda

I think I mentioned before that we like Missouri State Parks.  They have no admission fees, usually have electrical hookups for $16-$20 dollars, and their campsites are often shaded by trees.  They also have a checkout time of 2 p.m.  Which for us is a mixed blessing since we have so much trouble getting on the road in the morning anyway without having permission to stay so long.  Still we are picking Missouri State Parks for most of our overnights even when we have to drive a ways off our route to get to them.  It’s so easy to get tired of RV parks where you park too close to your neighbors in what is essentially a parking lot.

This section of Route 66 is also the I-44 freeway frontage road.  It is very well maintained.  Part of that is probably because, according to the signs, it is also the “Incident By-Pass Route.”  Apparently, they have enough accidents on the freeway here to have a marked route for detouring around them.  That makes me glad we are over here to start with.

We are seeing fewer colorful leaves today so we must be headed in the right direction.  

Cuba, Missouri is a town that understand the importance of Route 66.  They have been restoring buildings and many other town buildings have Route 66 murals painted on them.

 

One of the funniest sights I saw was a man walking a dog.  The dog got just far enough ahead of the man to walk around a post wrapping his leash around it.  When the man tried to follow the dog to unwrap the leash, the dog followed the man.  They went around a couple of times before the the leash finally came unwrapped.

In St James, Missouri, we stopped at a visitor center.  When you travel the 2-lane highways instead of the Interstates, you don’t get a visitor center every time you cross a state border.  This small town visitor center was an excellent place to stop.  They had current highway maps for most of the states we will be passing through.  What a bonus!

Also, in St James we saw a place that had three former tour buses for sale.  So, If any of your are looking to buy a bus to convert to an RV, here’s a place you might want to visit.

We stopped at a Subway for lunch and this vehicle pulled in.  The owner thanked me for wanting to take pictures of it.  Who wouldn’t?!

 

Then we drove though an area known as Devil’s Elbow.  It included a two lane road with a one lane bridge.  And a pullout with this fantastic view.

Lebanon, Missouri, is another place that appreciates its Route 66 history.  

    

We bought groceries at Winks Market and ate supper at the Bell Restaurant but we didn’t stay at the Munger Moss Motel.  They are open for business and are popular with Route 66 travelers but we went on to Bennet Springs State Park for another pleasant stay at a Missouri state park.

TTYL,

Linda

Leaving St Louis we tried to follow the Route 66 signs and my homemade maps.  We finally gave up and opened the turn by turn book I bought back in Chicago.  When we stated this journey I didn’t think we wanted to do it turn by turn.  I was wrong.  It’s actually easier to follow that route which automatically brings you to most of the things we want to see.  Plus, Dave has discovered that, for him, following the actual route is what it is all about.

Dave and I are not particularly interested in exploring caves.  Been there; done that; I can’t really do it anymore, anyway.  Yet we found ourselves turning at the road to Meramec Caverns.  I guess all that advertising on barns and billboards does work.  We didn’t tour the cave, though.  We just had lunch in their restaurant and shopped in their gift shop.  

For lunch I had a country fried steak sandwich.  I love country fried steak partly because I love gravy which I don’t eat often anymore so it is a real treat when I do.  However this was a steak on a bun–no gravy.  It was so tasty I didn’t even mind it not having gravy.

In the gift shop I bought a toothpick holder.  I have a gap in my teeth that nearly always manages to trap something at the end of a meal.  I frequently need to use a toothpick to get it out.  With this holder, I can store some toothpicks in my pocket without getting stabbed.  A very handy thing for me.

Driving along we passed other “typical” tourist sites.  A reptile museum with a trading post then a yard full of lawn ornaments for sale, for example.  I remember reading once about a woman who collected those lawn ornaments for years.  As a widow, she started selling them from her own yard to supplement her income.  Interesting retirement program.  Today she’d probably be selling them on eBay.

As we drove the hills of this part of Missouri, Dave commented, “Missouri sure has a lot of ups and downs.”  I’m glad our days are mostly ups.

TTYL,

Linda