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Published: June 14th 2012
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Bernie got a jump start on the shopping when we we arrived yesterday afternoon, purchasing a new pair of Teva sandals when we dropped in to pick up a guide to the shops at the Osage Beach Premium Outlets. This morning we were in Osage Beach specifically to shop! It was just as well too, as our shopping coincided with a pretty intense thunderstorm. Instead of negotiating Route 66 in torrential rain, all we had to worry about was dashing between the shops in the rain!!
By about 1.30pm we had pretty much done all of the clothing and footwear shops so we stowed all of our purchases in the Mustang and drove down to Lebanon to pick up Route 66. Our Osage Beach deviation resulted in us missing the section of Route 66 between Waynesville and Lebanon.
After resuming our journey on the Mother Road, our first sight for the day was the pair of Meramec Caverns Barns just to the west of Lebanon. There are old and new signs everywhere for the Meramec Caverns but, having visited a cave recently in Yorkshire, we decided not to take time out to explore the Meramec Caverns.
Soon we
reached Phillipsburg, after which 4-lane 66 and later I-44 were routed further west leaving original Route 66 to run over hills and through woods and meadows all on its own. With the weather improving rapidly after this morning's storms we enjoyed a lovely drive through Conway to Marshfield.
We stopped at Marshfield to photograph the quarter scale model of the Hubble Telescope. Dr Edwin Hubble lived in Mansfield as a boy and the model was erected as a tribute to this hometown boy who became a noted astronomer and namesake of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Arriving in Strafford, we photographed the neon sign at the Rest Haven Court Hotel and then drove on into Springfield, Missouri as opposed to Springfield, Illinois where we stayed on Thursday night.
After driving through Halltown, we found ourselves in Paris Springs where we stopped at the Gay Parita Sinclair Station for a chat with Gary Turner - one of the real characters on Route 66 with a true passion for preserving and promoting the route's importance.
When we finally got away from Gary - he certainly has a yarn or two to tell, including one about meeting Lindsay Fox when
he drove Route 66 without realising until much later that he is a multi-millionaire trucking magnate in Australia - we crossed over Highway 96 to pop into Spencer where we photographed the 1926 thru-truss bridge over Johnson Creek.
We have been spotting lots of road kill, but no carrion eating birds taking advantage of the free feed. This afternoon we finally spotted a couple of fairly large grey/black birds with red heads feasting on some poor critter than had been run down on the side of the road. After some internet research, I am fairly confident that they were turkey vultures.
When we reached Maxville we tried really had to find Red Oak II, a site full of relocated and restored old buildings, but to no avail. Gary had told us that we had to go there and he drew us a map so that we would still be able to find it despite the current detour that is in place due to the bridge over Spring River being out. We drove around in circles, we even enlisted Edna's assistance, but we just could not find it!!
Admitting defeat, we continued on into Carthage to find the
Best Western Hotel that we booked for the night. It was fairly late when we arrived so we walked straight across to the bar & grill buffet across the road from the hotel. We were a bit dubious about the US$8.99 all you can eat offer, but we ended up being pleasantly surprised. The food was fairly plain, home-cooked fare, but after so much eating out that was actually a nice change. And no one to blame but ourselves if we over ate!!
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