Day 5 Route 66 - Saint Louis to Waynesville (with Osage Beach deviation) 208.1 miles

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This morning we repacked our bags and had our breakfast and then walked quickly to the base of Gateway Arch. With no time to visit the Museum of Westward Expansion or to ride up the internal tramcar to the top of the 630-foot monument we settled for a few more photographs of the arch ... from yet another perspective! It really is an awesome structure. Standing at the base of the arch we were able to really appreciate just how huge it is.

We walked back to the hotel, finished packing the Mustang and set off again on Route 66. I had been a bit stressed about how we would find our way out of the city and pick up Route 66 again, but we drove straight down Washington Street and turned onto Tucker Street which took us straight to the Gravois Road/Chippewa Street/Watson Road route that was in our guide book. We even spotted the Giant Farmer and Son at Sappington Farmers Market!

At the intersection of Watson Road and Kirkwood Road we had to choose again between the pre- and post-1932 alignments. We opted for the post 1932 route through Eureka, Allenton and Pacific to Gray Summit where the pre- and post 1932 alignments converged. After the plains of Illinois we found ourselves driving through forested hills which was very picturesque.

Just after Gray Summit we found the Gardenway Motel sign, but then had to retrace our steps because there were signs up saying that the bridge was closed on Route 66 (Highway 100). Instead of going over the interstate we had to take I-44 until we could exit onto Highway 100 a bit further on. This took us under where the bridge should have been. It wasn't just closed - there was no bridge there at all.

I spotted a huge Sunday flea market just after Villa Ridge, but Bernie wasn't interested in stopping so we continued on to St Clair, Stanton, Sullivan and Bourbon. Bourbon is infamous for its water tower that is labelled 'Bourbon'. Photo op!!

We stopped for lunch at a small diner in Cuba. We hadn't had a Philly cheesesteak sandwich yet on this trip so that's what we ordered. They were good too. It was a bit weird having to walk through the kitchen to use the restroom though! We had thought about having lunch at the Missouri Hickory Bar B Q, where they have a sign with a hillbilly holding his hog, but the car park was full so we photographed the hillbilly and the famous Wagon Wheel Motel sign next door and drove on.

At Fanning we had to stop for a giant photo - the world's largest rocking chair at the US 66 Outpost. We were amused by the RV in the parking lot that had a big truck (ute) hooked up behind with a motorbike and bicycles in the tray. We were just about to take our photos of the rocking chair when a family pulled up and parked their car right in front of it!! We thought that they would photograph their car in front of the giant rocking chair and then move it but, no, they wanted everyone to have a photo of their car in front of the giant rocking chair. So we opted for a side on perspective that eliminated the car in front!!

At Rolla we missed a couple of giants. There was no sign at all of the giant dripping faucet or the A&W Hamburger Family. We don't know if that means that we are not reading the directions correctly to find them or if they have succumbed to the ravages of time? We have started to adopt an attitude that if we see these things well and good, but if we don't c'est la vie. If they are not easily spotted we could spend quite a lot of time looking for them with not guarantee that they are still around anyway.

We took a couple of wrong turns this afternoon - we don't know if we missed the signs or if the signs were missing??? With neither of us seeing them, we were inclined to think that perhaps the signs have been taken as souvenirs. In both instances we navigated back to Route 66 before we had gone too many miles off track!

We drove the 4-lane stretch of Route 66 that was built through Hooker Cut in 1941-45 for wartime traffic to Fort Leonard Wood. We also drove into Devil's Elbow and over the 1923 Bridge over the Big Piney River to St Robert and then over I-44 to Waynesville.

At Waynesville we diverted from the Mother Road to Osage Beach, situated on the shore of the Lake of the Ozarks, so that we could do some outlet shopping on Monday. Bernie booked the Town & Country Motel in Osage Beach over the internet. When he checked in the proprietor was very excited that the Australians had arrived. I don't think they get many Aussies in Osage Beach?!

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