First Day

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Dad and I left today , July 4, 2007, at around 2pm. We drove down to the Chain of Rocks Bridge but did not walk across it because it was starting to rain, and to be honest it was a pretty sketchy area. We are going to revisit it on a much nicer day. From the Chain of Rocks Bridge we began the actual driving of Route 66 (this is where it gets exciting), skipping the dodgy part of West Florissant and got on Highway 70 going towards downtown. It started to rain right around this time, forcing us to put the top up 😞. We then picked up right back on Route 66 at Gravois just beneath the Arch, where we cut over to Chippewa taking us to Ted Drews Frozen Custard . I picked up a small cookie dough concrete, while Dad had a regular chocolate chip concrete. From Ted Drews we followed 66 until it told us to get onto I-44. We followed I-44 past Times Beach also a site of the Route 66 State Park in Missouri. We skipped the State Park and continued on I-44 to Six Flags where we did not rejoin I-44 for several miles. Several miles past Times Beach we drove through Stanton, the town housing Meramac Caverns and Jesse James' Hideout . We also decided to skip Meramac Caverns. I, as well as Dad, had toured the Caverns many times before. Skipping it also gave us extra time devoted to the road, which was a very smart move. From Stanton we passed through Bourbon into Cuba, Mo. In Cuba we saw the Wagon Wheel Motel, an original Route 66 landmark . The Wagon Wheel Motel, althought its been there forever, is surprisingly still up and running. Inhabiting it was a group of unattractive men sporting shorts, high socks, and no shirt. Gross! After a short stop in Cuba we continued on long winding roads to Rolla, then onto Devil's Elbow. The Devil's Elbow was "established in 1870 and named after the bad bend in the Big Piney River." Logs and debris floating down the river would get lodged and create a temporary dam in the river causing it to flood the farm land surrounding the river. The location of the river the jam would occur was later dubbed "The Devil's Elbow." An old rusted, one laned bridge crosses The Big Piney River at the location of Devil's Elbow. The Devil's Elbow . Directly after crossing the bridge, there is a scenic view off the edge of the cliff, looking out across the valley and hills covered with greenery. The view was beautiful. Miles after Devil's Elbow we entered the town of Lebanon only for a brief visit. The Munger Moss Motel, infamous to the Mother Road, lives in Lebanon . With the sun beginning to set in Lebanon and our goals wanting to stay the night in Carthage, about 90 miles away, we decided to hop onto I-44 and blow past Springfield onto Carthage, knowing we wouldn't be on Route 66 the whole time. We got off I-44 onto Highway 71 into Carthage. It's about 9pm and we are wanting to find a place to stay for the night. In Carthage our options are Carthage Inn and Carthage Inn. We payed a visit to the ole' Carthage Inn- not my cup of tea. So we passed on through. Carthage also has the Route 66 Drive-In, sadly only operating on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. . We are now headed back to I-44 to go to Joplin to stay the night, knowing we can count on Joplin to have a decent place to stay the night.

Thus far, the roadtrip has been really exciting. Dad being the driver and I the navigator we are making a great pair. On the road we have dined on very high-class finger foods, those including hickory flavored dog food (aka beef jerky), don't get me wrong its very tasty, as well as gas station coffee, Burger King, and Lipton Citrus Green Tea. The restrooms, too, have been quite delightful. With the graffitied profanity on the walls, unflushable toilet and unused sink, the Men's restroom has earned 5 stars, in my own experience.

Right now we are sitting in Carthage at a high point watching Joplin, Mo's final fireworks display. Happy 4th of July.
{* note: we drove roughly 200 miles today, thus far. Driving 200 miles on Route 66 took us roughly 5 hours as opposed to about 2.5 miles traveling on the highway.*}

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Comments

[PaPa]

The great adventure
I only wish I could be with you both. A trip to remember forever. I'll follow you every day, loving every word. Drive carefully. Miss you already

[Mom]

This is fantastic!
I love it! Thank you for taking the time to do this! I still don't have pictures 10 and 11 yet. Hopefully you can get those to come up. Can't wait to read tomorrows posting! Love You!

[Gay Bird]

yay!
Glad you're having fun sarsy! It sounds awesome :)