Day 3 - Sullivan, MO to Miami, OK

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Today brought us beautiful weather and much more relaxed riding. We spent the day on Route 66, with only minimal time on the Interstate as we continued our trip southwest. We spent the majority of the day in Missouri passing through a lot of the small towns that used to support the traffic making the cross-country trip before the Interstate was finished. There were a lot of abandoned old garages and buildings, and a lot of old, rusted-out cars, but it really was full of character.

We also got to see plenty of the kitschy things I expected. We saw the world's largest rocking chair, spent some time chatting with a guy and his wife who maintain a historical gas station for tourists to visit, and saw the crapduster (yes, crapduster, not a cropduster).

We passed into Kansas around 6:00 on our way to get dinner at the Cafe on the Route, which was featured in an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and it was a really good meal. Salmon filet smoked and stuffed with apples and bacon in a citrus pan sauce, and then deep-fried cheesecake with strawberry sauce. Wow, it was good. And it amazes me how de-sensitized I've become to how much a good meal costs living in the DC area. Dinner and desert for 2 at only $25 is pretty amazing to me.

We left Kansas and headed into Oklahoma, and called it a night after only 289 miles today. It was a much slower ride today, but still a 12 hour day from departure this morning to hotel arrival tonight. I think we'll still make it to Santa Fe by Wednesday night, but we'll see.

Tomorrow we continue on 66, but probably at a little bit quicker pace than today. The weather forecast shows sunshine and low 80s, so it should be another fantastic day.

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