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Published: July 13th 2012
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The actual distance from Pacific, MO to Springfield, IL is short, the drive time was not as short as we anticipated. We were on the road by 10:30 after some swimming and cooling off and St. Louis was the next town. Our first stop was Dewy's Frozen custard, a Route 66 tradition. What makes it frozen custard and not ice cream? It's been cooked! Which means Anne and Michelle can eat it without worrying about lactose 😊. since we had not done lunch yet, we only shared a small treat. It was the consistancy of soft serve but much creamier. As the server handed it to us she turned it upside down. Apparently that's to show that the custard is so thick and frozen it sticks to the bowl.
Or next stop was Fitz's American Grill and Bottling Plant - Root Beer and Lunch. It was a way's off 66 but came highly recomended in the guide book. Once we got there we could not find a place to park the trailer so we gave up and headed to the Arch. This was to be a theme for the morning. We have many great pictures of the St. Louis Arch
Frozen Custard
we've seen a few places that sell frozen custard but Ted's is supposed to be the best. from all sides, but not from the base. Again, parking with the trailer was a problem. We even crossed the Mississippi twice trying to get to find some. I think we saw parts of St. Louis not seen by most tourists. One congested freeway, two cobblestone streets and three unintentionaly crunched speedbumps later we decided that if we really wanted to see the arch up close, we'd come back to St. Louis another time.
Back on Route 66 we crossed over the (new and improved) McKinley bridge. It had some, issuse, back in 2002 and after some major repair was open again. Then scooted north to where the earliest alignment crossed the Mighty Mississippi, Chain of Rocks Bridge. the bridge no longer allows cars but is open as a foot and bike pathway. WE walked out to the middle of the span to the state line and took the obligatory "I'm in two states at once" picture. Michelle asked at that point "How wide is the State Line?" All told we crossed the Mississippi 4 times (adding the two halves) and still ended up in Illinois.
By that time it was 3 PM and we still hadn't gone
Custard before lunch?
Hey, it has eggs in it! much passed St. Louis. Our next chain of towns were not impressive but the road was nice and picturesque. Our KOA for the night near Springfield advertised a nice quite campsite, no train or freeway noise. We pulled into camp around 6 PM and found out why...it's in the middle of NOWHERE. As usual the Staff at the KOA was very nice and the shade was a bonus. We met some really nice people from New York who had two kids, one Michelle's age and one 12 year-old. Anne had fun talking with her about books and picked up a few new titles to try out before school starts in August. Since making friends, our planned early night turned into a campfire and talking until 10:30. We are still planning to make it out by 8 to have breakfast in Springfield. Hey, it could happen!
Tomorrow we hope to find the end of Route 66 before 5 PM.
Tony's Trailering Tips - When trying to see the sights in a big city, stay an extra day and leave your trailer in the campground.
Michelle's Musings - Traveling seems pretty normal after 13 days.
Anne's Anecdotes -
St. Louis Archetecture.
We think this might be a brewery. Never underestimate the value of adult conversation.
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