Blogs from Pacific, Missouri, United States, North America

Yea, so I drove an extra 4 hours yesterday, but it was worth it. Because of some real life (i.e. job) issues, I didn't sleep all Sunday night and had to take care of some emails, blah, blah, blah. I tell my students, "NO EXCUSES!" So, I have no excuse. I was 2 hours into the trip and realized that I forgot my wallet. Thank goodness the store called to tell me the order for my mom's and sister's bday present was in. Otherwise, who knows? I turned around and had to say goodbye to the dogs all over again. Finally arrived at Emily's (sister-in-law) around 9:45...another sad Apple Maps/GPS story. So glad I didn't stay home another night and bypass Gallipolis, OH. Was so great to talk and float in the pool, to rehash family ... read more

As we get closer to Chicago, the better marked Route 66 is. It also seems to have fewer preserved bits. We were able to follow most of the final alignment through Missouri with a few side trips on to earlier alignments. With the final alignment still in use, most of the rural alignmens have not been maintained. We even ran into a few closed roads where "Old Route 66" was being repaired. Missouri uses a base 26 system for naming county roads. We drove on roads called A, AT, OO, KK, ZZ, CC, AH and crossed others making interesting combinations on the road signs. Most of the day was spent navigating from one town to the next, meandering back and forth over I-44. We saw some great old towns, nice back roads and a few bits ... read more