Friday, April 30th - Lebanon MO to Joplin MO
We spent a wonderful night with Ramona and Bob and the Munger Moss. This motel is a "must stop" for every Route 66 traveler. Be sure to plan your trip with an overnight in Lebanon, MO with Bob & Ramona.
Reflecting on yesterday's food: We began with breakfast at the Ritz Carlton and ended with a bowling alley pizza. I guess we've done it all!
Ramona invited us to vist the under-construction Route 66 museum they are building in Lebanon but we were so gunshy of any delay in trying to stay on schedule that we decided to just hit the road. Ramona understood; we'll see the museum next time and it'll be finished.
Thanks for the hospitality, Ramona!
As we were leaving, another guest couple from Germany were also departing. They're running Route 66 to LA (like us) -- but they're sharing the ride on a Harley:
That's right. Two people + clothing for 3-4 weeks + one Harley. Gotta respect that!
Today will be our second full day in the great state of Missouri. Like Illinois, Missouri has Historic Route 66 guiding signs at critical points along the way. Unlike Illinois, Missouri roads are better!
Missouri Route 66 has a number of these truss-type bridges; been there a long time:
As we were cruising, we saw signs for this attraction:
While not technically a Route 66 attraction, a quick conference by FRS radio and we decided to give the Exotic Animal Paradise a visit. This is the kind of game park that you drive through in your car while the animals are (mostly) free to roam around you. We didn't even give a thought to what we were doing. Taking two low-slung white sportscars through a game park with hundreds of animals on the loose. At the admission booth:
.. they asked if we wanted to buy food to give to the animals and we declined.
The thing is a nine mile drive over 400 acres on a paved but imperfectly maintained road. And, sure enough, there are animals everywhere:
"Hey! Where are those guys going? I'm hungry here!"
As we drove they approached the car looking for a handout -- which, of course, we had declined to buy. Most of them took it well:
Shortly after this shot, this bird tried to make off with my red mirror cozy. He failed..
This herd of sheep was camped out directly in the middle of the road. After Buzz & Jackie picked their way around them (they deigned not to move) it was our turn:
There were many, many varieties of exotic animals:
(In the lower left you can see what I mean about imperfectly maintained roadway)
When Gael and I approached a herd of goats blocking the road, they raced up to the windows expectantly. When no food was forthcoming they turned away. Gael swears she heard more than one of them go: "Baaaaaa-stards!"
There must be several hundred head of hoofed critters, some of which I couldn't identify. There were also caged and moated areas where the lions, tigers and bears (Oh, my!) were housed. Among the animals were emus and ostrich. All in all, it was a fairly complete representation of African animals -- and more.
We thoroughly enjoyed our drive through the park. When it was over we noticed our wheelwells were fairly well caked with, well, Bison Poop. Didn't think of that...
We got back on the Mother Road and stopped for lunch at Grandaddy's Bar-B-Q in Strafford:
Grandaddy's is a block off Route 66 but well worth the wee detour. The barbeque was excellent as was the New Orleans-style Bread Pudding. One order, four forks. Worked beautifully!
Buzz wanted to show you just how hospitable the folks at Grandaddy's are. This is the only men's room we've seen with a chair for waiting your turn:
This young lady is Teresa who served us lunch:
Full tummies and on the road again. This section has a number of abandoned bits that we photographed:
This is one of the very first Steak and Shake Restaurants; this one is in Springfield:
For architecture buffs, you've likely not seen anything like the Shrine Mosque in Springfield:
We decided to visit the aptly named "Fantastic Caverns" in Springfield. This limestone cave is the only cave I know of that you tour by being driven through it. No kidding; you get in a Jeep-towed tram and with a guide (we drew James and he was great):
(Here's James explaining the old wood-fired generator they used to use to light the cave)
.. and down you go.
The caverns are amazing and properly lighted to show off the translucency of the limestone formations. James told us the whole story and educated us about how the cave was discovered and explored. And we learned a lot about how explorers carried light with them.
There are few more challenging subjects to photograph than cave artifacts. Gotta use available light and there's often not enough of it. Here are my and Jackie's best attempts:
(Here James explains how saltpeter was leached from stone to aid in making gunpowder)
(see the face?)
The cave was originally explored by a team of twelve ladies; when they finished their day (that's all it took for the first attempt) they signed the wall:
We heartily recommend the tour at Fantastic Caverns! We also met a couple of ladies (they were on our tram) and showed them the CEs. They got it right away. They'll be watching for themselves on this page -- so here they are:
(Left to right: Lindy and Cimmy)
We took off for Joplin and, on the way, we saw a sign for Route 66 and Coca-Cola collectibles. Though Buzz and Jackie fought like tigers, we forced a stop there (for those who don't know, B&J have a fantastic Coca-Cola collection).
Larry's Coca-Cola Collectibles is a BIG operation:
We didn't buy much. Not a lot. Really.
Here's another of those truss-type bridges:
Finally, Jackie found a .2 mile section of the original roadbed of Route 66 and we drove onto it for these pictures. This is the real thing:
Another long day, lots of stops -- and much, much more to come...
Watch for more tomorrow, Day #5 on the Mother Road!
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