Month: July 2024

Still parked at Riversbend in Joplin. The Crystal Bridges box well and truly ticked….there was still a bit of local 66 to visit. We had a bit of back tracking to do to hit some of the spots where we could not easily pull over, or that were just easier to come back to.

On the route itself, Carthage is a big one ..there were a few attractions that made the list……and we did not find all of them…LOL…

The big one in Carthage is Red Oak 2. Red Oak 2 is a massive art project put together by Lowell Davis.…an American artist. The whole story of him collecting the buildings and moving them out to the site is here (click).

The short version of the story is that Mr. Davis grew up in Red Oak, Missouri. After returning home in the 70’s to find his hometown pretty much a ghost of its former self, Red Oak 2 is, essentially, an art installation in tribute to his childhood home. He bought and transported the homes and buildings to his property and added his whimsical artistic touch to the ‘town’

It’s quite the thing, we easily spent the morning wandering through this little gem of a town.

People actually live here…which just makes it cooler. The artist studio was open…I was very tempted by a couple of things…….but…it’s more stuff to carry in the trailer….and we are still early in the journey.

The artist himself, Lowell Davis died on Nov 2nd 2020……… His wife tends the studio and shop….lovely lady. The whole town has become a monument to him. The Red Oak 2 cemetery has its celebrity resident Lowell Davis himself.

Lowell Davis is described as the ‘Norman Rockwell’ of rural art. He seemed to have a real thing for chickens……I liked his chickens….. 😁

We had a wander around the downtown square of Carthage itself. The Jasper court house is one of the attractions on the list……the square has a bunch of little antique shops, and quite a few artworks by Mr Davis.

On the way out of town is the 66 drive in movie theatre. It opened in 1949 and in operation through 1985, following restoration, it reopened in 1998. It was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2003.

The Boots motel is right in the middle of Carthage. Old Route 66 turns the corner past it and first time through with the trailer we were on it and past it before we could stop. Its a very unique little set of buildings. Very cool.

The next town is Webb city. We had stopped in the little visitor centre and wandered through this tiny town. The town has a very active historical society working hard to preserve the buildings… unfortunately they have not really found purpose for them yet. It also has a route 66 movie theatre

We had a little wander around some of Joplins relics and murals…..

and…( super exciting…!!).Bonnie and Clydes shootout site…April 13^th 1933 the Joplin police raided the apartment…two police officers were killed in the altercation with the fleeing fugitives.!!

….and then time to get back on the road….and maybe make it out of Missouri…!!!! Next stop Kansas…!!!

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Leaving Springfield was another little exercise in finding bits of the road that were drivable as Google valiantly strained to put us on I-44.

Our first town of note was Halltown. We never quite know what to expect as we enter these towns that have been labelled as ‘attractions’ along the way, anything from a freshly demolished art deco classic to a fully restored mid-century treasure is awaiting rediscovery.

As we drove through the town a long and easy parking spot was evident beside what looked to have been a grocery store in a past life. We veered over as the camera man almost leapt out before coming to a complete halt. A local law enforcement vehicle was parked right across the road. We considered for a moment…then the lure of the derelict building proved too much and out he leapt.

Next on the list…Gay Parita. It’s an old Sinclair gas station that was originally built in 1926 by Fred and Gay Mason when they heard that route 66 would be coming through that way.

It burned to the ground in the 1950s…and was then restored to the attraction that it is now by Gary Turner…so it is now Garys Gay Parita…..Gary and his wife were reputed to be great afficionados of route 66 with the site now owned and run by Garys daughter.

It made promises to be worth the visit…but the reviews of the actual road to get there were mixed. We took a chance….. I would not say it was the best road we have travelled….but it was far from the worst….and it was a quirky little place that was indeed worth the visit.

Cautiously continuing up this stretch of old road…the next challenge was the bridge…stated limit 7 tons per axel. Not a big bridge….an old one tho….

Several cars were stopping before and after us. Scott braved the long grass (in shorts) to get the pictures….came out with a tick in the knee.. (yuck)

Avilla….now there is a town that has seen better days. It was a little scary stopping there….. many derelict buildings that looked to have been gas stations, tire shops maybe motels..

….we did not stop long…plus we were on route to Riversbend in Joplin.

The stop in Joplin was really to get us close enough to do a side trip to Crystal Bridges. It truly is one of the most incredible places we have been. Just outside of Bentonville AK, the money behind it is Alice Walton, daughter of Sam Walton (of the Walmart empire.) Unfortunately, the day we were there the outdoor trails were closed. They had 7 tornados touch down in Bentonville the week before and the gardens, trails and much of the outdoor art were completely trashed (no damage to any of the buildings and more importantly no one was hurt. We took the shuttle bus up from the parking lot and the damage was pretty extensive. There has to be several months of clean-up to sort out that mess.

The galleries and the collections are marvelous and the team of ‘greeters’…?!! at the centre were all very helpful and gracious. Special visiting collections will make revisiting essential.

The visiting collection was Exquisite Creatures another absolutely fabulous collection of art pieces.

It was a huge collection of amazing things……a full day of oooo-ing and ahhhhh-ing. I will share a few more of the pix in the extra pix….if you get a chance to see this collection…..go…!!!

The gallery has a cafe/restaurant bridging water features on either side…we did stop for lunch before heading back up the Ozark trail to Joplin finishing the route 66 job through Carthage and Joplin.

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Springfield Missouri was another Boondockers Welcome stop. A very handy spot on the east side of the city.

Among the many of the things I am learning on this trip, it turns out Springfield, MO claims to be the birthplace of route 66. In 1925 when the federal planners decided that the transcontinental highways would end in a ‘0’, there was a bit of discontent at the proposed highway from Chicago to LA being bumped from 60 to 62. John T. Woodruff, a local entrepreneur and Cyrus Avery, Oklahoma Highway chairman, met in Springfield and came up with 66 as a cool compromise to the situation.

The History Museum on the Square kept us occupied and entertained for a couple of hours. Worth the price of admission.

The downtown square was site of a couple of historic dramas. one being Wild Bill Hickok shooting a guy over a gambling debt, thus settling the dispute but leaving empty handed…..but alive. Wild Bill was a crack shot with very unreliable technology. We did our gun safety course back in Alberta at the beginning of the year. One of the things they cover is the evolution of firearms. Having looked at those old weapons and the way they worked it’s a wonder anyone ever shot anyone else intentionally.

Anyway…this is reported to be the first documented shoot out in the ‘Wild West’..!!

The other piece of dark history in the square was a lynching.

A brutal piece of history for sure.

To move on to something a little lighter….after missing Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St Louis…we were curious …what actually is frozen custard…? Andys Frozen Custard is in Springfield so we headed down there to give it a try.

We became instant addicts…I’ll tell you this stuff is better than any ice cream I have ever had……yummy…it’s a good thing they don’t make this anywhere close to where I live, or I would be experiencing serious weight gain….

(Editor, I’m not a big dessert fan but the Frozen Custard was a revelation. That heavy feeling you can have after eating a little too much ice cream just doesn’t happen with Frozen Custard, no matter how much you eat. It also tastes much better)

While out after dark we did a little exploring, searching for some neon on the strip. Some of it iconic route 66, some of it just charmingly Americana.

Springfield Hike.

As I have said, our BW host was out on the edge of the city which put us in close proximity to some decent looking hiking trails (according to the Alltrails reviews) We picked a moderate one to stretch our legs on. No real elevation…a nice forest walk.

It was a pleasant, shaded walk on a very warm day.

There were some interesting fungi ( I do like the fungi..!!) and lichens along the way.

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…the last two km the rain started. Then the heavens opened (with a bit of banging and flashing……yes it was very disconcerting but on an out and back trail you can only go back as fast as you can. We were absolutely completely and utterly soaked …..boots overflowing with water …not a stitch we were wearing was dry. ……and there are no photographs ….cos it was pouring…..!!!!

We did reward ourselves with another frozen custard that night tho……. 😀

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There was a plan to hit Ted Drewes Frozen Custard on the way out of St Louis…..but the traffic just got a little too heavy to be pulling the trailer through the middle of town…so we diverted a little… (we bounced so hard on one of the joints in the road that we bent on of the fins under the back bumper…!!)

We did make it back to 66 in time to catch the worlds largest catsup bottle..

Next stop was the Red Cedar Inn in Pacific Missouri. Fortunately, an easy pull over and parking for the trailer……a fascinating little visitor center and museum.

In Missouri the old 66 has mostly been replaced by the I-44. The old route 66 (as I follow along with my google maps satellite view) often runs alongside the interstate. As long as I could verify that the road was in reasonable condition….this was the route we took. Slower speeds but that in itself was a view into the roads history.

We flashed by the old neon sign for the Gardenway Motel, and on to Sullivan and the Shamrock Court. It seems the Shamrock Court is getting a bit of a renovation

Buckhorn promised us the Devils Elbow bridge (complete with flying Yeti…😂..!!) and then the town of Bourbon…..again …on the way by we snapped the hilariously labeled water tower.

Cuba, MO, billed as ‘Mural City’ had a few things on the list….but the murals were what stood out to us most in this town…we pulled over for this one but it was tough to get any of the others (code for me and my phone failed to get any of the others…LOL)

But I do have the Wagon Wheels Motel in Cuba, whose claim to fame is that it is the oldest continuously operating motel on route 66.

As you drive out of Cuba there is a little community of Fanning…they have the worlds former largest rocking chair on the side of the road…..

We totally missed the mini Stonehenge in Rolla…mostly because we were reluctant to take the trailer through the middle of the town….

But, having seen the signs along the highway….we just had to stop at the Uranus fudge factory……and despite the promise of the sign….we did not manage to locate the belt buckle…..!!!

Our destination for the night was a Harvest Host location at an alpaca farm, Whirlwind Ranch.(now why would I pick an alpaca farm…?…hmmmmm…. 😂). It looked like it was just off the highway right around Lebanon Missouri….. it was not that far but the road was……well let’s just call it ‘rudimentary with significant inclines’ and see what the editor does with that description…!!!

I got in big trouble with the driver for this pick….the roads were……..challenging……..!!!…but it was a beautiful spot (and I bought some lovely yarn…. 😁)

Back on the road in the morning and a quick stop in Lebanon to snap the Munger Moss Motel one of the last remaining historic motels still operating. The bowling alley across the street had a cool mural….not sure how old it is..

Marshfield was a must stop for a replica of the Hubble telescope in the town square. Marshfield was the hometown of Edwin Hubble, who was a leading astronomer in the development of much of the current theories of expanding galaxies. His contribution to astronomy earned him the honour of having the space telescope named after him.

As we wandered round the square a lady stopped me to chat, she was very connected to the veterans memorial in the square telling me her late husband had carved the names on the memorial.

Next stop Springfield….again….but Missouri this time (I think every state has a Springfield..!!)

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