The Mother Road part 5. St Louis to Lebanon.

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In Missouri the old 66 has mostly been replaced by the I-44.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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