The Mother Road part 7. To Joplin Missouri and side trip to Crystal Bridges.

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.

Extra pix