Joplin MO is all the way down in the southwestern corner of the state of Missouri, almost as soon as you are out of the City limits…..you are in Kansas.
Our first ‘attraction’ flagged on the Kansas list today was burnt locomotives in Galena, KS … I totally missed it or it’s not there anymore. I also missed the Kansas 66 sign….which is a shame because 66 through Kansas is so very short and the 66 references are few.
We did stop in Baxter Springs, KS. The town is not huge, but the street parking is generous and parallel…..ideal for folks with travel trailers….
Baxter Springs gave us a bold and full-bodied Kansas contribution to the route 66 journey. A wander up the main street yielded the 66 insignia imprinted into the concrete of the sidewalks……and a nod to Dorothy with some Tin Man stuff…..
…and best of all……… the Baxter Springs visitor centre.
It’s another renovated gas station…beautifully done might I add……inside…the experience is the one and only “Crazy Legs” Dean Walker. The tourist information from this guy came at us like a tsunami (in a good way) this guy has so much information to share its hard to keep up……we left with armloads of brochures and maps and heads spinning from all the ‘must sees’ and ‘insider tips’. For anyone that is inspired to do the trip down 66 this is one of the absolutely don’t miss it stops…LOL….
I did not find out ’til afterwards that he was the living inspiration for Tow-mater…!!
After leaving Baxter Springs the road crosses into Oklahoma……and yes, I have to say it….we were not in Kansas anymore…!!!
Oklahoma
Driving through the town of Commerce I was too busy trying to keep us on the old road (have I mentioned before that it’s not always easy…!!!) to catch the attractions (too slow switching my phone from google maps to camera) I even missed the gateway arch on the way into Miami...and just managed to catch it on the way out LOL….Miami also sports Waylans Ku-Ku burger and the Coleman theatre.
Afton was next with the Rest Haven sign, it’s hard to resist the things that are listed as ‘Abandoned Place’ LOL…… Afton had a bit of the abandonment vibe happening…..
….and it also had the true gem of Crosstar Flag and Tag.
This is one man’s incredible collection of memorabilia….
..super guy…if you want to get a flavour of him check out this YouTube video.
On the west side of Vinita a quick pullover got us to the Vinita Bridge. We do like our derelict structures LOL…
Looking for a spot to stop for lunch we spied the Hiway Cafe……I just saw the Giants and a shady spot to park the trailer . …..and then I was tempted and succumbed to adding some freshly cooked french fries to lunch..yum…
The Hiway Cafe is right next to the Western Hotel…..so there were some extra photo ops…!!!
One of the challenges of this type of trip is that the Google maps estimate of less than two hours turns into a five hour drive….so as we drew into Catoosa for the last couple of sights before our stopover in Tulsa the last couple of pix to take were the Blue Whale ……it looks way better in the pictures….believe me…..!!! It’s hard to imagine they need a ‘No Swimming’ sign, the water looks like it crawls out of the pond to return to the science lab every night.
…..and we arrived gratefully at our Boondockers welcome host for the next few days.
Extra Pix
OsteoPraxis on the road 
Great pics once again…I love all the derelict stuff and the collectors you meet along the way. Some of the “art installations” are as funny as they are interesting…..a blue whale in the Midwest??
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