Let's Catch Up

So Sunday morning, I left Litchfield IL and tried to go to one of the famous stops on 66. Ariston was not open and the 66 Cafe was really busy, so I opted for drive-thru at the local McDonalds. I saw the burial site and monument for Mother Jones. At 11 am, just as the sky began to open up and the sun began to shine, "Breathe" from The Cure began playing on my random mix of tunes from my laptop. Neat! At about 11:30 am I hit the MO state line and made a quick stop at the visitors center. Now I have to mention that I wanted to go through St. Louis, but due to poor signage and confusing roads in the Saint Louis area, I missed it to the north, taking the bypass route that 66 took in later years. At 12:30 pm driving through strip mall hell, it dawns on me that if people stopped building these multi-million dollar mega churches and donated all that money to people that really needed it, the world would be a better place. Also, without all those cushy pews to sit in every Sunday TALKING about doing good, maybe more people would actually be DOING good in their communities. Perhaps this is a resentment that goes back to primary school, where our monsignor at the Catholic school I attended drove a Mercedes and my parents had a 69 Chevy wagon and a 76 Chevy Malibu. Anyway, maybe I am different than most in that I don't need to be reminded to be a good person, it is just common sense and human nature to care for those less fortunate than yourself. I'm more proud than ever that the money I used to give to church now goes to deserving charities of my choosing, who aren't building these obscenely large Sunday mansions.

I took a 2.5 hour break from driving today to visit Meramec Caverns in St. Clair MO. It was longer than expected, and for the first time during this trip I felt very lonely being the only person without their significant other. I miss my girlfriend.

Cuba MO is a nice town to stop in next time I do this trip (ya know, this won't be the last time I do this). I saw Bison on a ranch. BISON! MoDOT variable message signs make the agency name look like "MOOOT". Perhaps, this is true seeing that Route 66 is not well marked in this state and that local residents do a better job at identifying the route than the DOT. Discovered a great college radio station in Rolla MO "KMST/KUMR 89.7 FM" and realized how much I missed discovering new music this way. Since I don't drive my car much in the city, I don't get much chance to listen to my old station WKDU 91.7 FM, where I DJ'd from 1990 to 1995.

I stopped in Rolla MO (pronounced "Rahhla" not "Roll-a") at the Totem Pole, a clasic Route 66 institution since the 1930s. At about 6 pm, I passed through the Hooker Cut, a major undertaking to provide a more level roadway through a rocky and hilly area. By 6:30 pm I'm in Waynesville MO and it is 78 degrees and sunny.

Stopped for fuel and dinner at the J's Family Restaurant and Truck Stop in Lebanon MO. Afterwords, I wanted to drive further, since I've been averaging 250 miles/day (which is good) but I was hoping for some more, to explore other interesting sites along the way. I drove for another 1.5 hours along old Route 66, then I-44 where I finally gave up and spent the night in my car at a Travel America Truck Stop off exit 88. I was a bit nervous at first, but saw others doing it, so I figured "what the heck". I was in and out of sleep for almost 9 hours and everything was fine. Nothing here in [Strafford MO 65757 | 1390 miles], so it was back to another McDonalds for breakfast (I hope i don't end up like Morgan Spurlock in "Supersize Me (2004)", but I'm only doing 1 light breakfast there each day.

Mostly uneventful driving this morning. Springfield MO was the largest city. I saw a classic Sinclair Filling Station, but it was on private property and the guy was standing there in his underwear, so I didn't stop to take a picture. In the next hour, I'm gonna be in Kansas, where Route 66 only runs for about 14 miles, then it is onto Oklahoma. Having fun!