2geonomads

Setting off from the hotel with plans to drive into St Louis for a bit of sightseeing with Fred as driver and Mick as navigator they break all records in getting us lost within 1 km of the hotel.
Doug and I thought that we had ended up in a car wash but then realised that Fred had pulled over to the side of the road to check our location and we were coming under fire from some garden sprinklers!
A bit further on we stopped again outside a shop called ‘Goodwill’ which was a bit ironical as the guys in the fronts seats were by this time running short of that particular commodity.
After many u-turns in what I have to say were quite attractive little car parks we eventually made our way to the highway to downtown St Louis.
We had planned to walk across the Chain of Rocks Pedestrian bridge which crosses the Mississippi but, even though we could admire it from afar we simply could not find a way of getting to it.
Cross that one of the wish list and have more success in driving into the centre to view at fairly close quarters the spectacular Gateway Arch, symbolising the area’s role of gateway to the west.
Quite happy to head out of the city and after some time even manage to locate the much sought- after road to the south.
First small town was to be the aptly named Eureka but we couldn’t find the town or the main attraction, the Black Madonnas Shrine and Grotto. The closest we got to any sort of religious experience was when we once again lost our way and ended up at the entrance to the Sacred Heart Convent.
After another u-turn in a nice little car park we head south and stop for coffee and bourbon/pecan pie.
While here Doug comments that Navigator Mick has no problems finding the loo whenever we stop anywhere but has a unique capacity to get lost everywhere else.
Keeping track of Route 66 is proving to be a real nightmare but we do manage to find a town called Bourbon and stop for lunch at Circle Inn, a typical Route 66 diner with good wholesome food and ambience to match. I have BLT with mushrooms which have been battered to an inch of their existence.
Mick takes over the driving duties with Fred navigating, resulting in the same level of incompetent personnel but in different roles.
Doug and I offer some kind, constructive advice from the back seats but this doesn’t seem to be very well received.
Cuba is a small town with a good selection of Route 66 murals and then we proceed to Fanning/Rosati, site of the World’s Largest Rocker. Leave town with the boot of the car wide open, fortunately not losing any of our bags.
As we head deeper into Missouri the scenery takes a turn for the better after the flat plains of Illinois and we now travel through some beautiful , green undulating hills.
Our plan to stop at Rolla to visit a car museum is thwarted when it too disappears off the map .
By this stage our thoughts turn to finding the next Days Inn. The computer tells us that there is one at Waynesville but this too is nowhere to be found.
We did,however, come across a 1920’s era bridge of a severe bend in the Big Piney River at the aptly named Devil’s Elbow.
By this stage Mick was getting a bit tired after his marathon driving stint and on a couple of occasions decided that driving on the right-hand side of the road was all too boring but a chorus of ” wrong side , Mick!” from his 3 Amigos put him right.
To be fair to Mick it was a long haul and he did a fine job getting eventually to a town called Lebanon and another Days Inn, this one at $53 per room including breakfast.

We find Becky’s Bar attached to the hotel and this proved to be a quintessentially American bar, complete with some fairly rough characters ( not us!) torn seats,and a barmaid called Stacey.
We were invited by a guy who seemed to be the manager to join all the other customers in enjoying the food which had been laid on to celebrate 4 th of July- a highlight of the day.
We returned to our rooms  in a suitably boisterous , alcohol- fuelled mood after a day full of much banter, some road- finding disasters but a day which encompassed all that we had hoped for on this trip.
Tomorrow it’s my turn to have a drive and no doubt suffer the barbs from the 3 Amigos as I too struggle to keep what is a fairly large vehicle on the right side of the road and within the fairly narrow lanes.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret.