Get Your Kick Ride – Day Five

It’s yet again another beautiful start to the day. I’ve been blessed with good weather so far. I got myself up at 7:00 so that I could be on the road before 9:00. With camp all packed up and Laurelin loaded, I’m off, but just momentarily. My first stop is a stone’s throw from camp and is Campbell’s Service Station. The building was originally a church. When the congregation outgrew the building it was bought by the current owner and redesigned as a 1950’s service station. So it’s not really an old service station, just made to look like one. I does, however, contain a museum. I did not go in.

The farmlands that have surrounded me everyday so far are long gone. I am now surround by trees. The road is no longer flat, it climbs and falls through the Ozarks. It’s a stark contrast to the previous four days. My next stop is in Villa Ridge. Its the Sunset Motel, or what’s left of it. The road sign still appears to be in pretty good shape, but the motel itself is already being reclaimed by nature. The grass out front is grossly overgrown and vines have started to grow up it. The building itself is still in pretty good shape though.

Just down the road in St. Clair I spot a pair of water towers. One is labeled Hot, the other Cold. St. Clair is the first city to use separate towers to provide both hot and cold water to its citizens. And that’s absolute bull. The second tower was built during the 1980’s to keep up with the growing town. A creative mayor from the early 1980’s thought it was a fun idea. The community loves the landmark towers so much that they include them in the town logos, including the patches on the police department’s uniforms.

My next stop is in Stanton. The Jesse James wax museum and the toy museum. They are both long since closed and nothing here is photo worthy to me. I back track just a bit to a gas station to use the restroom and grab some water. It’s here that I am approached by a gentleman who seems to know me. He comes up to me with, “Hey, man. Long time no see.” This throws me off. I am absolutely sure that I don’t know this man. He’s adamant that he know me, in fact we met in Sturgis in 2025. I was not in Sturgis in 2025. Now, I don’t like to speculate or judge, but he looked and acted like he had a really good relationship with methamphetamines. Nice guy, I never felt threatened by him, buy have certainly never met him before today.

I carry on through the forests of the Ozarks, skipping a few towns as there is nothing I really care to stop for. Cuba is the next stop I do make. Cuba refers to herself as the mural city. And there are several throughout town. My first stop though is the Cuba City Jail. A single cell built in 1908. From there it’s just over the railroad tracks to see some of the town’s murals. The first is a set depicting different battles from the civil war. The second is one was painted to honor the boys from Cuba who were sent off to fight in World War II.

Just outside of Cuba I run into the only construction I’ve seen on Route 66 so far. It runs the entire five mile stretch to the next town, and it’s single lane only. This means that everyone gets to wait for a line of traffic to travel five miles through construction before we can travel five miles through construction. It’s a wait that lasts for several minutes before we finally get to move on. This particular stretch of construction uses a lead truck. The poor kid driving it travels the same five mile stretch back and forth, all day. It doesn’t take too terribly long to get through the construction zone. We get up to 50mph through most of it. At the end is the Fanning Outpost General Store. It doesn’t look like much from the front but is quite large inside. Full of Route 66 merchandise, trinket, signs, Route 66 Monopoly games and t-shirts. I find a t-shirt I like and make my first official Route 66 purchase.

Out front of the General Store is what is now known as the world’s second largest rocking chair. It was build back in 2008 and, at the time, was certified by Guinness as the world’s largest. It has since been beaten. There was a time though that the owner would have special picture days. He’d have a lift truck brought in so that lucky tourist could actually be taken up to the seat of the chair for special photo opportunities.

In Rolla, the Missouri University of Science and Technology has made a partial, half scale reconstruction of the original Stonehenge. It looks rather odd considering all we’ve ever really seen are photos of the actual Stonehenge as it stands today. This is meant to be as it was when it was originally built. What’s really neat about this is the plaques the have on each piece. These explain the purpose of that particular stone setup. I’ve seen two other replicas of Stonehenge, both in Texas. This one is probably the best.

Jerome is my next stop. The Trail of Tears Memorial. Its just off of the Route. I only intend to jump off the bike and grab a photo. The caretaker is there and tells me that they aren’t open during the week, only the weekend. We begin to talk and she tells me that everything is built from natural stone, as well as some crystals from the caverns. It took forty years to build it all. It’s a sight for sure, a bit overgrown, but she’s working on that. We continue to talk and she allows me to walk up the path. There’s a sculpture of a white buffalo and a young Native American. I was told that the buffalo has a real buffalo skull inside it. And the story behind the sculpture is a legend told to the creator of the memorial by a Cherokee native. I’m sure there’s more to it, but the quick and simple story is that a white and club footed buffalo was rejected from his herd as he was slow and would hold the herd back. The same was true for the young boy. He was rejected by his tribe and cast out. The boy and buffalo met in the wilderness and lived happily ever after. There’s more to the legend I’m sure, but that’s what I was told.

I make a quick stop in Devil’s Elbow to get a photo of the bridge crossing the river. It’s just an old bridge, but I like how there’s no barrier on the sides blocking your view. The Devil’s Elbow bridge brings me to the highlight of the trip so far, aside from getting to visit with family of course. St. Robert is home to the Uranus Fudge Factory and the twelve year old boy still locked inside of me makes me smile every time I see, utter or write those words. It’s actually a rather large tourist attraction complete with a jail with the stick your face in a hole photo opportunity. It also has a sideshow that I did not enter. Plus the gift shop with decently priced fudge, taffy and trinkets. I picked up a new “I love Uranus” koozie and a Route 66 patch for my vest.

Dark clouds started forming while I was at the Uranus Fudge Factory (small giggle typing that). They weren’t terribly foreboding but lead me to think I might get caught in a little bit of rain. The most I got was a few large drops pelting me randomly in the face, a couple on the windshield. Leaving out I head to the Route 66 neon park. The highway is divided here and the park sits in the middle. There’s maybe a dozen neon signs here that all light up at night. I’m sure it looks amazing at night. From here it’s straight for Springfield, it’s past lunch time already but I know I’ll find something good in a big city. And I do. I set my sights on a place called Ebbet’s Field. I’m confused as I approach. The street I am on is lined with houses and when I pull up I do so to a house. It’s house that apparently used to belong to the mayor, was a frat house and is now a restaurant/bar. It’s really cool and baseball themed of course. I get the second baseman for lunch. It’s a hot turkey and ham sandwich that’s really tasty.

The clouds have cleared after lunch and I head to the Route 66 Car Museum in Springfield. Fifteen bucks to get in and they have 30-40 cars in a large garage. Including a batmobile, one of five Ecto-1’s commissioned for the latest Ghostbusters movies and a Delorean (my favorite). Many older models too, from Model-A’s to Cadillacs and a Woodie Wagon. They even had and old safari Woodie. Really cool collection. I would have liked to have stayed longer but only lasted about ten minutes before heading out.

My next stop was the Gay Parita Sinclair Station. It dates to the late 1920’s but was destroyed by fire in 1955 and recreated. It sounds and looks like there’s a bar or something out back but I don’t have the time to investigate. The Spencer Station is next. This one is on one of the oldest if not the original Route 66. There are no road markings and grass grows up from the center line of the road. The station itself has been refurbished and looks both old and new.

From here I head towards Carthage. The trees have given way to open pastures. A few crop fields pop up once in a while. The road has become flat again. I start to notice several rat rods passing me. There’s a few dozen of them at least. Not all at once, just small groups of three or four and almost all the color of rust. Some of the builds would fit right in with the Mad Max films. In Carthage I find the Boots Court Motel. It was built in 1939 and has a really cool layout. The rooms allow for covered parking right at your room. I wanted to go in and ask for their rates but was afraid I’d get a room, I really need to reach Joplin today. I push on and finally reach my destination.

The Joplin KOA is home for tonight. Dinner is at the Tropicana Bar & Grill. There were a couple of brew houses I looked at but they’re a bit farther away. I opted for a burger. Good, but I can’t finish it all. Lunch was late and weariness from the road will kill your appetite.

I was expecting to get some rain tonight but have lucked out. I did meet a fellow biker though. He pulled up to the spot next to me while I’ve been writing. We chatted for a bit as he setup camp. He’s only got a hammock and a tarp. A lot more basic than me with my tent and cot.

Tomorrow looks like it’s going to be a wet start. Rain is still forecasted overnight and there’s a high percentage in the morning. Looks like I might get to use my new rain gear. We’ll see.