Another day to rest and get some editing done

 August 18^th, 2026

El Reno, Oklahoma

Alarm went off at 8:00am, went back to bed, woke finally around 10:00am

Sat around the dark room in zombie mode for at least an hour or so, then got showered and dressed.

Did some online checks and then decided to walk over to the Wendy’s on the other side of the gas station for lunch.

When I got closer, I noticed another place just beyond Wendy’s called Braum’s.

Looked like they did burgers and such along with ice cream.  Decided that would be something new and went there instead.

Had a big burger with fries and a drink.  Food was pretty good, and reasonably priced.

I was going to have some ice cream, but was not hungry anymore and decided to just go over to the gas station and buy a few drinks and some chips to snack on later.

Once back at the room, I started to work on editing a video while snacking on chips.

Completed the video after a few hours and ran the export while I went for food.

Just walked over to station again as they have hot food in a deli type setup, so bought a sandwich and some cheese sticks and ate them at the tables in the station.

Then came back to the room to upload video to YouTube and get the blogs caught up.

Now I just need to plan tomorrow’s route and then pack up a few things and go to bed.

Catch ya down the road.

Short day, but lots to see

August 17^th, 2026

El Reno, Oklahoma

Woke at 8:00am today, but no hurry to leave, so went back to bed.  Woke again just after 9:00 am got the morning stuff done.

Packed and started to load the bike.

The lady that had helped me with check in last night was there cleaning the other rooms.

She sat and talked while I loaded the bike and even for a bit after.

Once I was done, I let her have the room to clean and got on the bike to depart.

Rode out of town and started to make my way done the route toward Oklahoma City.

Not many detours this day, much of the route is a single alignment over all the decades.  I a few small adjustments here and there, some I followed, others I did not.

Stopped a at a few of the older gas stations for the first part of the ride, but then just rode past the remaining ones I saw.  Most are not open for any kind of business, and one was actually just a ruin.  Got enough photos of similar places.

I stopped at the Seaba Motorcycle Museum which is right on the route.

The place is another old service station.  The one part is a gift shop with things to buy, and possibly some storage or work space at the back.  The other half of the building is where several dozen old motorcycles are packed into the small space.

Lots of older bikes, mainly 60s era from various makers, though I did see quite a few British makes.  They are packed in a bit tight, so hard to really see some of them, and only about half are marked with a sign with any details.

A few bikes up on shelves or tables, a some hanging from the ceiling.

Lots of motorbike gear laying around as well, helmets, riding suits and jackets, shirts, and tons of spare parts.

A few newer bikes in the mix, one bike still in original shipping crate, and even a few bicycles.

I did not talk much with the guy up front, but I did see some bikes had what might be prices on them, others had sold signs on them, and others had old auction cards with them, so not sure if they sold signs were from when the museum acquired it, or if they actively sell bikes as well. 

Some of the stuff had others names on it, so possible they are just on loan.

Looks like they hold motorcycle part swap meets at the site as well.

Cool place that would not take that long to see if you were in the area.

Just down the road, where the route crosses the Interstate, there is a giant push pin art installation that marks the midpoint of the route in Oklahoma. (There is also a midpoint of the full route I will reach the next time I ride.)

Once I finished up there, I got on the bike and just a short way down the road was an old routing I followed.  This one has 2 different types of concrete that were used in road building at the time and both ended up on this short route.

Oddly this short route also has a sign where a local resident found themselves talking with Paul McCartney, who drove the route in 2008 with his then girlfriend in an old Bronco and had stopped to ask if the road was part of Route 66.

Once back on the main road I stopped again shortly after at the Round Red Barn in Arcadia.

This old round barn is one a few that have survived in the region.

I took a photo from the road, but then saw a sign for parking at the barn and decided to check it out.

The barn was open to visit.  Outside it has lots of old farm implements laying around.

Inside the main level has been turned into a gift shop, but selling donated items like a thrift shop.  The funds help to maintain the building.  They of course ask for donations at the door as well, though not required. (I left the recommended $2).

I walked around a bit and then went outside to walk up the metal stairs to the 2^nd level.  Not sure if the metal replaced older wood stairs, or if the original access would have been ladders, but once up there the room was just a big empty space that can be rented for events, but under the huge dome of the roof.

Makes me wonder if this was always a second level, or if the floor was added later?

Back down the steps and back on the bike to keep going.

Barely a mile down the road and we stopped for lunch at Pops.

This gas station is also a large gift shop, restaurant, and store selling 100s of different kinds of soft drinks from around the world (though mostly small makers here in the US from what I saw).

Parked the bike and covered it, then went in and sat at the counter and ordered food and drink.

While eating I eventually ended up talking with one of the girls working the counter and spent quite a bit of time relating some of my travel stories to her and a few of the others as they had time to linger between tables and such.

When done, I wandered the store a bit, but since I cannot carry anything else on the bike, and carbonated beverages do not like being shaken all day either, I did not plan to buy anything.

I had mainly stopped to eat as I needed food, and I had actually been here before 15 years ago, so had already shopped through all the sodas and even bought some back then.

Back out to the bike and got ready to ride.  Rode over to do a photo with the bike soda bottle sculpture, then hit the road.

Not long after and we came into the Oklahoma City metro area.

Here the road cuts across the north through what at the time would have been small towns, but are now part of the greater city space.

Then it heads directly south.  The original road follows what is a main road in town today, the later 4 lane section became the interstate, which I was not going to follow.

There are some bypasses as well that were part of the original routes, but I ignored them, taking the original 20s route all the way into the center of town near the capitol building, and then the road crosses the south edge of town before going back north a bit to start heading west again.

This was another long, and mostly boring ride through a busy city.  There were not many old buildings or other sites to see, so really not that impressive.

The downtown area does have the government buildings, and the next sections are some much older architectures, but roads were being worked on as well, which made riding a bit more of a challenge.

Finally reached the route that takes you out of town to the west, which was again the main route for nearly all the decades.

This is also running through mostly modern construction in the suburb of Bethany.

I reached the top edge of a big lake on the edge of town and here there is an old bridge that is on the route.  Last time I was here 15 years ago, you could not drive on it, but seems they have updated the road way or something as now they are letting cars across.

I pulled off to take a few photos and then rode across the bridge.

Then a bit of congestion to get back on the 4 lane section as it now takes over the alignment completely.

This runs you through Yukon and eventually out of town till you reach the next town of El Reno.

Here is where I will stay the next 2 nights.

I need another break, and also want to launder the riding jacket and pants.  They are starting to smell quite badly from all the heat and humidity last week.

I had already found a laundromat in town, so made sense to stay here and give myself the extra day to take care of other things.

I found the motel, got checked in and then as I was crazy hot again, I had to sit in the room and cool off for about an hour.

I then got ready, loaded the gear on the bike and only having the helmet for protection, slowly rode the bike over to the laundromat, which is about 5 minutes away.  A bit risky riding without the other gear on, but sometimes you have to do things you prefer not doing.

Reached the place and it was not busy at all, which was nice.

Found a machine big enough to handle the load, and then bought some laundry soap at the vending machine.

Washing took about 25 minutes, and cost me $7 with the soap cost included.

Once done, I loaded the damp clothes on the bike for the ride home. (Cannot dry them in dryer.)

Once back at the motel, I hung them to dry, then secured and covered the bike.

I sat around looking up stuff online and then walked over to the fuel station and store next door.

Bought a hot sandwich and some drinks.  Ate the sandwich there in the station at some tables, and then came back to the room.

I spent some more time online taking care of some business related to my next travel project, and then wrote up this blog.

I am going to wait to put it online though as I am now very tired and ready to sleep.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Good Times and Bad Times

August 16^th, 2026

Stroud, Oklahoma

Woke at 8:00am and did the usual tasks to get ready.

Packed and loaded the bike, already getting very warm out.

Once room was empty, locked it up, geared up and rode up to front office to return the key card and get my $25 deposit back.

Headed out of the lot and down the highway that will take me the last few miles of Missouri to the Kansas border.

I turned off the newer alignment onto the original alignment that brings me in to Galena Kansas from the north.

This town has several things going on.

The producers behind the animated film Cars used this town, and the old tow truck they found there, as inspiration for the locale and characters in the film.

The town has embraced that.

They have opened up a visitor center/gift shop/restaurant with a Cars theme, and moved that old tow truck over to this location.  They put it all in a restored 1930s gas station that had been sitting empty for a long time.

Several cars around town are parked with eyes painted onto the windows, and they have a small pavilion of Cars imagery at the border entry area where the drive through Route 66 shield is located.

After spending some time taking photos at both stops, I also stopped at the Gearhead Curios location (they were closed sadly) and took photos of the old gas station and some of the art work setup around there.

On the way out of town there was a few things setup around the local fire department that I stopped to photograph.  An old train, tank, gun emplacement, and helicopter.

Then I left town and rode the short distance to a turn to take an older alignment next to the current one that has the last of 3 March Arch bridges that were built on Route 66 (the other two having been destroyed and replaced by modern bridges.)

Once done there we approached Baxter Springs where we stopped at the old gas station visitor center for a photo (they were closed).

We were going to stop at the pharmacy where they also have a soda fountain, but they were closed.

So, we headed down the road and stopped at a gas station to use restroom and get some food as my stomach was starting to complain.

After eating a couple of breakfast burritos from the deli and a few drinks, I talked a bit with a local and then headed south and across the border into Oklahoma.

At one point we turned off onto a much older alignment, one of the original paths on some very old roads.  We soon reached a section where the 9 foot wide road built in the early 20s and incorporated into Route 66 in 1926 was still in existence.  It had never been replaced, mainly because the route was moved shortly after to a new alignment a few miles over.

This section is one of the only places you can still drive on original pavement from the first years of Route 66.  It is ROUGH.  Lots of loose gravel as well which seems to be left over from the edges of the road and likely the only maintenance it has seen since being built.

Not far from the end of this section, we reached one of the many markers placed for the Will Rogers Highway markers that talks about the various sections of the route through Oklahoma.  This one discussed the old paved route I was just one and had some of it still in front of the marker as well.

We then entered the town of Afton.  The restaurant I was thinking about here was also closed (so far nearly every stop I had considered was closed).

We did stop at the Crostar Flag & Tag.  It’s a museum of sorts, all kinds of Route 66 and other items on display.  Lots can be seen from the outside, and if the place is open, more inside.  This was one place which was open, though no one is actually there (think they live in the house behind, so probably just keep an eye on people via the security cameras in place).

Were some pretty interesting things to see there, spent a few minutes, left a donation, and then got back on the bike.

Now it was just making distance, checking out the older alignments when possible, and trying to decide if I was hungry enough to stop for food.

We stopped for another old bridge on one alignment just outside Catoosa, then we backtracked a few blocks to the site of the Catoosa Whale.

This giant blue whale sitting in a pond was created by a local man as a gift to his wife and for use by his grandchildren.

The whale idea started in the 1960s and was built in the early 1970s in the pond where he had kept alligators in a former attraction he and his wife had run in the earlier years of the route.

Once built, it was intended as a private thing, but as Route 66 ran right past the property, it soon attracted attention and eventually they opened it up to anyone to use for picnics, swimming or fishing in the pond.

By the late 80s, age had forced the owners to close the attraction as they could not maintain it, and the builder passed shortly after, and his wife a decade later.

For much of the 90s the site sat in an overgrown swamp.  But in the late 90s, several groups in the local area started the process of restoring the Whale.  Its construction was such that it survived the years of use and years of neglect without too much damage.

In 2020 the city purchased the property and formed the Blue Whale park.  You can no longer swim, but still makes a cool stop on the old route today.

I left the park after taking some photos and cooling off in the visitor center a bit.

Now on the outskirts of Tulsa, the route dropped into the edge of town and I started the long haul across the city towards the downtown area.  I took one small detour along the late 20s alignment to see a modern Route 66 art installation, then came back to the 30s route I had planned to follow as it was less turns, and had more stuff on it.

We stopped for food at a gas station and had a few taquitos and some drinks.

Then we moved through Tulsa.  Some neat old buildings and things to see.

The downtown was, like most cities, a bit run down, and being a Sunday was mostly empty.  Few people driving around, some others sleeping on sidewalks, but easy going.

Until we hit a stupid light that would not turn green.

Sat there few about 5 minutes and 3 of the 4 directions worked, but not the one I needed.  Some cars turned around, some cut into the parking lot, and many just treated it like a stop sign and went, but the moron in front of me just sat there when his turn came, then turned right, flipped a U-turn to turn right again.  Thankfully I was able to quickly zip across while they were being stupid.

Reached the downtown area, and accidently blew a red light.  Did not even see the lights on the poles on the side of the road until I was halfway through the intersection.  Good thing it was dead traffic wise today.

We then turned south on the newer bridge, as the old bridge next to it is closed to traffic of any kind.

The Neon Park at the end of the bridge had 3 old signs, but there is no place to park anywhere within sight of the park?  Seems pointless to create a park that the closest place to park is ½ mile away.

We then decided to skip the restaurant here I had thought about stopping at, and not even sure it was open, only 2 cars parked in the huge lot.

A bit later I pulled over for another park at a visitor center with several rail cars and a locomotive, along with a huge oil derrick built on the site (which if I read the sign right, is very close to the original drill site where they found oil here).

After that we headed down the old highway toward the next town where I would stop for lunch at a restaurant which has a large Pepsi collection.  Figure I would get some photos of that for my mother who collects Pepsi stuff.  

Nope, closed.  WTF is wrong with this state?

Next stop was another Route 66 car museum.

They were open.  Part of the site was under construction, and the parking lot in front had all of 4 spaces, all full.

I saw a sign for more parking on the side, started to turn into that road which was a steep angled descent, and saw the lot was empty, and kind of out of view, so had 2^nd thoughts of stopping here. 

I slowed down and put my foot down to stop, but loose gravel slipped my foot and with the incline the bike tipped.

I should have gunned the engine and that might have pulled me out, but was too far gone.  I just stepped off the bike as it fell over and stumbled down the hill to the side and stopped my self at a large telephone pole.

Walked back over to bike, and like last time the engine killed itself since the bike was somewhat upside down, the top of it pointing down the hill.

I tried to get in to a spot to life it, but could not get a good grip with all the bags and knew I would never get it lifted loaded.

I started to unload the bags, while watching several cars just drive by, even though I am sitting 2 feet off the main road, on my side in the middle of the drive way, clearly needing some help.

Took me about 10 minutes to get most the bags off the bike and stacked off to the side.  In that time, 20 cars drove by.  One even drove past me, turned around in the parking lot, drove past again, and then parked in front of the museum and went inside. 

Not even a question to see if I needed help.

So much for the vaunted midwestern friendly reputation we are supposed to believe.  So far most of the people I have met in Oklahoma were not really that friendly, some downright rude.  I tried to lift the mostly empty bike, but with the down hill angle, and the lose surface, I could not get a good grip still.

I was about to remove the remaining bags with a big SUV pulled up and a big guy got out of the passenger side and helped me right the bike and walk it down the steep hill so we could put the stand down.

I thanked him for the help and for stopping when one else had.

I then loaded the bags back on the bike, and then decided I was too tired, hot, and frustrated to bother with the museum.

In reality, I was over everything at that point.

I almost thought about finding the interstate and heading home.  Only reason I did not was that in Oklahoma, you have to pay to drive the interstate (at least east of Oklahoma City). 

As I was not going to be extorted to drive a road, I kept to the Route 66 path, but canceled most of the detours onto older alignments going forward.

I also decided I was not stopping anymore either, so passed by the other museum (which was open) that I had thought about visiting.

I reached the hotel not long after that and went to check in.

Another one of these places with no staff!

So, I checked my hotels.com messages and there was a message with my room number and door code.

As I was walking outside, a car pulled up, it was the hotel manager and she asked if I needed assistance.  I said I should be good, had just found the message, and was in room 10, which I then noticed already had a car in front of it.

She they said that is not right, and got out of the car.  I checked the message again and then saw a second message.  This one said I was being moved to a new room as that old one had someone in it and they had extended their stay.

Finally with correct room, she walked me over to verify the code worked and we were good to go.

Unloaded the bike, splashed my head and face with water (which I had to wait over 5 minutes to not be hot water out of the cold tap) and then sat in the dark in the AC and zoned out.

Today was not a very good day in many ways.

I finally changed clothes, and walked across the road to the convenience store to get some cold drinks and more water as I had drunk much of my hydration pack today.

I then sat again and checked stuff online while I decided if I wanted food.

Not much choice here, and as I had already covered the bike, and it had already started to rain, I really only had 1 choice.  There was a Mexican place just around the corner, so could walk there once the rain stopped.

That happened a few minutes later, so walked over and had a meal there.  Too much food as usual for Mexican places, but it was really good.

Back in the room we started the nightly tasks.

Moving footage to the laptop, only hard drive is almost full, so had to copy a large chuck of video to external thumb drives I had brought.  Really need to get some video edited so I can delete the raw footage I will never use.

Also had to create route maps, and write the blog, and now I need to figure out the route for tomorrow.

Thinking I will make is a short day and do another 2 or even 3 days stop just the other side of Oklahoma City.  I desperately need to wash my riding gear, starting to stink!

And I could get some work done on videos, or at least plan out the next few days routes so I can save that time.  (It can take up to 2 hours to figure out the alignments and build a custom routing in Google Maps to follow it, along with stops.  Wonder if I should just go back to writing it on paper and putting in in the tank bag).

So, guess I better get going as it is already 10:00pm.

 Todays Route:

Day off, catch up on work

August 15^th, 2026

Joplin, Missouri

Slept in today, and combined with going to be very early last night, made me feel quite a bit better today.  I was still up early enough to get a shower and dressed before 10am though.

Worked on getting Blogs caught up first, uploaded and photos included on them.

I then went to lunch across the street at a local Coney Dog place.  I just had a Frito Pie though, and some fries.

Back at the hotel I did a load of laundry next as I was out of clean clothing.

While that was going on, I finished uploading the blogs.

I then did all the financial tasks as mentioned before.  Balancing accounts, validating credit card charges, paying off cards and moving funds as needed between accounts.

Then I also update the cost tracking sheets I have created for this trip (something I will not do going forward, too much effort and really not sure it is worth the time).

I then did some online updates and checks, and then went to dinner next door at a local Mexican place where the portions were HUGE.  I had way too much food, but it was really good.

We then worked on plotting the route for tomorrow.  Really getting annoyed at Google Maps, it really does not work well for complex routing due to limitations on points you can have, the programs insistence on sending you to Interstate highways, and its constant need to just fuck things up in general, making me have to start over again.

I think I have planned a route that is a bit too long for the stops, as I again did the routing before thinking about where I was stopping, but hard to know where I need to stop till I know what towns the route goes through. 

Piece of advice, if you want to do a similar trip, do all your routing and stop plans in the weeks before you leave.  Then you can just pull up the maps and go when the time arrives and you can even change course and it will adjust as needed. 

Then you can just book hotels as needed last minute, or if you are smart enough to NOT ride a motorcycle, just pull over and sleep in the car if need.

Now I am just going to pack things a bit, and work on some photo edits to clean up some stuff.  Not going to get a video again, just too tired and too late, need to go to bed earlier than 1:00am for a change, and want to try starting earlier tomorrow to make the day work better.

Catch ya down the road!

Extreme heat, but great routes

August 14^th, 2026

Joplin, Missouri

Woke and got ready as usual.

Loaded the bike and checked the room as usual.

Locked the door and rode next door to the fuel station to fill the tank.

While there I also went inside to find some food, ended up with a small pizza.

Got on the road about 9:45, bit later than I had hoped.

Today most of the route should be on back roads using mostly the 1930s alignments, but a few sections of 20s and some 40s.

We will only have 1 small section of about 4 miles on the Interstate as the original road is under it.  (Note that in many places, the 1950s and later route was a divided highway that basically became the Interstate with only a few changes and updated interchanges.  So, driving the Interstate is still Route 66, just the later sections).

The roads were in fair shape, some a bit beat up, but they are just county roads that normally get local traffic for the most part.

Reached my first challenge of the day.  The bridge over the Interstate to reach the other side where road continues (I-44 having cut across the original route) was closed for maintenance.

Checking the maps there was no alternative way on the north side, so would have to take the Interstate.  And annoyingly, some of the 1920s route and an old bridge were on the section I am missing.

Rode the Interstate to the next exit, then backtracked so I could still ride the old section.  Missed the turn, so ended up following the road all the way back to the closed bridge, so got to ride it all, I guess.

This section is one of the few 4 lane sections that was not used for the Interstate.  It also has a rock cut (where they cut into the rock layer to allow a road through) that was the deepest cut in the US when it was made.

Reached the turn and went south a bit to an old bridge over the river.  Stopped to talk a few photos as the road was empty and great shot of an empty bridge.  Just had to wait for a pickup coming the other way to cross. 

Except they did not.  They stopped and blocked lane on other end, all 3 guys (late 20s) got out carrying big cups and stood at the railing doing who knows what.  So much for the great photo.

Back on bike and followed the road back to the 4 lane section and then back to the area where I came off the Interstate.

I stopped at gas station to use restroom and buy a cold drink as it was very hot already.

Rode a few blocks down from here to reach the Uranus Fudge Factory.

This quirky roadside stop is a Fudge shop selling fudge and other sweets made in the place, as well as other snacks.  They also have a huge gift shop leaning into the “Uranus” “Fudge Factory” innuendo for the dirty minded.

The place has a small sideshow museum, tattoo shop and few things around the property to do photos with.  (Dinosaurs, aliens, rockets, trucks and cars, and even old farm equipment.)

I checked out the sideshow and decided for $6 I would see what was inside (expecting a bunch of crap).

It was mostly just fake figures and stuff made up to look like freak show creatures and people.  Some might have real history, but the items here are mostly mockup.  A few skeletons of deformed animals and even a few live 2 headed turtles were onsite.

I did not spend too much time there, so probably a waste of my money.

I went into the fudge shop, hoping to buy some, but the place was just mobbed.  And I did not want to wait forever to buy sweets I probably shouldn’t be eating anyway.

Used the restroom and then left.

Back on the route we continued on for a short distance and then stopped at the St Roberts Neon Park.

This small roadside park which was created in the 1950s (and the only remaining roadside park on Route 66, and one of a handful left in the state from the 100s that existed in the 1950s) has been turned into an outdoor museum displaying some of the neon signs from places no longer existing or that were completed converted into different businesses over the years.

Nicely done place with the restored signs and information plaques about them.  They all light up as well, though only after dark, which I cannot wait for.  They also have a small memorial to veterans at the end with a big tank on display as well.

When done, I headed back to the road and while coming down a section of the roadway parallel to the freeway I spied an old bridge on a side road and turned off to check it out.

This section (which I looked up later) was the original route before the 4 lane section cut it and became the interstate later. At some point they built a new frontage road along the interstate you can drive, leaving this small section and no longer accessible bridge abandoned. (I will guess that the bridge was weak and not worth repair, so why the new frontage road).

Did a few photos, then back onto the road and continuing along the way.

Many of the routes you drive along here are not part of the original route.  The original routes depending on decade get cut off by other newer roads or even newer alignments of Route 66.  Some sections remain drivable but dead end.  You many times need to run down a different frontage or work around the freeway overpasses to get from section to section.

I stopped in Lebanon Missouri for lunch.  Just wanted quick meal, so ate at Taco John’s, a fast food Mexican chain I used to enjoy in the Midwest, but we do not have in Arizona.

Got back on the road and made my way into Springfield a bit later.

The route through town was a bit congested, but finally made it to my first, and only big stop of the day.  The Route 66 Car Museum.

Parked the bike and covered it as I would be inside for a bit longer this time.

Cost $15 to get in, but high for the size, but it is what it is.

Lots of older cars from the 20s and 30s.  A good selection of cars from each decade up to the 80s.  Even a few newer, but not many.

Some replica movie cars as well.

All the cars are owned by the one person who created the museum in his former factory space where he manufactured turbines used mainly in water management.  Owner sold the company to huge corporation in early 2000s, and created the museum for his car collection.

When finished, I got back on the bike and headed down the road.

We turned off onto one of the older sections and rode past a few places that were Route 66 themed, but was just too hot to stop at most.

I did pull of at Spencer to photograph the old buildings there which had been restored a few years ago.

I then entered the Joplin Metro, going through several smaller towns that surround it.  Saw a few other places I had read about, but again, hot, and tired.

I stopped for one quick photo at a Missouri 66 shield painted on a concrete wall as it was the only sign so far with just the state name, most also included the town name.

Traffic got really heavy around this time as well.

Finally got into Joplin and reached the point where the route turns west.  My motel is just a half mile down this route, but the road was all ripped up and under construction.

Was a bit of a challenge to get into the motel as you have to turn between the traffic cones and across a rougher gravel section to enter the driveway to the parking lot.

Parked and got checked in.  My room is in the back building, so rode around to that area and parked up in front of the room.

Unloaded the bike and then sat in the A/C to cool off as I was really feeling the heat now.  Actually, staring to feel a bit ill to be honest, but that might just be lunch?

After about 90s minutes, I was thinking of just going to bed, but needed to secure the bike, and really wanted to go get some water (drank much of what I had already) and some other drinks.

So got on the bike and rode down the road to a Target to get a gallon of water, some cold tea, and some more pain meds as I am about out and body is starting to yell at me more lately (my knees especially).

Once back to the room I decided definitely was not hungry or feeling like food, so changed out of the riding gear and went to bed.

I have all day tomorrow to work on blogs, videos, and route planning.  Will only leave the room to walk over for food to a restaurant nearby, and maybe a different nearby place for dinner.

On Sunday we will depart and will quickly leave Missouri and enter Kansas.  There are only about 20 miles of the route in Kansas, but a few places to stop and see, then will move onto Oklahoma and will stay there as I continue westward.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Urban decay to geologic beauty

August 13^th, 2026

St. James, Missouri

Woke at 8:00am and got ready quickly for once. 

Loaded up the bike and was already dripping sweat when I finished.

Checked out of the motel and got my deposit back, then rode over to the highway that will take me to the Interstate.  Was just after 9:00am, so ahead of schedule.

The original route here is no longer drivable over the river, most of the earlier routes are like that.  So, I will use the modern Interstate to get across the river and then pick up the route on the other side.

We got across, and due to road works, had to use the exit a mile farther down and back track to reach the road that was formerly Route 66 in the 1930s, which is the main route I am following today.

My first stop was the west end of Chain of Rocks Bridge, which was accessible via a nice little park.

I parked the bike and hiked about ¼ mile up the path and onto the bridge.  It was a bit far to go to reach the curve in the bridge, but at least was able to get some photos.

I did find an information board that said the bridge was in operation until the interstate was opened in 1970, at which time it was closed to traffic.  The lack of value in the steel at the time made the cost to tear it down prohibitive, so it was left in place and later was repurposed as a pedestrian/bicycling pathway in the late 1990s.

I then started south on the route and almost immediately the surroundings turned ugly.

While some of the areas were basic residential neighborhoods and small business, just in old buildings that had seen better days, much of the route was burned out, gutted or boarded up buildings, homes (nice large mansion style houses) and apartment blocks.

Hardly anyone around, not even that many cars parked along the streets.  Appears much of the properties are abandoned.  Those that were lived in looked like the probably shouldn’t be.

To make things even worse, the road conditions were abysmal.  I think the gravel roads in Alaska were smoother.  Missouri is on its way to beat Illinois for the shittiest roads.

And to top it off, while riding this less than nice areas, there are stop signs or stop lights about every 2 blocks, and I caught EVERY light red for at least 20 lights.  And the red lights here last at least 1 minute on average.

This went on until I reached downtown St. Louis, which while the grand buildings of the early 1900s and some more modern construction created a nice skyline, the place was really not much better.  Empty or run down and not a huge amount of activity.

Traffic did increase, but few people out walking about.  The road constructions crews even had security on site with them.  Not sure what that says about the city.

I finally reached the turn to head down to the river. Passed through another area that was sketchy as hell, mainly warehouses or factories, not sure if in use or not.

Reached the river frontage and this was nicely done up.  A huge wall of mural/graffiti artworks, and then the road that runs along the shore in front of the Gateway Arch.

The area along the shore is a parking lot, and it was $11 to park, so I decided not to park and walk around, and probably not a good place to leave the bike and gear anyway.

I rode past the Arch, turned around and rode back, then stopped and parked illegally for 1 minute to take a few photos.  It was early, no one around, no harm done.

Retraced my route back to the Route 66 and headed southwest.  While slightly better, was still pretty beat up area of town.

Eventually we reached the suburbs and things improved, lots of more modern buildings and business were full and active.

Final opinion is if you are doing Route 66, just skip St Louis.  Unless you really want to go see the Gateway Arch, or some other site that might be in town, there is nothing to see and the route is basically a huge waste of time.  Its really just a tour of the ghettos of the city.

Only reason to ride it would be if you are a dumb completist that wants to do all of something….wait, that sounds a little too close to home.

As for the Arch, you can use the 1950s alignments that will bring you across the river right into downtown and save a lot of time and riding through nothing.

I stopped on the very edge of town to fuel up and then the route joins Interstate 44 here, the next 15 miles most of the original road is now under that freeway.

I did turn off at one exit though to visit the remains of a small town (Sylvan Beach) which is now the Route 66 information center.  You drive a short distance on the old road, and it ends at what is left of the bridge over the river.  All within site of the modern interstate.

I parked at the building and walked over to the bridge to see what was left, took photos and recorded some video.

As I walked back to the bike, two women were walking up to it and asked if I was the Arizona rider (another bike in the parking lot as well).

We started talking.  Thinking the one was local to the area, but the other was a woman from Japan.  Turns out she had studied for some time at ASU in Tempe, AZ.  She had seen the license plate on the bike.

They wanted to get a picture of her and me with the bike, and later just me and the bike.  We talked a bit about my ride and future travel plans and I was told to definitely visit Japan (I is in the plans someday).

Once we finished talking, I went inside while they went over to the bridge (and I think there might be a small trail over there too).

I walked around the gift shop a bit and then talked to the lady running the center.  Missouri did not create a state specific passport booklet with all the various sites like Illinois did.  They had the standard blue passport and the gold centennial passports, but not only are they quite expensive, but they only cover a handful of spots in each state, whereas the state specific book is just as many pages and covers just that one state.

She did have a pad of tear off maps that covered some of the major sites along the route between St. Louis and Oklahoma City, and went over the Missouri stuff and mentioned a few other places along the way.

I then walked the small museum on site, and then left the building and got back on the bike to continue.

We got back on the interstate, and then a few miles later got off and started to follow the various parts of the routes still drivable, mostly local or county roads now.

The route again ran parallel to the freeway, like a frontage road for much of the distance, but occasionally would curve off a mile or so to pass through a small town or just for terrain reasons.

You do cross from the north to the south and back to the north of I-44 quite a few times as it followed the Route 66 route (which was a 4 lane road toward the end of its time) and cut the old route in pieces, so you jump back and forth, and of course lots of extra curves and routes to get around those spots.  Probably 40% of the pavement has nothing to do with the old routing, just working around the modern freeway.

I stopped at an old gas station to take some photos and then went inside.  Started to talk with the guy in there and asked when it was last in service, and turns out this place is just a modern recreation.  The building was a generic place built to be used as a church which closed down several years back.

This guy bought the building and converted it to look like a period service station and put filled it with lots of period antiques and other pieces.  I think much of it his personal collection.

He hangs out in the place a few days a week and just talks to people.  One way to retire, I guess.

Bit later we left the route and headed south a few miles to reach the Meramec Caverns.

These caves have been known since at least the mid-1800s and were tourist spots even before Route 66 existed.  They were used by Jesse James and his partner after robbing places in the Missouri area, which gives them some colorful history.

I arrived at the parking lot and secured and covered the bike.  Going to take another risk as I will be inside for about 2 hours.

I wore my riding jacket again as the caves are pretty chilly here in Missouri, typically only about 55-60 degrees inside.  It is nice to have the jacket on when in there, though the humidity was high in this cave, so still made me sweat.

I went into the main building which houses the café, the gift shop and the entrance to the cavern.  The cavern opening was quite large, and the building was basically built right in front of it.

The first few hundred feet of the space is huge, and even cars could drive inside back in the day (they actually did).  It had been mined a bit as well for Saltpeter during the Civil war, so that probably opened up some areas as well.

The floor is now all paved for the first bit, lit and signage and line control barriers setup at the main entrance.  You buy your ticket and then wait till the next tour starts.  They run every 30 minutes.

I thankfully only had to wait about 5 minutes and we got started.

A guide takes you through the cavern, giving local history and information, with a focus on the Jesse James connection, as well as some geologic background on some of the formations later in the cave.

The route has a paved path and railings to basically guide you along, and they turn on and off lights as you move through, so always dark in front and behind you. 

You visit the lower chambers first, which are damper as the river runs through this area, you can hear it running near the area where the cavern heads toward the larger river next to the parking lot (the cave river enters that river, but via a siphon, so no above ground chamber on the river).  The only entry point in that area had been paved over when the lot was created.

The caves water system originates in a natural underground spring about 16 miles away and the caves is also that large, but we will only see the first ¾ miles of that distance.

Once done, we head up into another chamber that was found years later when someone detected a crack in the wall and they busted through.  They found some amazing, and quite rare formations in this area, one that is so rare it really should not exist, and is one of only two formations of this type in the world (that we know about anyway).

This section of the caves is a lot of upward ramps, and then you walk around a massive stalagmite (500 feet in circumference) that has gotten so large it reached the ceiling and cut off the flow of water to one side which has now dried out.   Geologists estimate that this formation is about 33 million years old.

Once you finish there, you have to walk up 58 steps to reach the small chamber with the unique formation that sits inside.  Just look at the photo, too difficult to explain it in words.

Once done, you walk back down, and then sit in a small theater like setup for a light show and short film and light show.

Then you exit the cave.

It was a great cave though.  The group about 20 people, so small enough to let people get out of the way for many photos, though sometimes you still had to take pictures with people in them.

I spent some time talking with the guide between his speeches.  Besides some specific questions on the caverns, turned out he was a motorcyclist as well, so we ended up talking bikes.

While we were waiting in the theater for another small group that was just behind us that they wanted to join our group for the film to avoid showing it to the small group alone, we again talked bikes as he asked for questions from people and no one asked any, so I just picked up conversation again.

After exiting the cavern, I went over to the café to eat, I had not had any food all day and it was not about 3:00pm.

Had a large burger and fries and a drink.

After eating, I stopped to talk with another couple who was riding as well.  I had seen them briefly at that fake gas station a few miles back, and the guy inside has told me they were from the UK.

We talked a bit about the heat and humidity, and some about routing and such.  They are heading west as well, so very high chance we might bump into each other again.  They are staying about 15 miles away, so depending on when we both leave, could cross paths down the road some.

I then went out, got on the bike and headed back to the interstate and picked up the access road again.

Rest of the ride was basically just small towns.

I missed one of the old gas stations, and did not feel like turning around to see it, saw enough to get the idea.

A few other old or well-known buildings that I decided were not big enough deals to stop for photos.

I did pull over in Cuba, MO to get the Missouri 66 sign with the bike, then kept going.

I was getting tired, so skipped stopping at the big rocking chair (once the largest working chair in the world, but now just the largest on Route 66.)

Reached the small town I am staying in and found the motel.

Went to check in and it was another unstaffed place.

They had a kiosk that I tried to use, but was giving me issues, then I noticed another sign that if I had made a reservation via 3^rd party, I should have an email or message with the code for the door.

I checked and had that, so went to the room it listed and the doors have keypads on them.

Instead of a physical key or keycard, you just punch in the code and the door opens.

I moved the bike over to the room and unloaded it.

Then sat inside and tried to cool down for an hour or so.  I literally sat next to the AC unit which was down by the floor in the hall to the bathroom.

I then needed to go get something to drink, was almost out of water as well.

Put the jacket back on and rode out to the main road, only to notice the large fuel station/store right next to the Burger King which is behind the motel.  I could have just walked over.  But this was easier since I was buying water as well.

Bought the gallon of water, and 4 bottles of tea.  Not sure I will drink them all tonight, but will have something for the morning ride then.

Back at the room I changed out of the riding gear and sat to cool off again while looking at things online.

I then decided I was hungry enough to get food around 7:30, so walked over to the Burger King after securing and covering the bike (was just too hot earlier, sun was hitting the parking lot directly).

Had to stand in line for almost 10 minutes while the guy and lady in front of me ordered everything on the menu (or so it seemed) as between them they had 8 kids to feed.  They were ordering separately, so guessing they were coming from some kind of youth event or something, all the kids were roughly same age.

Then of course I had to wait to get my food, was about 20-25 minutes.  They must have messed up something, I did not hear exactly what he said, but they gave me double the cheese bites because I waited so long.

I sat down to eat, then went up to get some ranch for the cheese bites.  They gave it to me, but she said they normally would charge for them, guess they have started doing that now as well, so guess I will not be eating much at Burger King anymore.

Then as I started my sandwich, I realized a few bites in that it was the wrong one.  Receipt was correct, so they just made wrong sandwich.  But as they are same price, and I had the extra food from the delay, I was not going to argue the point.

Finished eating and came back to the room to plan tomorrow’s route.

Kind of wishing I had thought about doing this all long before the ride.  It takes 1-2 hours to go over the maps to find the correct routes based on the various alignments, plot them into Google Maps (no “follow Route 66” option) and send them to my phone so I can pull them up later (and it takes 3-4 maps to get the route to stay put and not constantly get re-routed back to the Interstate, something that Maps is really starting to piss me off about.)

I then have to review the route to mentally note the various stops or possible stops so I can be watching for them while I ride (and I still miss a few each day).

After that I am writing the blog for tonight, but again, will not upload it as that process takes time and its already late enough.

Tomorrow I will get almost to the end of Missouri and will spend 2 nights there so I can catch up on some things and hopefully stay off the bike for at least 1 day.  My hands, wrists and knees are hurting a bit more than they should, so need a rest.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route: