Kicks: Day Four

After spending an enjoyable night at the lovely Munger Moss Motel, we headed out to do a little backtracking. I can’t recommend the Munger Moss highly enough. It is wonderfully maintained and incredibly clean. We were in Room 72 rather than Cabin 1, so we survived the night! Seriously, this is just a wonderful place, and even if you’re not traveling Route 66, it’s right off of I-44, and offers very reasonable rates, very clean rooms, and a super cool retro vibe. You simply can’t go wrong with the Munger Moss! And honestly...is that sign boss, or what? You should see it lit up at night!

After we checked out, we went back to Devil’s Elbow to do that stretch again, because it really is spectacular. I thought that that stretch of the road was the original pavement, and Shane agrees that it is. Apparently the four lane was built during WWII to help with traffic in and out of Fort Leonard Wood. Shane also pointed out that this stretch of 66 has the “rolled” curbs that were supposed to help keep people from going off the narrow road. I wonder how that worked?!

We headed south on 66, all the way to Springfield. Since I had not done this stretch before, I was surprised at how much of the original road is left to travel...IF you seek it out. I had thought that as you got closer to Springfield, it was all obliterated. Not so. It might be paved over and given other names, but the route is still there, and several roads in Springfield have the old buildings and the googie to prove it. (As I mentioned on Facebook, I think I’m going to have to do at least one entry devoted to googie signage.) It’s fun to try to figure out if a sign is original or not. Good clue: that sort of weird fiberglass shell is NOT original!

A question for my fellow roadies...we came across a little group of bungalows north of Hazelgreen. These were built of stone, and there was a small home in a line with these stone cabins (I would guess the home of the owner and where the office was located). I saw no sign, and we didn’t explore beyond taking pictures because it was posted as private property. But it reminded me very much of John’s Modern Cabins in its layout. All of the buildings, large and small, seemed to be long abandoned. Although the stone cabins were intact, some of the roofs were not. Does anyone know what this might have been?

After we found a place to hang our hats (on old 66, so that’s cool!), we met family nearby. It was great to see Terri and to meet her husband, and we had a very enjoyable time!

Tomorrow we’ll be heading to Oklahoma (with a brief trip through the corner of Kansas) to see more things and to visit our friend Laurel at Afton Station. I’m looking forward to what Laurel calls the Ribbon Road and what Shane and others refer to as “sidewalk” pavement. I thought the 16-foot wide alignments in Illinois were wild...this road is NINE feet wide, yo!

One more thought for today. I was telling Ken today that one of the really cool things about this trip is that we’re experiencing so many different environments and ecosystems! We’re going from midwestern farmland to prairie to desert to oceanside. Go ahead and call me a geek, but I think that’s pretty amazing. We have a remarkable country with a remarkable variety of ecosystems...it’s wonderful to experience them all, and I hope that kids who are born today will have a chance to have this same experience. It really is a helluva lot of fun!

Anyone want to take bets on whether or not I’m going to sing “Oklahoma!” as we cross into that state? “And when we SAY! A-yippee-yo-kiyay...we’re only saying you’re doing fine Oklahoma, Oklahoma, okay!”
Poor Ken.