Lebanon to Baxter Springs
We set off without breakfast. There is nothing but road between Lebanon and Springfield, and it's pretty road with long stretches that stray away from the current Interstate route.
We had a brunch of steakburger 'n' shake at the Steak'n'Shake in Springfield Missouri. The park at the end of College Road in Springfield is closed between 1:30AM and 5:30AM, despite not having any fences.
The Steak'n'Shake chain was founded in Normal, Illinois, which we've already been through, in 1939 but this one appeared to be pretty old too. The air con units added onto the roof block the view of the name sign.
We set of West (again) and found ourselves on 40 miles of perfectly straight road. With cruise control, you could drive it without ever moving a muscle.
Just before Carthage, the Road Trip USA book told us, was Red Oak II, a pioneer town that's been moved 25 miles from its original location and opened as a tourist attraction. The reality is a little different. We got there to find, as expected, an authentic looking town straight out of a Western. There were a few twee touches like the aeroplane and tractor sculptures, and the wall of car license plates -- as you'd expect in a tourist attraction.
The schoolroom and the sheriff's office and so on, were all open to be browsed around -- but there was nobody else around. Nobody, but a few dogs. Echoes of Silent Hill, or the Twilight Zone, or something. It didn't take much looking around in that kind of atmosphere before we drove away terrified.
Carthage proper stuck us as a dump, but we persevered and found the city hall, which is like something from Disneyland. It was stifling hot in the midday sun, so we went into an arbitary cafe for a drink -- and it turned out to be a 1950s/Route 66 theme diner, with a pink Cadillac shaped booth, and neon all over the walls.
Back on the road again, we stopped in Joplin for a shopping spree in a discount CD store, and Toys &backwardsR; Us. We now have a handful of CDs for the road (the Clerks soundtrack -- "Chewbacca: what a wookie", an old NME compilation of Britpop, The Wedding Singer soundtrack, and a Flaming Lips album) three Powerpuff Girls keychains, and a set of four Sonic Adventure figures (sorry Dee, the ones you're missing weren't there - but we got the first set for ourselves).
A license plate parked outside reminded us that we're getting into the Bible Belt now.
Some very pretty road later...
... and we're in Kansas. There's only 14 miles of Route 66 in Kansas -- we only clip the corner -- so we wanted to sleep here... and that's why we're now in a motel in Baxter Springs, Kansas. There's a steak house next door, and we've just stuffed our faces for next to no money, then we strolled to the nearby Wal-Mart for some bits and bobs, and to gaze in terror at the guns and ammo, and the razor sharp crossbow arrow tips. It's 2 minutes walk, and we were drenched with sweat by the time we got back to the motel.