Well, I am now sporting a nice trucker's tan; my left arm is as brown as a biscuit. Despite the prolific sweating, we are having a great time. The Mustang is making friends everywhere that Adrian takes us. He is as good a navigator as he is a journalist. You might be interested to learn that I am drinking only water on this trip--no beer, soda, wine, milk, juice, booze. Just water. Will that offset the ice cream we are eating? Time will tell. Here are some other interesting facts:
- For every mile of interstate driving, it takes about 1.14 miles of Route 66 to get to LA.
- We will average 150 miles per day as opposed to the 500+ miles that an interstate driver would do.
- Our average speed so far has been 32 miles per hour, including lunch and photo stops.
We are now in our motel room, looking out at a Midwest thunderstorm. I expect that Adrian will begin recapitulating our day any minute now. Until then, I'll work on getting some photos uploaded. Oh, he's ready...
- Seth!
We began the day with a mesmerizing tour of Meramec Caverns. After we packed up the Mustang, we drove to the town of Sullivan. Soon we passed a water tower labelled "Bourbon" (for the town) much to my enjoyment. We passed through scenic Cuba and saw the world's largest rocking chair. Our road twisted and turned through Hooker's Cut and Devil's Elbow, two cuts through majestic limestone hills.
I began to notice how, as Route 66 twists and flows gently through the contours of the land, the interstate simply plows right through the land; it hardly goes up or down. We got a beautiful drive from Waynesville to Conway, with the gorgeous Ozark hills and meadows, and the sheer limestone cliffs. Our drive took us through Marshfield, home of Edwin Hubble, noted astronomer (he discovered that the universe expands) and namesake of the Hubble telescope.
We quickly arrived in Springfield, Missouri, our stop for the night. As soon as we arrived at the Rest Haven Court, a summer thunderstorm began, thus ending our third day on the road and our first day without getting lost.
- Adrian
Below: Stalactites and stalagmites in Meramec Caverns;
Bottom: Adrian is a tiny figure in front of the world's largest rocking chair.
4 comments:
Hello Adrian and Seth!
I am loving your blog. You guys are going have an amazing time on your trip and I look foward to reading about your daily adventures.
Roxanne Gaskins
You both write really well, and the pictures are fabulous! It is so refreshing to hear of someone taking their time and doing 150 miles a day -- leaving time in the trip to really experience your surroundings instead of rushing past.
What I want to know is does that giant rocking chair actually move? Cool stalagmites!
Well... The chair does not really rock. It looks like it might be able to do so if they unsecured it from the ground. Stop by during an earthquake!
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