The rest of Missouri to St. Louis was fairly basic, with lots of farms and churches inside the wooded area of the Ozarks. You see less signage on the scenic byway that Missouri calls 66. It is very scenic with all the trees you drive through.
I stopped at a rest area that my parents had stopped at and took a photo with Ryder. I thought it would be cute to stage the same photo. I spoke with a gentleman inside the Route 66 info center at the stop. He was excited to give me pamphlets and maps of the area and gave me several recommendations of places to stop.
Along the way, I came across a newly built neon park. I wish I had been able to come through at night. It would have been really cool to see it all lit up at night. I stopped at the Munger Moss Motel. They had the world’s largest Guitar Pick out front of the classic roadside motel. Guitars of the various Route 66 State shields, made of plywood, decorate the outside of the gift shop. I spoke with a woman inside who ran the shop; they had recently reopened the gift shop after the motel had closed a couple of months ago. The new owner had hand-crafted a Route 66 guitar, in the shape of the road shield; It was made from wood from the old motel. It is being given away as part of a raffle at the end of the year.
I then took a trip to Uranus, Missouri. The type of roadside attraction you expect to see on a long road trip across the country. There were signs for this place miles away. It had all the butt-related puns one would expect. You could get fudge in Uranus, don’t forget a beef stick in Uranus. The people behind the fudge counter should say “Welcome to Uranus” every time someone comes in. Along the property are some sideshow attractions and some fun things for the kids. It was cheeky – see what I did? and a fun little stop to break up the boredom of the road.
In Cuba, Missouri, you come across Mural City. I was told about this town in Albuquerque by the owner of TInkertown. She said her cousin painted some of the murals in the town. The murals covered wvsp downtown walls, celebrating a mayor, fuylnklcp Civil War Battles, and huuheeluy other paintings throughout the town. Just driving up and down the streets of town, you could see many different murals.
I got to St Louis after dark, so I looked up various sign locations and mapped an hour loop through western St. Louis. Signs from the Fox Theater, a St Louis Jazz sign, an old bowling alley. There was a bakery sign that was to be really cool from what I saw online, but the lights were off when I stopped by. The Holiday Inn on 66 had a really cool old Hotel sign posted in its parking lot. It gives a little extra flair to the chain hotel. They had an additional sign displayed in the hotel lobby windows.
Today I’m going to go see the Gateway Arch for the first time in years and then off to Illinois. This is it, the final countdown and the last state before I reach the end of the line. It’s been quite the trip over the past three weeks. I don’t know if I found what I’m looking for at all, but I’ll leave that for when I have a moment to look back on the trip and fully take in all that I saw and experienced.