Now you go through St. Looey, Joplin, Missouri I fell in love with Missouri. It was especially gorgeous as we started into the Ozarks. We had this driving thing down pretty good by the second day. I drove; orianna navigated. We stopped at places which interested us along the way and found the people of Missouri to be some of the friendliest people anywhere. When I mentioned this to one store owner, she replied, "Oh yes. We are very friendly.....as long as you are driving through. Now if you planned to move here, we would snub you until you were closer to a native......about two generations down the line." The Meramec Caverns are between St. Louis and Rolla. You can't miss them...there are a bazillion HUGE billboards telling you it is coming (and when you leave, the sign says "You just missed it!") Incredible caverns. But even better was the side shows along the road to the caverns. The Rattlesnake Farm! Jessie James Place! The chainsaw artist! Life don't get more middle-America than this! Through Joplin we entered Galena, Kansas. There are just 13 miles of the route through Kansas and we drove them....waving to people and to trees (yes we actually found a few) and fields and we passed an old bridge that was saved by the Route 66 Association - neat but no longer in use.....and drove on into Oklahoma. Heading down the highway: Oklahoma
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