Sunday, September 29th, we tried breakfast at our hotel. It was very meager. But gave us a little jump start to our day
Our first place to visit was the Route 66 Car Museum in Springfield, Missouri. There are lots of car museums along Route 66. After all, it is a highway for cars. We decided Claude could pick one for us to visit on this trip. Choosing this particular museum was an excellent choice. There any many rare and very old cars. Most are restored and quite capable of still being driven. We totally enjoyed strolling thru these cars.
Right in the front door was a race car cover in Mello Yellow logos. Claude quickly told me this was my car. I love Mello Yello. He took a picture of me in front of it.
A Batmobile.
Loved this very old Safari car. Would it be cool to safari in this car?
Another Ghostbusters car. This is from the movie where three females played the three male roles. I did not see this version of Ghostbusters.
I found a Buick!!
Okay. Claude's first Jeep was bright yellow. His current Jeep is ultra-green. I saw this car and decided the two Jeep's had this for a baby.
Just look at this for a moment and see if you can tell why it caught my attention. Some people have a very interesting sense of humor!
The two lanterns on either side of what would be the dash would have been an interesting way to have light.
I can't remember what this one was called. The name fit the way the back was shaped. It seems it was a canoe or boat or something like that. I jut found it a fascinating way to make a car.
Then there was this 'woody'. One of the first cars made with wood on the sides. I loved the huge wooden luggage rack on the top.
Look at this old Jaguar!
Two of the cars had this large leather strap holding down the hood!
Now, this red 1926 Hudson truck is special. It was actually the truck the family went from Oklahoma to California in the movie "Grapes of Wrath". I read the "Grapes of Wrath" in preparation for our trip. It fits that time frame. Now it is the bright red truck.
Claude drew my attention to this interesting 3-wheeler car.
Meet Doc Hudson from the movie " Cars". Well, A car like doc Hudson.
There is a working garage in the back where they maintain and restore the cars.
These are cars Claude took pictures of and I don't know anything about them. We each walked the museum at our own pace and focused on what caught our attention.
I did not anticipate enjoying this museum so much. Happy it was important to Claude and I benefited from his interest. Cool.
Outside of Springfield a ways is Fantastic Caverns.
You do not walk these caverns. There are Jeeps that pull long carts thru the cave. There is a little blue line under Claude and me in the picture.
While we waited for our tour, I checked out this apple press. The apples go in the top square funnel. The handle is turned and the apple go thru a devise that chops them up and they fall into the front bucket. That bucket is put under a press in the back. The press squeezes the juice from the apple. The juice comes out of the spaces between the slats in the bucket and is collected in the pan the buckets sit in. That juice is strained, put in jars, and stored in the cellar for a very long time. It becomes hard cider.
Soon our guide led us out to get into our long cart. As he drove us to the entrance of the cave, he passed this old pickup truck with a little trailer. It was in great shape.
Into the cave we went.
Our guide still stopped by a stalagmite to explain the typical amount of growth in a year is the thickness of a layer of paint.
Right above the stalagmite was the stalactite dripping the water that forms it onto the stalagmite forming below. Eventually, after a very long time, they will form a column. Way cool.
This formation is really a water pipe. A farmer built over the cave. He needed access to water. The pipe was placed through the cave to his water source. Over time he abandoned his home. The pipe stays to maintain structural integrity.
I am fascinated by the formations forming along seams where a little water comes through the seam.
When the cave was first discovered and lights were placed in it, they were yellow bulbs. This picture is with only light from the yellow bulbs.
In more recent years, the yellow bulbs have been replaced with newer lighting. This is the same spot only using just today's lighting. The colors sure show up better.
More cave pictures.
The cave is set up to teach kids how salpeter was mined from caves during the civil war. It was used to make black powder for guns.
There were a few places where the ceiling of the cave was very low. We had to bend over to keep our heads from bumping.
Some of the ceilings.
The final room had huge column formations.
We learned this was the original opening of the cavern. The owners dog went into the small opening. The owner could hear his dog in the cave. He let himself into the cave and found this beautiful room full of columns. The Civil War was going on. He didn't want either side to learn about the cave and take it over. He covered the opening and said nothing for five years. Then he put an ad for some professional cavers to explore it. Twelve ladies did this. They wrote their names on the cave wall. In this picture you can see the gravel path that was the original way to get into and out of the cave.
More pictures of the columns.
Our next destination was Galena, Kansas. We would enter another state for a short while. The inspiration for Tow-mater in the movie "Cars".
In this same area we found a crest for Route 66 to drive the Buick thru. There was a Route 66 logo on the road and I even got a picture of the Buick in the road that is Route 66!
We found the Galena City Jail!
It was next to a 1939 Texaco Station made out of local stone. This is now a store named Gearhead Curios.
We drove by the 1923 Rainbow Curve Bridge in Baxter Springs, Kansas.
We drove to Commerce, Oklahoma to find Mickey Mantle's childhood home. Mickey Mantle was Claude's childhood favorite baseball player.
Commerce also has a very unique gas station, Allen's Conoco. It is built out from a brick wall.
Across the street is a Route 66 favorite, Dairy King. It was closed.
We got back on I-44 to find Will Rogers Archway. The was the first over-the-top of the highway service plaza. It also housed the largest McDonald's in the world. It is not the largest anymore, but it was fun to go and enjoy a soda over I-44.
Our final stop for this day was Chelsea, Oklahoma. During the hay day of Route 66, pedestrian under passes were made for the safety of those crossing the highway. There are many of them but most have been boarded up. The one in Chelsea has been left open so we can walk down and through one. It has murals painted along one wall. The other wall is left white for graffiti and those who simply have to write their name on the wall.
Outside is another of the vehicles Bob Waldmire used as he travelled around 66 and painted what he saw as it inspired him.
It was a full day. We found a La Quinta Inn in Claremore for this night.
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