So Long Oklahoma, Hello MIssouri

You can fix this.
This is my first post about why I'm riding.   The money you give will go to a project in Haiti.  See the green stuff?  They're using that for water.  Click here to donate to Water Life Hope and fix that.  

April 24: Miami, Oklahoma to Carthage, Missouri

We left late out of Miami, letting the rain tail off before we left.  Conversations about the route through Missouri took time as well, and we finally settled on a direction.  We'll stick to Route 66 until Sullivan, then head south and east using the Adventure Cycling Association's Great Rivers South route to reach Cape Girardeau, where we'll cross the Mississippi.

So off we went, all three of us at first.  Steve rode with us until we got to Commerce, the next town after Miami and adjacent North Miami.  He'd thought it would warm up faster.  By the time we got to Commerce he was chilled in his bike shorts, and headed back to the hotel to pick up Ed the bus.  Carol and I went on to cross the Kansas state line, and agreed to meet him in Galena, just before we entered Missouri.

Susie and grandson
Route 66 cuts through a tiny corner of southeast Kansas for historical reasons.  It packs a punch though, including the Field of Dreams at the edge of Baxter Springs, and the Rainbow Bridge near the same city.  The bridge has been replaced by a modern one, but the original remains is in a really pretty setting.   And the river was high as we went past.

The thirteen miles of Kansas ended unceremoniously near a bar and a bunch of chickens.  Joplin came next, and we stopped for cleaning supplies for the bus.  We met Susie and her grandsons at the Ace Hardware.  They maintained that our trip would be incomplete without a visit to Supertam Ice Cream in Carterville.
The crew at Supertam in Carterville


So we ended up with nearly an hour-long visit with Larry at Supertam, including quality time with his Zanzibar Chocolate ice cream.  Susie was right.  And Larry was delightful.  The store is plastered with Superman images and memorabilia.  The Supertam name seemed to make the cease-and-desist letters from DC comics go away, and everyone knows the place anyhow.  Larry's been absorbed into the pantheon of Route 66 attractions and has a guest book and display of presents from Asian visitors to show for it.  We finally had to leave for our berth in Carthage but we could have hung out with Larry much, much longer.

Tomorrow we go to Springfield.

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