Day 5 Aug 4

Eureka to Rolla MO

Milage 108

Good roads and no real problems just lots of sun and some sight seeing.  

Last nights dinner was fast food next door as Dianne hates getting back on Scooter after arrival.  It was OK but the milk shake was the best thing in the meal.

Watched some Olympics and saw some really fast runners I could go that fast on the scooter down hill and with a tail wind, I think!

List of towns all day on historic 66 so HWY was simple:

• Eureka
• St. Clair
• Stanton
• Bourbon
• Cuba
• St. James
• Horthwye
• Rolla

The roads were really good starting out and when we stopped after 2 hours we split a blueberry fritter and cup of coffee.  Not sure if the sugar or caffeine picked me up some.  

We made really good time.  Lots of steep hill up and down, going up is slow maybe 20 max going down the governor kicks in at 40 and that seems to be the top end of the Ruckus.  

Not sure how anyone could not stop at Meramec Caves after all the signs and it is a route 66 classic, so we had to stop and do the tour.  The other tourist stuff was looking at the murals in Cuba and stopping at all the old motels and gas stations.  Also we stopped at the totem Pole trading post where Dianne bought a new tee shirt.  I wanted to stop at the Classic Car display but it is now closed.  

The Caves were cool (Literally and figuratively,) not a huge crowd but busy.  There was not a mask requirement and about 60% of the people wore them.  The history is cool they would drive cars and buggies right into the cave.  As was common it was Salt Peter mine during the civil war.  Jesse James hid out there and swam out as the sheriff was looking for him and his bother at the front entrance.  But the cave features are cool/great.  The silly line is in the tour was, “To open up the next section the owner did what any sane person would have done.  He threw in a stick dynamite and ran for his life”!  OK I would add maybe, Sane Redneck, or Sane person who ever said “here hold my beer”. When you compare to modern caves tours which require you to be washed down and pass through two pressurized chambers this cave is throw back to the old times.  

After leaving the caves I noticed the Interstate was stopped.  We zipped on by them.  I guess a lot them checked GPS routes and found that they could hop off and run the historic 66.  They tried to zoom along till they caught up to us and were slowed to the 30 miles per hour.  The section was winding and hilly.  After about 5 minutes of seeing cars behind us I found a good spot for them to pass and it took them 5 minutes to pass us.  But the highway must of opened up and we no longer found people behind us.  

Navigating was easy till the time to find the hotel.  I really messed it up.  Crossed Hwy 63 onto an a horrible road that was original 66.  But it was a loop back to 63.  I could not understand how this could be the same road.  I tried to go the wrong way for a few minutes before finally smartened up and turned around. We arrived shortly afterwards.   

Route 66 Motel

Route 66 Gas Station

Meramac Cave

Mural in Cuba MO

Biking Buddies

Sites Seen

• 23 signes for Meramec Caves
• 12 for Jesse James wax museum
• slow Armadillo
• 2 really slow Raccoons
• 1 slow squirrel
• 24 motor Cycles only 5 single rider rest were in touring groups 2 then
• 9 buzzards (5 of then were over the zip line at Meramec Cave.  
• 8 signs for a gun shows in Pacific MO 
• 9 signs for Watch out for Motorcycles.  (I hope that means more people looking out for than trying to shoot us
• No beer cans today 
• 5 churches 
• 4 Junk yards
• 3 zoo
• 6 Old Route 66 Motels
• Small Model of Stone Hinge at the local college