This picture is from my 2016 trip to the Jefferson Highway Association Conference in Carthage, Missouri. Conference presentations were in a center across the road from Red Oak II and wrapped up early enough that attendees could cross over for a look. This was my second visit to the whimsical town but my first time meeting its creator, Lowell Davis. After graciously posing for the photo at right, Lowell treated me and Mike and Sharon Curtis to a tour of his home and a look at some of his classic artwork. The next day was bus tour day but I skipped it for something more important. Route 66 icon Laurel Kane had died the previous January and friends and family gathered at her beloved Afton Station this day to celebrate her life.  

I drove some Jefferson Highway, of course, but I also drove some Historic Route 66, US-60, US-62, and even a little Dixie Highway. The range of stops was about as wide as any trip I’ve taken. They included Apple Valley Toyland, Gary Turner’s (reopened by his daughter) Gay Parita, the Woody Guthrie Center, an Ian Moore concert in Tulsa, Monte Ne,  Eureka Springs, Branson (really just a drive-by), Cairo (IL), the Everly Brothers Museum, and Bill Monroe’ birthplace. Yeah, I can’t guess what the theme was either.

Trip Peeks are short articles published when my world is too busy or too boring for a current events piece to be completed in time for the Sunday posting. In addition to a photo thumbnail from a completed road trip, each Peek includes a brief description of that photo plus links to the full-sized photo and the associated trip journal.