Day 7: December 27, 2022 More MO Comment via blog

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I had breakfast just up the street at the College Street Cafe for the second time this year. This is a fun place with good food.

This detour didn't surprise me a bit since I had seen it while burning my excess time yesterday. I was surprised by the Muffler Man. His name is Carl and he is sort of a mascot for Route 66 Food Truck Park. I don't know if the for sale sign applies to Carl, the bus, or the park or if it's just being stored there. I'm including the murky drive-by photo of the Rest Haven Court sign so it can be compared with one in the next panel. Route 66 fans familiar with Springfield will probably wonder why I have not included a picture of the popular Rail Haven even though I must have driven right by it. It is purely accidental. I was not prepared or even in a position to take a drive-by shot and I did not think it worth turning around for. If I had I, I wouldn't have had to write this explanation and would probably have saved time overall.

Lebanon, MO, was the next place where I thought something camera worthy. I first grabbed a shot of the sadly vacant Wrink's Market then one of the iconic Munger Moss Motel. The 1955 Munger Moss sign was copied from the Rest Haven sign and the 1953 Rest Haven sign was probably copied from the Holiday Inn "Great Sign" which had just recently started to appear.

Anyone familiar with Waynesville, MO, will likely be confused by the sequence of these pictures so I'll try to explain. A a check for breweries as I neared the town turned up Piney River Brewing Company and indicated that the taproom was open. My first glance at the list of beers on the wall made me think I'd gotten incredibly lucky and encountered two breweries in a row with coconut porter. I notice the "OUT" sticker on my second look. But they did have regular porter and that was quite good and more than satisfactory. In chatting with the owners, I mentioned the name Jax Welborn. When Jax spoke at the Miles of Possibility conference in October, she had just lost the lease on her gallery in downtown Waynesville. At the brewery, I learned that she had obtained space elsewhere and reopened. I decided to stop by the new space and that involved backtracking a few miles. I found Pics by Jax but the doors were locked so I grabbed a picture through the glass. As I pulled away, I noticed a car with Route 66 related custom plates that I feel must have been hers and suspect that some pounding on the door might been productive but it didn't happen. The picture of W.H. Croaker was taken after I'd passed back through the town and was moving on.

And now a panel filled with drive-by shots of Route 66 points of interest that I passed on the way to Cuba. They are of the Uranus Fudge Factory in Saint Roberts, Devil's Elbow, Hooker Cut, the Stonehenge replica in Rolla, and the World's Second Largest Rocking Chair in Fanning. The chair lost its "largest" title to one in Casey, IL, in 2015.

It wasn't too surprising to find the Wagon Wheel Motel office empty in the middle of winter but a phone call was all it took to get a room. Connie, the owner, took my booking information and Ryan, her grandson, soon appeared with the key to room #10. I took the daylight pictures when I left for dinner and the nighttime picture when I returned. The neon sign alternates between lighting the the frame and the wheel. The picture at left is a composite. Here is my simple video of the sign although I imagine there are much better ones available on the internet.

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