Memphis & MO

Day 1
One Knight In Paris

Day 2
On To Memphis

Day 3
Into Missouri

Day 4
Dexter To Rolla

Day 5
Cabins, Etc.

Day 6
A Weatherful Day

January 1, 2006
Before turning homeward, I went several miles further west to check on a few things including John's Modern Cabins. I spent time going through St Louis in hopes of a frozen treat but the time was unrewarded.

December 31, 2005
MO-25 & US-61 to St Louis and Historic 66 to Rolla. Had dinner and saw in the new year at Zeno's.

December 30, 2005
Over the river to Arkansas then through the arch to Missouri.

December 29, 2005
Beale Street, Peabody, & Rendezvous. Yep, I made it to Memphis. Took the Gibson factory tour and hooked up with a roadie in town from Maine.

December 28, 2005
Expressway to near Bowling Green with drenching rain through Louisville. Mixed weather the rest of the day but more wet than not.

Prelude
It was mid-October when I first started thinking about the time I would have off between Christmas and New Years. On one hand, a week off would permit a trip of respectable length. But the weather, on the other, would not likely be the road trip ideal. I considered a Route 66 outing - maybe a fly & drive - and even received a fair amount of encouragement from roadies familiar with winter on the sections I was considering. Good weather was certainly a possibility but so was deep snow. I decided that the odds of the latter happening were too great for me to feel comfortable reserving a flight. November brought the four day Thanksgiving weekend and the opportunity for a medium sized road trip. I looked in a southerly direction for potential targets. For awhile I considered Memphis but decided that was a bit too far and chose Nashville, instead.

As Christmas approached, I still had Memphis popping up as one answer to the "Where now?" question I sometimes ask myself. And that leftover destination wasn't the only thing from the earlier holiday that figured into current plans. Watching a few news clips from airports over Thanksgiving really convinced me that I didn't want to fly anywhere. Then, as I'm keeping an eye on weather forecasts and mulling over a drive to Memphis, I get a message from the Bremers in Indianapolis. Having spent more than one New Year's Eve on Sixty-Six they were among those who encouraged me back in October. Unlike previous years, they wouldn't be getting to the Texas panhandle this time but would be on the Mother Road in Rolla, MO.

A glance at the map told me that St. Louis, where the Bremers would pick up Route 66, was almost directly north of Memphis. Even better was the fact that those two cities could be connected by US-61. The cherry on top of this convoluted route planning was a recent email from roadie Kip Welborn. That email contained a few recommendations and in general talked up the Missouri boot heel. US-61 is, of course, a prime boot heel pathway. So here's the tentative plan: expressway to Bowling Green, US-79 to Memphis, US-61 to St. Louis, and Historic 66 to Rolla.

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