Day Two

                South of Springfield there was still a lot to see. We were driving through this town and saw a rundown building that upon closer inspection was an old Chevrolet dealer. It must have been from the thirties and was all brick. Farther along we saw an old car dealer with muscle car barn finds out in the front. There must have been upwards of thirty cars but the two that caught my eye were a 1973 gold Dodge Charger and a green 1971 Roadrunner. In a town called Mt. Olive we saw an old gas station. We stopped and took some pictures. I remembered reading about that place in school so that really made my day. We also stopped at an old antique shop with nothing of interest and then headed into Missouri.   Missouri quickly turned into misery. After entering Missouri, we were kicked off of some ladies store parking lot. We were taking a picture of her store and apparently we needed to buy something first to be allotted a picture. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. The road pretty much just parallels the highway and the smaller the town the more they rely on the tourism of Route 66 to bring in income. Since the towns are right along the highway they are big enough to not need Route 66 and there was almost nothing left of the road to show. After four hours of driving we only saw two interesting spots, one was a gas station and the other a motel called the Sunset Motel. The road being so deserted it makes me wonder where people in the thirties stopped and stayed. Why has time been so cruel that it was wiped itself clean of Missouri? Right before we stopped for the night we went into an old antique shop. I bought a stuffed dog and my dad bought and old golf club. I have no idea why I bought the dog but it does look like my Dad's first dog so I got it. We named it Dusty and she sits on the back bench in the car. The road was fun to drive and hilly but with nothing to see it was a bit boring.  The car is running great and for being a V6 at eighty it only runs at two thousand rpm. We both hope that tomorrow will be better and at least now we have a dog.      

Facts Known By Few: In St. Louis at a motel called the Coral Court a man named Carl Austin Hall stayed the night. The next day he was arrested by the police and condemned to his death. He was arrested because he had kidnapped and murdered the son of a wealthy Kansas City auto dealer. Hall was paid $600,000 ransom and only half of the money was found. The rumor is that $300,000 is still hidden in the hallow walls of the Coral Court.

Favorite Food: Dinner at a place called Colton's in Rolla Missouri.  

Favorite Two Songs:

1.       Amanda Boston

2.       Baba O' Riley The Who

PS: We both decided that who we are as Top Gear characters is Hammond. As much as I would like to be the Stig I am just not racing driver material. I got carting lessons when I was ten and I was just not made of the right stuff. I like to race but I don't have what it takes to be a champion.