Saturday, September 29, 2012

Westbound, MO, KS and OK

Hitting the road is one of my favorite things.  I love life on the road seeing America as it really is.  The trip for me is the journey and not the destination.  I plan on doing a few of these over the coming year.  My inaugural trip in the Sprinter was Route 66 with my beagle Ruby.  She is a rescue dog that we adopted in April of this year and this would be her first time on the road.  Luckily she loves to travel also!




 Seeing as I love the southwest I made good interstate time through Illinois and Missouri and hooked up with Route 66 in Joplin and followed that into Kansas where it takes a short spin through that state.  Then down into Oklahoma where I felt like I was finally getting into the west.  At 11:30 that night I was ready to get off the road so I stayed in a truck stop in Big Cabin, OK.  I found a corner tucked in next to the semi's and had lots of grass around for walking Ruby that evening and the next morning.  I ran the generator all night with the roof AC going and I didn't hear a thing until we woke up that next morning at sunrise and went for a walk.  Then on to a full day of driving to get farther west and into the land I love.  Great weather meant easy travel.  Next up is Texas and New Mexico.

 Common view on the interstate.

 Joplin, MO Route 66, no building left but the sign still stands.
 Route 66 in Baxter Springs, Kansas downtown.
 The sun rises as The Chief stands ready at the entrance of The Wood Shed truck stop in
Big Cabin, OK.
Morning at The Wood Shed, Big Cabin, Oklahoma.