Today was a short day. I had two choices. Ride 22 miles to the Chaos Brewery in Joplin and have my son-in-law pick me up there, or ride 32 miles all the way to my daughter’s house. I elected the former. I just had to make sure that I didn’t get to the brewery before it opened, and not so early that I’d spend too much time there before I got picked up. So I decided this would be a lazy day.
I slept in, rode to a diner for a hot breakfast, then back to the motel, read for a while, then finally set off, pledging to stop at every possible point of interest along the way at a pace that could be described as lollygagging.
Weston’s Diner is one of those places where everybody knows your name. Just a little hole in the wall. Everybody knew everybody else. One of the customers was wandering around with the coffee pot topping off everyone else’s cups. I pointed out that their Route 66 curtains did not have anything about Kansas on them. Who do you sue?
It was a beautiful morning in the upper 40s with not much wind (at first), and it was primarily a crosswind. Sunshine with scattered clouds. Only one climb. Awesome.
Kansas is the shortest but most signed section of Route 66.
The Baxter Springs information center was closed today. As were most other museums and roadside attractions. Closed on Saturday. Makes no sense from a tourism marketing perspective.
Karen PoretMaybe they don’t get many ( or any) tourists? Who knows? Most retirees shy away from the “tourist spots” on weekends anyway…Perhaps this is a factor..Thanks for the photo stop, though! Reply to this comment 3 weeks ago
On October 6, 1863 a Confederate force of 400 mounted guerillas led by William Quantrill attacked Fort Blair (unsuccessfully) and then attacked a separate Union column outside the fort, killing over 100 soldiers (mostly African American), many after they had surrendered, with a loss of only 2 Confederates. This became known as the Baxter Springs Massacre. The fort was demolished by the Union at the end of 1863 when they withdrew to Fort Scott, which was better fortified.
On the road near the fort. Something left from the battle?
The large spring which gave Baxter Springs its name was just south of the fort. Over the years the spring dried up, probably due to the changing hydraulics due to the mining in the area. A local at the diner this morning told me there are small springs all over the place around here. He said there are four springs on his uncle’s farm.
Fortunately for Baxter Springs the town early on banned mining beneath the town, or it may have ended up like Picher, Oklahoma (near Commerce and Quapaw that I passed yesterday) which is now a ghost town due to the collapse risk caused by the undermining of the town, and the huge heaps of metal contaminated mine waste on the surface. Picher is now part of a huge superfund site.
Rainbow Arch Bridge north of Baxter Springs. The only bridge of its kind left on the entire length of Route 66. The marsh arch bridge has concrete arches.
Another closed museum in Galena. M-K-T was the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. The K-T gives rise to the name of the Katy Trail in Missouri, the longest developed rail trail in the United States at 240 miles long.
“Elevator cans” like this one fashioned from old steam engine boilers were used to lower important visitors who needed a “safe” way into the mines (wives, mine inspectors, mine owners). The miners themselves were lowered four to a common ore bucket.
The 1951 International boom truck at the station was the basis for Pixar’s animated character Tom Mater in the movie Cars. It was discovered by a Pixar animator during a research trip for the movie.
Renée at the station was a world of information . Her sister Melba “The Mouth” is apparently credited on one of the special features on the DVD release of the movie Cars 2. Google her and see if your ears can keep up with her mouth.
The end of my trail (I thought). After I started on my beer I realized I had not ridden far enough to intersect with my across-Missouri route of three years ago. When my son-in-law picked me up here, I loaded all my gear into his truck, jumped on my bike and biked the remaining 0.3 miles unencumbered . Then he picked up me and my bike and took me home.
