July 14th - Baxter Springs, Kansas

We awoke rather early and had some cold cereal before checking out and heading a short distance north into Kansas for our next walk. That was another Route 66 walk, and I was surprised to find that Route 66 had actually cut thru the southeast tip of Kansas on its way from Missouri to Oklahoma. It was only in Kansas for a few miles, but that was enough to make Kansas one of the states for our Route 66 Volksmarches. The start box for the Route 66 Volksmarch was located in a building in Riverton, Kansas, that is rather historic in itself. The grocery store has been in continuous operation in the same building on Route 66 since 1925, which is all together 78 years. That’s a pretty good run for any business and particularly surprising in a small roadside grocery store. When we retrieved the directions, however, we found that the actual starting point for the walk was in Baxter Springs, so we had to drive back a couple of miles and park across the street from a defunct Conoco station before we could begin our walk.

From the starting point, the walk route was essentially a long in-and-out along the old Route 66 highway to the last remaining “Rainbow” bridge. The old highway is now a city street and rural lane, somewhat run down and patched here and there. The center stripe was still clear but the white side stripes were quite dim and had faded completely away in places. We even passed some cows grazing in the woods alongside the road who seemed bored and glad to see us—they stopped grazing to watch us pass, and we are usually just ignored by bovines. We also waved at all the folks driving past, and most of them gave us a full wave back as well as moving over to give us walking room, which we take to be the sign of a friendly community. Only a few gave the minimal “barely lift a finger from the steering wheel” type of salute and just two cars passed by with no response at all—“Who are those people, Myrtle, and why are they waving at us?” “Well I don’t know, Floyd, but they are wearing red hats and you know what THAT means!”

The turn around point was the aforementioned Rainbow Bridge, which turned out to be a concrete bridge supported by arched braces and suspension rods. The bridge had apparently been repainted a brilliant white in 1994 and was still in remarkably good shape. On the nearby plaque we read that Route 66 had been in continuous operation from 1926 to 1960, when it was effectively replaced by the new interstate system.

The route back was, as they say, the reverse of the route out. We walked from 8 to 10 in the morning and it was definitely getting hot and humid on the way back. Monika felt the walk was about 50% shaded whereas I felt it was rather less, but we both agreed that much of the shade would disappear in the afternoon. So other folks doing this walk in the summer would be well advised to also do it in the morning and, as always, carry some water for the long unshaded stretches. In summary, this walk was a simple walk on a country road with just the one point of interest, but it is an interesting contrast with the other Route 66 walks that go thru the cities and show the more commercial side of the old Route 66.

For the rest of the day we drove thru Missouri on Interstate 44, pausing only to look at travel trailers when we saw some likely looking 5th wheels. We did in fact find one that suited us to a “T”, but it was $25,000! If it had been $15,000 Monika would have bought it on the spot, if it had been $10,000 I would have bought it on the spot, but as it is we both just had to keep looking! The extensive trees and farmland in Missouri indicated a much wetter climate and better soil than we had seen in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, and was much more like what we were used to back east. I found it easy on the eyes compared to the stark landscapes of the desert west, but it’s probably just what I am used to.

There were far more billboards on this stretch of I-44 than out west. Out there it was so deserted (get it, deserted?) that when we saw a lone, straggling billboard in the wasteland we knew that civilization, usually in the form of a McDonalds, could not be far away. But in Missouri they have an over abundance of billboards, and many more of these have a religious theme than I recall seeing on previous trips.

One particularly popular one just said JESUS with some kind of a starburst pattern of colors around it, kind of like the Japanese rising sun flag. That one was so frequent that it reminded me of the old ditty from My Fair Lady, “They’re always throwing JESUS at you, but with a little bit of luck you’ll learn to duck!” Others quoted scripture, which is quite dangerous to read thoroughly when you are whizzing by at 75 miles an hour, let me add—I kept veering out of my lane trying to read it all and still failed. One quote was something to the effect that women should always wear something on their heads lest they be called brazen hussies or something of the sort. Now Monika wears a red baseball cap when we’re out walking, but I was reluctant to inform her that apparently she’d now have to start wearing it 7-24. On the other hand, maybe she’d rather be called a brazen hussy—you never know with Monika. I kept looking for the parallel item that men should always wearing something on their shoulders lest they be called rednecks, but I didn’t see it. Maybe that billboard was obscured by trees or some other natural vengeance like kudzu. Anyway, we holed up for the night on the western outskirts of St. Louis so that we could have a nice, relaxed drive thru Illinois the next day.