DAY 5...We're Still Alive!

Dan and I thought we needed to work off some of the fatty road food we've been eating, so we went on a three-mile run before leaving the motel that morning.  It felt so good and refreshing to get some exercise!  Now if we can just start the Pilates we planned on doing....hmmmm.

And as Nancy said as we loaded into the car, "It's day five, and we're still alive!  Yippie!"  After a quick stop at the gift shop at the motel in Lebanon, Missouri, we traveled about an hour to the sprawled out city of Springfield to grab lunch at one of the earliest and most stylish Steak n' Shakes in the country.  And boy, were we glad we did!  I hate to say it, because we've tried a lot of delicious food from mom n' pop type restaurants, but this was probably Dan and I's favorite meal so far.  The food was just so delicious and the shakes to die for!  Thanks, Steak n' Shake for not letting us down.

Get your kicks, on Route 66

From here, we continued along Route 66, The Mother Road, for what was probably the most interesting and strange leg of our journey so far.  After winding through Carthage, which felt eerily similar to the fictional town of Hill Valley from the "Back To The Future" movies (perhaps it was the stunning limestone courthouse in the deserted town square donning a magnificent clock tower which provoked this comparison), we headed onto Joplin, the city which was struck by the horrific F5 tornado just under a year ago.  We didn't see any signs of damage, but then again we stuck right to the highway and didn't look around much.

After this we skimmed through Kansas for a non-eventful 14 miles, Dan took a photo with his "ruby slippers", and we headed right along.  Then we were in Oklahoma!  (And no, we didn't break out the tune from the musical believe it or not).  Here we twisted through some of the most odd little towns we've seen so far, holding some of the most classic Route 66 roadside attractions...can you say KITSCH!  We stopped in Foyil to catch a glimpse of the world's largest totem pole.  At a whopping 90-feet tall, it really was a sight to see- covered in beautiful paintings of Native American artifacts.

World's largest totem pole- Foyil, OK

OMG I LOVE TOTEM POLES!

We continued onto Catoosa, which held my personal favorite attraction of the road trip so far- a Big Blue Whale!  This adorable fellow was constructed over a pond and once allowed people to dive off it's tail and slide out of it's ears into the water.  After seeing the gross state the pond was now in, we thought it best to just walk on the whale, grab a few snapshots, and keep dry and happy...ok, girl!

OMG I LOVE WHALES!

We arrived at our destination for the night in Tulsa quite hungry and decided it was time for some Mexican food!  We found a place that our "Road Food" book recommended and cowed down on some pretty tasty burritos and horchata.  After dinner, Nancy headed back to the hotel for her beauty sleep, and Dan and I decided to check out the nightlife.  Dressed in our best, or the best we could do in the southwest, we ventured to a gay bar to see a local drag show.  Let's put it this way....after about 45 minutes, some extremely watered down beverages, a very rough-around-the-edges type of clientele doing their  best Beyonce on the dance floor, we decided it was time to sha-bop back to our room and call it a night.


We're having an amazing time, but we can't help but miss the glamour of the big city just a tad...after all, Sunday nights are our regular night out at Greenhouse.  <3

Total travel time: 8.5 hours
Total miles: 296.6

Cheers,
Andy    

Day Four....Ever

Four of St. Louis' best local beers.

Today we had a great day in the midwest. We left the Continental Motel in Salem, Illinois at 8:30 and drove for two hours on US-50 into St. Louis, Missouri. Nancy's brother and family live in LaDue, a suburb of St. Louis, so we visited them as soon as we got into town. We spent the morning catching up at their place, and then it was off to lunch. After driving around for an hour and getting a feel for the suburbs of St. Louis, we decided to have lunch at Peel Wood Fire Pizza. It was amazing! Not only was the pizza delicious, we also sampled four different local beers. It was a really great lunch, one of our favorites so far.

After the delicious food we drove around into different neighborhoods of the city. One of our favorite sections was Forest Park, the site of the 1904 World's Fair. The park is filled with beautiful architecture and luscious landscapes. While we were driving a midwestern thunderstorm hit us. We were hoping for a massive tornado so we could take pics for our scrapbook, but alas, all we got was rain.

Ted Drewe's - World's Best Custard

After the storm let up we were feeling kinda hungry. Since pizza and beer weren't enough to fill our bellies we decided to get one of St. Louis' most famous desserts - Ted Drewe's FROZEN CUSTARD. It was one of the best desserts we've ever had. Nancy liked it so much, she went back for seconds, and thirds! Wow! Once we were thoroughly filled with food, we went back to the family's house and said goodbye to our dear relatives.

Are we in Vegas? No, it's just the MUNGER MOSS MOTEL!

Then it was back on the road. We've followed US-50 since day one. Now it was time for a new road. The most famous road of all - ROUTE 66! The road took us to the quaint town of Lebanon, Missouri, about 2.5 hours from St. Louis. Tonight we are staying at the FABULOUS establishment, THE MUNGER MOSS MOTEL! We settled into the cute retro motel room, and then it was off to the races...the stock car races that is! Andy and Dan checked out the local Saturday night scene in Lebanon. It was pretty cool to see the cars race, and do a little people watching too. Now it's off to bed (after a date with our favorite guy Jack Daniels). Stay tuned for tomorrow's update as we head to TULSA, OKLAHOMA!

D

Total travel time: 11.5 hours

Total miles: 279.6

Day 3- Cincinnati, OH to Salem, IL

Hello all! Just a quick update for day three.

We're staying at a very tiny motel that doesn't have wireless internet, so we're just doing a quick update from our phone...cause we just have to keep you all in the loop! Today was our longest day of travel so far- about 11.5 hours total from the time we left the hotel in the morning to the time we checked into the next hotel at night.!

But we had a lovely day of stuffing our faces at 2 delicious old-fashioned burger joints, and took a tour of an underground river at Bluespring Caverns....very cool! We're settled in for the night at our hotel that looks not unlike one you'd see in a horror movie....so pray that we live to see tomorrow! ;-) Next stop....St. Louis, MO!

 -AMC

 Total travel time- 11.5 hours Total miles- 333.5

Day 2 - Bridgeport, WV to Cincinnati, OH

Mountain Laurel Gifts in Athens, OH

We got an early start today at the crack of dawn. Everyone in our room was up by 6AM and we left the hotel bright and early at 8AM. We started our day with a delicious breakfast with Andy's friends Debby and Vinnie in Clarksburg, WV. After that we drove onto US-50, driving for two hours into Ohio. Our first stop in the new state was the lovely town of Athens, where Ohio University is located. We spent almost two hours walking through town looking at small shops and checking out the beautiful and historical college campus. Some of our favorite purchases came from a costume shop, where we got a leather jacket, gypsy headpiece and Pee-Wee Herman style pimp shoes (!)

The amaaaaaazing Serpent 'Mound'

After our time in Athens, we were back on US-50 heading toward the historical native american site of Serpent Mound. This is a 1,348 foot long prehistoric mound in the shape of a serpent built by the Fort ancient culture in 1070 AD. This is quite a sight to see! We absolutely recommend you go out of your way to view this stunning historical, archeological and spiritual landmark...

George Washington in a dress?...Cool!

After 'the mound' we drove for an hour into the lovely city of Cincinnati! It was so nice to feel like we were back in civilization after a day of traveling in rural backwood country. After checking into the hotel, we took a minute to crash and regain our strength (this seems to be a common theme). Once settling in, it was time for dinner! We've heard that Cincinnati is famous for its chili, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try this renowned food. We chose Camp Washington Chili. When we first arrived, we were greeted with a larger-than-life sized mural of George Washington in drag. We knew we were in a great place. The food was so delicious! One special way the chili is served, in additional to a bowl or on a hotdog, is on top of spaghetti. Dan ordered the five-way: Spaghetti, Chili, Beans, Onions, and Cheese. Andy was sick after eating too many pepperoni rolls (courtesy of Debby and Vinnie) so he got hot dogs. Oink oink! After this rousing dinner we decided that exercise was important, so we drove to the hilly region of Mount Adams as the sun was setting. This is an incredible part of town! Bars and small restaurants line the narrow streets of the neighborhood. We relaxed over a couple of beers as the sun set behind the Ohio river.

Tomorrow is another busy day of traveling. So now, off to bed!

Total travel time: 9.5 hours
Total miles: 323.8

Day 1- Ephrata, PA to Bridgeport, WV

After months of anticipation, the Ultimate Road Trip has finally begun!

Hallam Shoe House, Hallam P

Day one started off with Dan and Nancy leaving our home in Ephrata, PA bright and early at 8am in route to pick up our third road-tripper, Andy, in Hagerstown, MD. After a quick run through McDonald's for some breakfast, we came across the first interesting thing on our journey- the Hallam Shoe House in Hallam, PA. What a sight!  Unfortunately, it was closed for visitors, so we moved along our way.

We met Andy in Hagerstown, MD after about 2.5 hours of driving thus far.  After saying goodbye to his Mom, Andy joined us, and we continued down the road through Maryland to our next stop of the day, Harper's Ferry, WV.  This is a very cute Civil War era town at the point where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet, connecting the states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.  We were here just long enough to get a few photos of the beautiful scenery and for Dan to grab some (almost) Southern-style BBQ.

Andy and Nancy, Harper's Ferry, WV

From here, we quickly continued to Winchester, VA, where we had a lunch date with our friend, Erika, whom we know from working with at Hersheypark.  Winchester is the city of Andy's alma mater, Shenandoah Conservatory.  We grabbed a delicious lunch at Patsy's Pastry Pizzas, famous in Winchester for its' gourmet style pizza pie.  Mmm Mmm good!

After settling back in the car and with the on-set of a heavy food-coma, we set out for the final leg of our trip this day, a three hour drive through the steep mountains of Eastern West Virginia.  We passed through some extremely rural, back hill towns, with little more than a gas station and perhaps a post office to distinguish them from the surrounding woods; Aurora, Romney, and Grafton, to name a few.  

The most distinguishable scenic view along this part of the drive, was of Saddle Mountain, a breath-taking 2,840 foot ridge in the midst of the Appalachians.  

We continued through the windy foothills for another 2 hours until we made it to our first destination of the road trip, Bridgeport, WV; a cozy old mining city of about 23,000.  This night we met up with Andy's friends Debby, Vinnie, and Andrew for an authentic Italian dinner at one of Bridgeport's most well-known spots, Oliverio's.  Here we spent a couple hours enjoying delicious wine, practically a four-course meal, and wonderful conversation with old and new friends, before settling in for our first night of much needed rest.  

Total travel time:  9.5 hours 

Total miles: 317.9