We're Too Old for This! - Anniversary Adventure Day 4

(Description from the Website)

Today was our full day in Branson, and we started off with a bang (wink wink) before getting dressed and heading to The Shepherd of the Hills. I had a hot date with adventure!

I don't remember how I even found this, but I remember looking for a Ropes Course to do (long story short... Hubby had seen David & Patrick do a Ropes Course on an episode of Schitt's Creek and thought it looked fun), and, while Shepherd of the Hills does have a Ropes Course, they also have... The Vigilante Extreme Ziprider!

I thought this sounded like so much fun, and didn't really think about the whole... jumping off a building part. Even now, typing this, I just NOW kind of realized that I was 140 feet in the air! In the Ozarks! Wow...

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. We got to The Shepherd of the Hills, and it wasn't super busy, but we got there right after they opened, which was probably why. After going to the Copperhead Mountain Coaster ticket booth, we were redirected inside for tickets to the zipline. 

Ticket Office for the Copperhead Coaster

Inside, I had to fill out a waiver that I won't sue them if I die from this stupidity, and then paid at the gift shop register. It was $29.95 (plus tax) since we were there on a weekday, which was super-affordable, and we found out that if we wanted to go again, it was ten bucks cheaper.

The view of the zipline from Inspiration Tower

I'll be hanging for a half-mile!

Looking south (?) from Inspiration Tower

Even though he hadn't paid, they let Hubby go up to the top of Inspiration Tower with me to wait my turn on the zipline. He was more than content to stand against the wall, as far away from the windows as possible (bless his heart). They suggested that you don't zip with anything in your pockets, so when it was my turn, I gave him my phone and wallet and whatnot. He went back downstairs via elevator, while I followed Skye, the operator, down a very narrow stairway to the zip platform on the 13th floor. Once there, she put me into a sling-harness, that reminded me of hammock chairs. It was a bit awkward to get into, because it felt like your butt was going to fall out! After getting in, she ran a strap over my head (like I was getting on a roller-coaster) that connected between my knees, and another strap that went across my chest. Once strapped in, she tightened everything up until it felt like I was a super-secure package, and yet, at the same time, I didn't feel any sort of weight on myself whatsoever... very strange! 

I was instructed to keep my knees against the door in front of me, and my arms tight in at my sides; the door would swing open and if my arms were out, I'd hurt myself. After a quick safety check, the door swung open and I just... floated away from the building. Seriously, there was no jumping, or dropping, or sudden Oh, shit, I just left the security of a floor beneath my feet feeling whatsoever! I was just gliding above these beautiful trees toward a clearing below. I never once felt frightened or scared, and like I said earlier, it just kind of hit me today that I was 14 stories above very mountainous ground, and falling would have killed me. 

(ETA: So... I brought my new FauxPro action camera with us for this trip, and I was so psyched to use it! Everything seemed to work perfectly... until I got home and realized that NONE of the footage had audio! Nope. I recorded all of this adventure with no audio. But, hey... that just gave me an opportunity to learn how to do voice-over editing... Hope you enjoy the video!)

As I got closer to the bottom (at which point, I'm probably zooming along at 50-55mph), I started trying to figure out how I was supposed to slow down! Skye actually didn't cover that part in the briefing, at least not that I remembered! A tiny little voice started chanting oh shit, ohshit, ohshitohshitohshit,  and then blammo! I hit a series of huge springs that engulfed all that energy and stopped me within a second or two. That was probably the only part of the entire ride that was unpleasant, and I'd say it's a 1/10 unpleasant (mostly because it was unexpected). 

At the bottom, Jacob came out of a little hut to unstrap me and help me out of my chair, and then I boarded a 'tram' that was just a covered-wagon pulled by an ATV. We travelled the interior of TSotH property, which was very natural and beautiful, taking about 10 minutes to get back to the front of the property, and literally 5 steps from our SUV! Hubby didn't know where I'd return from, so I ended up finding him over near the entrance to the gift shop. 

After telling him about how awesome it was, we went inside and filled out a waiver for him so that we could both ride the Copperhead Mountain Coaster. Before getting on, we each had to be weighed to ensure we were within safe weight requirements, and sadly... he actually weighs almost 30lbs less than I do... That's depressing as fuck.

He was still a little apprehensive about this adventure, so I went first, and then he followed. I thought it was really fun, maybe 8/10. I let it go as fast as possible for the most part, though in some of the tighter turns, I slowed down a little (mostly so I didn't get sick!) I did a video for this as well, but of course... no audio... so I can't hear the comments I made about the ride as I returned to the coaster house. It was fun, and it was worth the $16 we paid for each of us, but... I liked the zipline more! I wanted to go again!!

 

So, we went inside so I could go again, and wow! Where did all these people come from! There was a group of 5 middle-aged women in front of us (probably some sort of 'Girls Getaway' type weekend), and a couple in their 60s (who totally reminded me of Hubby and me in 20+ years; they were snuggly with each other and you could tell they truly enjoyed each other's company). the wife had never ziplined, so I was able to tell her what to expect, and we ended up chit-chatting for 5-10 minutes. We found out that it was her birthday today, and they were on their own adventure.

Seeing the future of Hubby and Me?

I was able to pay for another ride (again, saved $10 on that re-ride) and was given a reservation time of 12:20pm. We went outside for 10 minutes to enjoy the beautiful weather (and for me to take more photos), before I gave hubby my phone and wallet and headed up to the 14th floor to wait.

 

She's a tall tower

As seen through the Ropes Course

...and wait.

...and wait some more. 

Skye came out and called a few of the Girls Getaway ladies, as well as Mom & Dad. Dad very kindly pointed out that my reservation was for 12:20, whereas theirs was for 12:40. I opted to sprinkle a little kindness and let Mom & Dad go ahead - it was her birthday after all, and she'd never done it before! 

So I waited some more...

...and some more...

...and some more...

More people were coming upstairs, it was getting very busy up there, and people were getting perturbed that it was taking so long. It was also getting hot and stuffy, thanks to the walls of windows, which was probably also contributing to the grouchiness. At one point, this lady goes Full Metal Karen, demanding to know why she's not getting called for her 1:00pm timeslot that she paid for, goddammit, and it was ONE TEN!!!

Karen needed to read this sign again

Skye, bless her (not even old enough to drink) heart, pulled out her Big Girl Voice and announced, "There are only TWO people working right now {her, and Jacob, at the bottom}, so even though there are "reservations," we can only go as fast as we can go." (Remember, this is in 2021, the 2nd year of Covid bullshit, Covid restrictions, and Covid "fuck this I don't want to go to work" assholes). 

I asked her nicely how many more groups would go until it was my turn, and she said I'd be in the 2nd group (not the next group, but the one after that). At this point, I'd been upstairs for about 90 minutes, so I used the time to go back downstairs and let Hubby know what was happening (he had my phone, remember), then come back upstairs. 

My group was called, and I was put together with a middle-age woman going alone, and an elderly couple. Skye buckled in the elderly couple first, then me, and finally the last woman. This time, it seemed like I went so much faster than the first time; I even finished first, out of the four of us. Maybe because I was the heaviest, I gained speed quicker? Who knows... 

I'm learning how to do it... wait for me!

We chatted with each other as we trammed back to the parking lot and discovered that the elderly couple were RV'ing across the country! We ended up having a 15-minute discussion about RV and Van life, and how to plan for it at our age (we've got about 20-25 years before we can do this adventure thing full-time!)

Back at the SUV, I put my cell phone and wallet back in my pockets, and he took me into the Gift Shop to show me some cool magnets and souvenirs. I picked up an "I Was Brave Enough" tee-shirt (it's soooo soft!), and we paid for a second round on the mountain coaster. It was fun - this time he went first, and waited for me at the end - but it wasn't as fun as the zipline. I wonder, if we'd done the coaster first, would it have been more fun? No way to know...

We left and checked out Henning Scenic Overlook nearby. There's some trails and such, and a covered Overlook Tower, but all in all, it wasn't much, and though I was at least hoping for some pretty photos, I ended up with some basic photos, and a few rocks (of course). 

Overlooking Branson

Branson-style graffiti

They're just a little different here

Just a few more rocks for my collection!

We had lunch at SS Dockside (where I'd wanted to do dinner last night, actually). It was kind of hard to find... After being there for a day, we learned that lots of locations were behind or below other locations, so you couldn't see them from the street. The parking lot was empty, except for a family that had just left, but we figured it was because lunch rush was already over (I think at this point it was past 2pm). 

It was empty inside! Seriously, we were the only customers in the place! We were shown to a table, and immediately, a nice older gentleman came up and asked if we would pose for a photo. I assumed it was for Facebook or other social media, so we obliged. He made some chitchat for a while, suggesting good places to eat and drink (and heavily recommending a specific place - over and over - to buy tickets to local shows). 

Our server, Andy, was good at his job, and ended up selling me on the Three-Shrimp Sampler Dinner (for lunch), which consisted of fried shrimp, blackened shrimp, and sweet chili shrimp, as well as fries, mashed potatoes with gravy, and garlic bread (dude, I'm full just thinking about all that food!). Hubby went with a tried and true cheeseburger & fries. 

Clockwise: Sweet Chili Shrimp, Taters & Gravy, Garlic Bread, Fries, Fried Shrimp, Salad (?), Blackened Shrimp (Hub's Burger & Fries in the background)

His burger was delicious (not Tacker's Shake Shack delicious, but pretty darn good in its own right) and he definitely got the better meal. Mine was just ...okay. The bread was lackluster. The sweet chili shrimp were okay, the blackened a little better, and the fried the best of the bunch, but none were spectacular. The fries were... fries... and the taters were standard. However, I did discover the deliciousness of French fries dipped in brown gravy! How have I never experienced that before? 

Basking in the glory of choosing the better meal

As we ate, Camera Man came back and presented us with a cheesy 8x10 frame with our photo in it (I think the frame was acrylic shaped like a filmstrip?) Oh... I get it now. 

Photo unceremoniously stolen from TripAdvisor

Classic Tourist-Trap upsell! How did I not figure that out! We politely declined to purchase, and he left it at the edge of the table (with the price tag), just in case we changed our mind. He wasn't pushy, but just kind of "Midwest Disappointed" that we didn't jump at the chance to buy it... I almost felt bad, because it seemed like this was his only job. After he left, I joked with Hubby that one way or another, we'd end up stuck having to pay for that thing... Luckily, I was wrong, and we just paid for our meal and headed out. 

Our next stop - maybe not the smartest, with a belly full of food - was Fritz's Adventure, an indoor adventure park. Remember, back at the top of this blog, I said that Hubby was open to doing a Ropes Course? This was the one that he wanted to do. We paid for two All-Access passes, and a rental locker for our stuff, and headed over to the tri-level jungle gym. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring even our cell phones, so Hubby took those back to the locker while I got geared up, and then watched him get geared up when he got back. 

The first row of green is Level 1 (no obstacles on the cement floor)

He only ended up doing most of Level 1. Maybe 5 or 6 crossings (or whatever they're called) before he called it quits. On the one hand, I kind of got mad, because that seemed like such a waste of money to do so little, but on the other hand, I was proud of him for conquering a fear (even if just a little bit). He went back down and took off his gear and then just watched me play for a while. 

The other side of the jungle gym

I did all of Level 1, moved up and did all of Level 2, although the zipline of all things freaked me out a little bit! This one was different than Vigilante, in that I had to step off a platform to zip across the course, rather than just be "released," like the Vigilante. That "leap of faith" was a difficult one, and I felt a little silly... I eventually did it, and yes, it was fun, and yes, I wanted to do it again! I went up to Level 3 and tried one of the crossings, but never even made it across! I think it was a square balance beam that tipped 20º to either side. The catch was that there was no rope or anything to hold on to, so you had to actually balance on that balance beam, or hang on to your safety harness. I think I took about 2 steps before my brain said "nope, nope, nope!" and I backed up to the safety of the solid platform. As I headed back down, I realized how sweaty I was! This whole place is like stealth exercise, and so much fun! I would love to have one of these in my city where I could go play once a week or so. 

You ain't lyin'!

After I caught my breath for a few minutes, we sat and played in the Spinning Chairs that Hubby found while I was still playing on the ropes course. They don't look like much, when you're seeing someone else sit in them, but they're like a spinning top, on the bottom, so when you sit in them, you lean at a pretty serious angle. And when you shift your weight, the whole thing... spins? rotates? I can't find the right word. We'll go with spin, I guess. You're 'spinning' on a very large axis, the bottom edge of the seat, with a small pivot point always touching the ground. It took very little effort to move the seats to start spinning, and you could get going very fast - and you could get very dizzy, if you were like me! If you pulled your feet in, or up toward your chest, you'd spin even faster... It was fun as hell, but I got dizzy quickly, so I couldn't spin as much as I wanted.   

Photo unceremoniously stolen from TripAdvisor

After sitting there for a while, we realized that the area behind us was a Laser Maze, so, of course, we had to go check it out! 

Inside, it was like Mission: Impossible or Ocean's Eleven - it was a black room, full of fog and green lasers crisscrossing the room. The point was to cross the room to hit a blinking light, without crossing any of the lasers. When you hit the light, the lasers reset and you had to cross again to another blinking light. Over and over until time ran out. I went first, and broke 4 lasers. He went next and broke 7. 

Outside catching our breath (again, stealth exercise!), we found a cool observation window on the side and watched another family run around like idiots breaking the lasers, instead of avoiding them... Turns out there was another mode you could play called Break the Beams. Hubby and I played that next, and it was just like what you'd expect - the room filled with lasers, and you had to run around and cross them to "break" them. If you had time, the room would refill and you'd go again. I didn't catch what our score was, but compared to the other family, it was about the same as what they did. When we came out, we saw that they'd been watching us, so we joked and said we should team up to see if we could break the High Score if we all got in there together... we didn't break the record. But we had fun!

I checked in with a staff member to see how long it would take to do the Tree-Top Zip, but unfortunately it would take over an hour, from start to finish, and there was no quitting halfway through... oh well! Maybe next time we're there. After that, we sat for a little while, and watched a girl (maybe about 8 years old?) trying (and failing) to zip. She'd get over there then chicken out. Or sit down. Or back away from the platform. Over and over. I got way too emotionally invested in this kid, lol! All I wanted to see was this little girl zip across. I think it took her about a half-hour, but she finally screwed up all of her courage and did  it - the entire place broke into applause for her! I guess I wasn't the only one paying attention to her!

On our way out, we passed The Cement Mixer (a half-buried cement mixer), and I kind of dared Hubby to go inside, "I'll do it if you do it." Always up for an adventure, he got in pretty easily, though it took a few tries and he banged his knee into the side. It took me a few tries, but that was just because I had to find the right approach to fit my big ol' self in the tiny hole. I didn't know what to expect once we were inside... I thought it was literally just a hollowed-out mixer. But there were tunnels. 

Looks perfectly normal from this side, but there's a hole under those handles!

Tiny Children for Scale (Photo unceremoniously stolen from TripAdvisor)

At least they were well-constructed tunnels with straight sides. Hubby took off ahead of me, disappearing out of sight. When I caught up to him, maybe 200-300 feet later, he was by a hole (a tiny-looking hole) at the end of the tunnel, and he said it looked like we'd have to crawl out of the hole and into The Pit. Luckily, there was also a ladder that took you up to the floor of the main building. I was claustrophobic and ready to be OUT of that place! We gathered our belongings from the locker, I took a few photos of the place, and we headed back out to the car.  

To celebrate being old as hell, and not dying at Fritz's, we went across the street to get some celebratory donuts at Hurts Donut. Another How'd I Find This Place? place, though I probably found it on TripAdvisor, I had previously checked out their website and fallen in love with everything about it. Especially how they showed their donuts! 

The Do's and Donuts

More Donut Rules

Just one example of how they show their donuts online

We opted for a half-dozen (which turned out to be way too many); I got Vanilla Birthday Cake, ET, and Jesús Cheesecake. Hubby got Andes, German Chocolate, and Cotton Candy (as seen above, modeled oh so nicely). We also picked up two sodas in "Commemorative" cups (big ol' plastic cups). We took everything back to the hotel to gorge on sugar. 

TOP: Birthday Cake, ET, Jesús Cheesecake
BOTTOM: Cotton Candy, Andes, German Chocolate

The Jesús Cheesecake donut was delicious - it was an unfilled yeast donut, topped with cinnamon buttercream, chocolate drizzle, cinnamon sugar, and finished with a dollop of cheesecake. Dare I say... the cheesecake was a detriment to the donut; it was better without it! It was so sweet, I couldn't finish all of it. The Vanilla Birthday Cake was perfection; tasted just like a birthday cake (I had this one for breakfast the next morning). the ET was a cake donut with buttercream and tiny Reese's Pieces. It was good, but my least favorite of the three. Hubby had the German Chocolate first, and while I didn't try the actual German Chocolate frosting (I dislike coconut), the donut itself was very tasty. He had the Andes for breakfast, and it was delicious. The cotton candy was good, but nothing about it stands out, as I'm thinking about it right now (also, the cotton candy chunk on top wilted overnight and crystallized). 

I wanted to head back out and do some more touristy stuff, but Hubby wasn't up for it, so I flew solo. Unfortunately, The Beef Jerky Outlet (no, really, that's what it's called!) was closed, but I was able to make it to Ozarkland (a big ol' gift shop). I picked up some taffy, a magnet, some bottled soda, some candy, and the best piece of maple fudge outside of St. Augustine! Everyone there was so nice and friendly. I chitchatted with the staff while I checked out and it turned out that one of them was headed down to my town to go to school in a few weeks! What a small world!

Photo: Dana Loesch (follow her on Twitter!)

My next stop was to explore a Price Chopper Grocery Store. I've heard about them, as a "frugal" type grocery store. It was meh... it just seemed like a regular grocery store to me. I picked up some orange juice for breakfast the next day, as well as another bottled soda, as well as a bag of chips to review when we got home. 

At this point, I was thinking of just hitting up a gas station for snacks and heading back to the hotel, but when I put my sunglasses back on, I realized they were broken! Okay, well, I guess it's time to visit the Branson Walmart, lol. I got major flashback/vintage vibes when I walked in, because it may be the last remaining Walmart that was not a Super Walmart! I picked up some sunglasses, as well as three bags of Utz snacks, then headed back to the hotel for the night. I enjoyed a hot bath, then some Redneck Charcuterie (Slim Jims and chips) before calling it a night. I was exhausted! 

                                                 Shirt of the Day                                                 

Strange Planet: Maintain Your Grasp 
(80s kids should totally get this reference immediately)

Finally, a Donut! - Anniversary Adventure Day 6

In case you were curious, we stayed the night in Tulsa last night. I realize that I forgot to mention that part, LOL! 

Anyway, we slept in a little this morning, leaving around 9 or 9:30. We gassed up at a Kum & Go, to which both of us tittered, because we have the sense of humor of a 9-year old boy. I was hoping to pick up some donuts from Merritt's Bakery, close to the hotel, but nope! Apparently they're closed on Sundays and Mondays! Geez, people, I just want a donut make with love... 

We headed south, on our way to Texas, just enjoying the journey, when, there, upon the horizon, did shine a glorious sign - Daylight Donuts! We found one (not the original one, but okay...) in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. I pulled in and grabbed my wallet. When we got to the door, we saw that they closed in four minutes! Oh no!

They were already mopping floors and cleaning up when we came and and waited behind an ancient old woman buying about 10 dozen glazed donuts. She gushed to us that they were the best damn donuts she'd ever had and drove over 2 hours to get here so she could take a bunch home to her family. Okay, that's certainly a glowing recommendation. 

We opted to just grab one donut for each of us (big mistake, huge!), and went to the register to pay. Right after I swiped my card did I see the sign on the register that said "minimum charge $5." I apologized to the cashier, who passively-aggressively said "Hey it's no big deal, there wasn't a sign or anything." Like, I get it, Susan, I didn't see the sign, calm your tits. But in my defense, I was trying to be quick so you could close the store on time! Also, apparently, these were not Daylight Donuts, but a Donut Top operating under the Daylight Donuts franchise name (is that legal?) Don't really care what the name was, that old lady was right... these were fucking amazing! We both inhaled them in the parking lot... they were soft, but toothsome and chewy. Lots of crackly glaze that made a huge mess in the car... swoon... 

Riding our donut high, we made it to Atoka before we needed a potty break. Billboards told us there was a Love's Truck Stop up ahead, but when we got there, it wasn't what we were expecting; it was more of a large 7-eleven. And busy as hell! I was able to potty and pick up a magnet, but the line for the men's room was super-long, so we decided to backtrack to Choctaw Plaza on the northbound side of the road instead. It was much quieter and the bathrooms were much nicer (should have just stopped there in the first place!). 

In Durant, just north of the Texas border we stopped for some divisive fast food - Long John Silver's. I love it. Hubby tolerates it. Many people on the internet despise it. Who cares, let's go inside and chill for a bit!

Oh...

Fucking cooties. 

The dining room was closed, and they were operating Drive-Thru only. I was surly, but I really wanted some greasy seafood, so we ordered and ate in the car. 

Seafood Sampler (Shrimp, Chicken, Fish, Hush Puppies, Fries, Popcorn Shrimp)

It was still good, but in retrospect, we should have bailed and found a local joint (there was literally a Braum's right across the street!) 

Full (but still slightly salty) of greasy seafood, we got back on the road, braving the INSANE traffic between Oklahoma and Texas, and stopped at the Texas Welcome Center, with its massive Star monument thing. After going potty, we went inside to pick the brains of the two employees there; I wanted something to do in Dallas, and ironically, neither of the employees could think of anything! As expected from my own research, Dallas isn't really a touristy type of place; it's a Big City, businessy type of place. Fair enough... we'll just play it by ear. 

Welcome to Texas! Bienvenida a Texas! 

We picked up some stickers and brochures then went to goof around with the big monument. It gave me Plinko vibes. 

Mom and Dad Visit Texas

Do you see it?

From there, we headed into Dallas and parked at Reunion Tower. The plan I'd laid out was to walk around downtown Dallas, visiting the area(s) where JFK was assassinated, and some other tourist stops in the area. 

So much traffic! So much roadwork!

As we walked toward downtown, Hubby asked what the plan was, and after I told him, he said he really didn't want to do that... He didn't really give two shits about JFK, and I think I was only interested in a "I'm here, I should do it," kind of way, so we ended up just saying fuck it and walked back toward the car. We diverted over to the DART station, which is their public transportation system. We kicked around the idea of just picking one and getting on, but after poking around the touch-screens at the station, we were thoroughly confused and didn't want to get lost, or end up too far from the car with no way to get back if any of the trains stopped running. (Wherever we go on our next adventure, we really need to factor in subways and such... I need this adventure!)

Should we do it?

From Reunion Tower, we skipped over to the Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge, a bridge that spans over the Trinity River, connecting Downtown and West Dallas, paralleling the newer 2012 Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Originally constructed as the Lamar-McKinney Viaduct in 1933, the original bridge was built to carry vehicles across the river to West Dallas. It was completed 27 years after the river's 1908 flood that submerged most of the area. In 2016, it was renamed after Dallas' first black Mayor, Ronald Kirk. Currently, the bridge has a playground, a splash park, lounge chairs, and shadecloths to beat off the Texas sun. Under, there are many trails surrounding the bridge in the Trinity River Basin and on the levees. 

Not being a bridge lover, Hubby chose to stay in the car while I went to explore the area, and take way too many photos. I didn't really know much about the bridge beforehand (the info above is from Wikipedia), so I was delighted to see how fun it was! Near the entrance, there were multiple people with carts selling toys or food or drinks. Little kids were blowing balloons or running around with their parents. Further in, there were people on dates, or groups of friends just chillin' (maybe looking for a date). Parents watched their kids play on the playground. 

Toys on the left; Food on the right

More food (that I had no idea what it was)

The bridge is even painted in a cool way!

Rock-climbing structures, shaded areas

When I got near the middle of the bridge, I took an obscene number of photos, but I'll spare you (too late), and just share a few that I really liked. 

Looking toward Downtown Dallas

Closeup of Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge suspension wires

I walked the entire length of the bridge then returned back. I saw at least 3 photo shoots during my walk (one engagement, one birthday, and one other one). I saw young, old, seniors, families, lovers... it's really an asset to this community. And man, did I feel like a minority! I practically glowed in the dark, I was the palest thing on the bridge, and I didn't hear a lick of English for the entirety of my walk! 

Back at the car, we headed to the hotel to check-in and chill for a bit. I went out and picked up dinner from Whataburger, and we ate dinner in bed. 

Obligatory Buc-ee's Photo (don't remember when we went to this one)

 

                                                  Shirt of the Day                                                  

Didn't find any Wamapokes in Oklahoma

We Got our Kicks on Route 66 - Anniversary Adventure Day 5

Oof, rolling out of bed this morning was hard. I hurt in places I never knew I could hurt - thanks to all that zipping, roping, climbing, spinning, and everything else.

 

We were out by 8:30am to get a jump start on our day, where we picked up breakfast and gas at a station in Branson West. 

 

Somebody gave Carolyn googly eyes!

As we traveled toward Arkansas, Garmin took us along some freaky-ass roads, like State Road 76 to something called Farm Roads...so weird! Going back and looking at Google maps again, the farm roads saved us about a mile of driving distance. Definitely added time, but again, whenever would we voluntarily choose to visit these areas? We weren't in a hurry, so it was a nice detour. 

 

Touring the Farm Roads of Missouri

Welcome (back?) to Arkansas

We made it Bentonville around 11am, in time to see their awesome downtown Farmer's Market. Lots of little tents with locals selling stuff. Big bowls set out on curbs, full of ice water, for doggos to drink. A lady set up with a guitar and a mic. It was just the quintessential "Small Town Saturday" and we loved it! It was just so bright, and happy, and welcoming. We said to each other multiple times that our town needs something like that! (Our town tries, but it is pathetic, overpriced, dingy, and just not "happy" feeling... maybe because of the panhandling grifters and hobos). 

When we were trip-planning, Hubby suggested we take the time to check out Bentonville, so we headed over to the Walmart Museum. We had to sign in, and the receptionist asked if either of us were Walmart employees. As an employee, Hubby got a special pin that he could wear on his vest or name tag, which is a pretty big deal, at least in terms of pins. It's like bragging rights. I just got some stickers (I'm probably going to turn them into magnets later). It was way busier than I expected, like a bus full of senior citizen tourists just showed up, but I still enjoyed myself. I even got a sticker that translated my name into a Walmart UPC code (another sticker to turn into a magnet). Hubby, of course, knew much of the information already! 

We double-dipped lunch at McDonald's and Chick-fil-A and ate while we drove to our next stop, the first of two Tri-State Markers - Arkansas/Missouri/Oklahoma. Sitting on the side of the road across from a gas station, it was a neat stack of three stone monuments stacked on top of each other. According to Atlas Obscura, the first marker is the 10-ft cement circle on the bottom, which has bronze lines indicating where the state boundaries are. It was put there in the 1960s by the Lions Club. The other two monuments are stacked right where the lines cross. In 1915, the Ozark Culture Club installed the marble pedestal, the middle marker, with the name of each state and its date of admittance to the United States inscribed on the appropriate side. The fourth side, straddling Arkansas and Missouri, has the club’s name. The headstone-like marker on the top is from 1821, the year Missouri became a state. Arkansas was still a U.S. territory, and Oklahoma was still Native American territory. It is marked “Mis. 1821” and “Ark.” on the north and south sides, respectively. The top stone is supposedly related to the 1820 Missouri Compromise, which allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, under the stipulation that no state north of the boundary of Missouri’s southern border extended west, where the stone was placed, would be allowed to own slaves.

 

Missouri - Oklahoma - Arkansas Tri-State Border Monument

We took lots of goofy photos and took off to our next stop, Joplin, Missouri. I was on a mission to visit the (not-really-but-let's-pretend) Daylight Donuts. We have a Daylight in our town, run by an adorable Vietnamese family, and I absolutely love their kolaches and cinnamon twists. I thought they actually started in Texas, so I was looking to see where the first Daylight was, and surprising, the first store was opened in Joplin, Missouri, way back in 1954! Although, the donut mix that started it all was actually created in Oklahoma. Sadly, the original Dude's Daylight Donuts building was destroyed by the horrific Joplin tornado in May 2011, but they were able to rebuild, just 6 months later, in a location just a few blocks south of their old one. 

Dude! They're closed!

Yeah, I know I'm a dork, but I was really psyched to visit the unoriginal original store, but sadly, we were late. They closed at noon, and I think we got there around 12:15 or so. Man, I was bummed! Mostly because I was hungry, but also because I wanted to go inside. Oh, well! 

We headed over to the Joplin 44 Petro Stopping Center, a huge truck stop on Interstate 44. This place was massive. Typing this blog post, I pulled up an interactive map and even I was blown away by how much bigger I thought it was! A truck-o-Mat, CAT scales, a hair salon, a private gym, private showers, an on-site hotel, almost 500 truck parking spots, a lounge for drivers, even a custom shop and a huge truck showroom with two full-size trucks on display inside! All of this, plus typical fuel pumps, convenience store, gift shop, and a multitude of fast-food options (such as Iron Skillet, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, DQ, Orange Julius, Blimpie, and Caribou Coffee). 

We only went into the building on the bottom left (the main building)

Once the sparkles left our eyes, we wandered around and grabbed some goodies; we got snacks, fancy chocolate bars, some jerky (omg, it was good!), a Route 66 sticker (to turn into a magnet at home), some bottled sodas, and two fountain sodas to drink on the road. I could have spent a good few hours in there, just wandering around, looking at everything, but we had a lot more driving ahead of us.  

Up next was the second of two Tri-State Markers to visit today, and this one was tricky to find! When I did my planning, I never found it in Garmin, so I "waypointed" a nearby gas station. Once we got there, the marker wasn't visible at all and all I could remember was that it was down a dead-end road. We drove down a random dirt road, but didn't find it, so we backtracked, and went down a second dirt road - where we passed a farm with buffalo! - and finally found the Kansas/Missouri/Oklahoma Marker. This one, while bigger, than the previous marker, looked much sadder... it was covered in graffiti. According to Roadside America, the stone cairn was built in 1938 by the National Youth Administration. However, according to the plaque on the cairn, the actual tri-state meeting point was 50 feet east. In 2004, the Missouri Association of County Surveyors embedded a "Stand Here" plaque on the ground on the actual three-state junction. We, of course, stood there, and took our silly photos before moving on. As we drove, we talked about how sad it was that the cairn was covered in graffiti, but we assumed that it was a popular get drunk, get laid, get high teenage hangout spot. 

The real tri-state marker

Kinda hard to see between our bellies, but we stood on it!

The original cairn, covered in grafitti

The entirety of the marker... very plain!

Soon, we made it to Miami, Oklahoma (pronounced My-AM-uh, not My-AM-eee), and the Oklahoma portion of Route 66. I mean, I'm not going to go into the history of Route 66 - I feel like so many people could expound on the romance and history of this road much better than I can - but I'll just say that, as someone who loves to drive random roads, I've always wanted to drive the entire length of Route 66. Back in March, when we were in Chicago, I was bummed to have missed the opportunity to visit the "End Route 66" road sign. So, instead, we visited Miami, right at the border of Kansas and Oklahoma, and then followed Route 66 south, in traffic that was much lighter than expected, honestly. I figured that a smaller highway would have slower and more traffic, but not at all. The ride was pleasant (and much better than an interstate). 

"The Gateway" Sign in Miami, Oklahoma

When you do research into "sights to see along Route 66," you are inundated with randomness. I picked a few of the better ones, or more popular well-known ones. Our first stop was the Route 66 Ribbon Road / Monument. It is a historic portion of Route 66, the only remaining 9-foot wide segment of the entire Route 66. It was completed in 1922, and actually predates The Mother Road by four years, and is the original roadbed that became part of Route 66 between Miami and Afton (OK) in 1926. 

So artsy

We found the southern entrance to the Ribbon Road, and stopped at the Historic Marker for the second of two really silly photo opportunities planned. Remember in the Day 2 post, when I said that I brought a stuffed beaver solely for a silly photo op? Well, get ready for the second - and even better - one...  

Do you get it?

It's a box of Kix.

We got our Kix on Route 66!

Yep, I bought a box of KIX (even paid full-price, too!) and brought it with us, over 1200 miles, just for this. And it was totally worth it! (Don't worry, we donated it to a friend of ours when we got home). 

We got back in the car, and drove on the Ribbon Road, getting my "car geek" on. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn't realize that the road was over 6 miles long, so when we got to the first 90-degree turn in the road along E 140 Rd, I thought that was it, u-turned in the middle of the intersection and started heading back. On the way back, I pulled over and picked up a few large rocks from the side of the road to take home. It sounds so silly, a simple 1-2 mile drive along a one-lane country road, but that was one of the highlights of my trip. Just to think of how different the world was a hundred years ago in 1922, how simple roads like this were life changing... I loved it. 

 

Driving The Ribbon Road

Picked up random rocks for me and Hubby

Back on the current Route 66, we kept our eyes peeled for the Route 66 Nuthouse, but we weren't totally successful. We found what we thought was the Nuthouse, but the entrance had gates that were closed (the Nuthouse looked to share land space with an RV park), so no luck there. We continued on to our next tourist stop, the Blue Catoosa Whale. 

So cheesy

A little creepy, closer we got to it

The whale was originally built by Hugh S. Davis, a zoologist and family man who envisioned the whale as a special place where his grandchildren could play and swim in the nearby pond. With the help of a friend, he spent two years building the metal framework, and applying hand-mixed cement, one five-gallon bucket at a time. It was completed in 1972, and became a place where people swam, fished, and picnicked. Today, it's still owned by Davis' daughter, though swimming is off-limits now. 

We explored the area, going inside the whale's mouth and finding "portholes" along the length of the structure, a walkway along the back of whale, and even an old slide (no, I didn't slide!) Perhaps because of ongoing Cooties, it was a little sad and run-down, but many of the photos online show a much cleaner and happier whale. Oh, and take a look at the bathroom! Yes they were both like this!

Why did he take this photo?

I wanna slide!

Peeing with Friends is always better than Peeing Alone

We finally got into Tulsa, and stopped at the Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza, a large monument and plaza dedicated to Cyrus Avery, often credited as The Father of Route 66, both for his work in creating a route, while a member of the Federal Highway System, and for his role in establishing the US Highway 66 Association, in order to pave and promote the route. The plaza features the flags of the eight states of Route 66, the Route 66 Skywalk, a park, a pedestrian walkway over Route 66, and several bronze statutes, including the giant symbolic sculpture (by Robert Summers, titled East Meets West) of the intersection of an westbound Model T Ford and an eastbound horse-drawn wagon. I had fun walking around taking way too many pictures, while Hubby walked around reading all of the bronze markers telling the history of Route 66. 

 

Pedestrian bridge crossing Route 66 near the Plaza

View from bridge (Original 66 on the right, new on the left)

Close-up of Model T driver

Awesome shot of Buggy driver, with his dog, and the emerging moon

Nearby, you can see the historic 11th Street Bridge, which was built in 1916 and became an original artery of Route 66. The planners originally wanted to rehab the bridge, but it was too costly, so it was simply cosmetically touched up and gated off with a cool gate. 

I want a gate like this on my dream home one day!

When we first got to the plaza area, we didn't know where we were supposed to park, so we parallel parked next to a park/residential area and walked uphill toward the pedestrian walkway... where we found a dedicated parking lot. Oops. 

Near the plaza was Interstate 244, and there was an interesting walkway under the bridge (cue Red Hot Chili Peppers). From what I gather, it's part of the River Parks East Trail, and there's a portion of the trail that can be used for fishing over the Arkansas River. We walked along the fishing pier part, down toward the end, and while I didn't feel unsafe, I felt uneasy. Judging by the amount of trash and they way it was laid out, my guess is that there were probably a lot of homeless folks who called it 'home' when nightfall came around. I probably wouldn't have walked down there if I was alone. 

Fishing area under the Interstate

View of Old Route 66 from the Interstate underpass area

Back on solid ground, we followed the walking area under the bridge, across Route 66, and over to where we parked the car (worked out well in the end!) Finally, though, it was time to get to our hotel. We checked in and chilled out for a bit. I ran out and picked up Raising Cane's for dinner, eager to try a cult favorite in the world of fried chicken fingers. 

Meh. 

It was fine. The chicken was fresh, but greasy. The fries were typical crinkle fries... too soggy for my preference. Personally, I think Zaxby's is better, but I'm willing to give Cane's another chance, especially if we could get it fresh in a restaurant. I've also since heard that Cane's is very "basic" until you dip their food into their Cane's Sauce... I wasn't a huge fan of the Cane's Sauce, but I'll give it another try, now that I know. Full of chicken, we both Twittered for a while, then zonked out. Today was a lot of driving!

Cane's chicken, crinkle fries, and toast

   

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"I Want to Go To There," said Liz Lemon