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!