Riverton, KS to Branson, MO

Paula and Jeff were getting a late start so they told us to go on ahead and we would meet up in Springfield.

We left Riverton and made stop at Nelson's Old Riverton Store.  We talked with the owner and he has been there since 1972.  He started working there as a teenager when his aunt owned the store.  When she died his cousins were not interested in running the store so he bought it from the estate and has been running it ever since. 

Riverton runs right into the charming little town of Galena, Kansas.  We drove down Main Street and saw the Cars on the Route, Car on a Pole, and Luigi's Pit Stop which were some of the inspiration for the Pixar "Cars" movie.  At the place we saw the Route 66 arch and Kansas drive-thru sign.

Back down Main Street a block off of Route 66 you see Gearhead Curios.  This is a 5-Star "Must See" just for the restroom tour.  The owner designed and built the entirety restroom.   Other than a 1952 pink toilet everything is made from recycled car parts.  It is by far the most unique restroom you will ever see.

After our tour at Gearhead, I called Paula and told her they definitely need to stop there to see it.  We went across the street to the Sweet Creek Diner for breakfast.   The special for the day was chicken and dumplings.   It was good but certainly not for you if you're on a low-carb diet since the meal included noodles, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a roll.  The waitress was very nice and brought us a Route 66 Passport Stamp book and a Kansas map to use on our trip .

We started calling ahead to try and find a campground in Springfield, Missouri.   Most were either full or only had room for one of us.  Using our Harvest Host i found a place that sounded promising at the Route 66 Car Museum.  They said they had room for us so we headed over.  When we got there we found that there was no way it would work fir either of us.  The parking lot was small, very uneven and hilly and the only relatively flat part was a grassy area the museum is not allowed to use.

SOOOO! We talked with Paula and Jeff and decided to skip Springfield for now and go onto to Branson since we have to come back to continue on Route 66 anyway.

We called and reserved spaces at America's Best Campground in Branson.  We arrived and set up and notified Paula and Jeff. Bill and I looked through all the materials the staff provided and chose some shows we were interested in seeing.  We got tickets to a show called Grand Jubilee.  We returned to the motorhome,  got showered and dressed and took an Uber into town for the show. The show was a 3-Star on our rating scale, not great, not horrible but an enjoyable evening.