Arriving late Wednesday night, I checked into my motel; a nice mom & pop place that was very clean with very friendly staff that seemed sincerely happy that I chose to stay there. It is called Budget Lodging, (click for website) and if you're ever in the area, I highly recommend them.
The only drawback to my arrival is when I went across the street to McDonald's (it was the only thing open that late) to get something to eat, and the cashier asked if I had seen any police... turns out that some guy just whacked his girlfriend and was on the loose in the area. I got my quarter pounder and high tailed it back to my room, locked the door, and watched it on the nightly news.
The only drawback to my arrival is when I went across the street to McDonald's (it was the only thing open that late) to get something to eat, and the cashier asked if I had seen any police... turns out that some guy just whacked his girlfriend and was on the loose in the area. I got my quarter pounder and high tailed it back to my room, locked the door, and watched it on the nightly news.
The next morning I ventured out onto the "Mother Road", Route 66 and passed the "Fanning 66 Outpost" famous as the home of the world's largest rocking chair. A photo opportunity presented itself, so I parked 3Tracs in front and snapped the above pic.
The outpost has a lot of Route 66 themed items, of which I had purchased on last years journey, but this year a particular piece of taxidermy that was for sale caught my eye.
Now I've seen a lot of different animals stuffed and hung on the wall, but this was the first time I had ever seen a deer butt (on a wall that is). If interested, click on the Fanning link above and I'm sure they could ship it to you. A great conversational piece!
Of course, the main reason for SpyderFest, other then ogling other peoples tricked out bikes, is the ride... and once I found my way to R66, I took advantage of it! Most of the road I found was in great shape, but there are unfortunately quite a few neglected areas that could stand to be resurfaced. Sadly, that probably won't happen as it's just not cost effective to rebuild essentially abandoned roads. :(
I also made a trek to the Ozarks to ride some of the roads that almost made me barf last year while cruising with my brother in law, looking for a boat rental place.
The only way I was able to keep myself from plastering his vehicle with the contents of my stomach was to imagine that I was riding the Spyder through all the twisties. So, since I was in the area, I did exactly that (no, not barf).
I was also able to find where we had stayed, so I took this pic of 3Tracs outside the gate of "Lighthouse Pointe".
The trip was a blast, right up until I nearly froze my (deer) butt off while heading for home at 9pm Saturday night. It was a frosty 42 degrees when I arrived in the driveway (at 2am) and could barely peel my rear off the seat. Next time I'll just leave the following morning.
I'll leave you with one last pic. This is from "Bob's Gasoline Alley". Bob is a local used car lot owner, and also owns a furniture store in Cuba. A seriously cool guy who has an awesome collection of automobile signage and relics of days gone by. All the old gas station signs are wired and light up flawlessly, and his collection is remarkable. The pics just don't do it justice.
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