VW Road Trip
Day 3: Wednesday, July 4th
Day 3 continues with our now trusted friend, the silver 6-speed diesel turbo VW Beetle TDI. The temperature from St. Louis to Oklahoma City never varied much below 102 degrees. With the air pumping and car loaded with provisions we still managed to get a little over 39 mpg. Our first stop after a very restful night at The Moonrise in Missouri was the impossible to miss Meramec Caverns. Yes, there were more than two dozen billboards plastered along I-64/route 66. We planned to go anyway so the hype was a much appreciated affirmation. Pictures do not do the inside justice. It is a not a national park, but a “show cave.” Worth the 20 bucks alone if you get our “John Candy” like guide complete with ill fitting tie and pail of fountain soda. It was a memorable July 4th as the tour climax included a Kate Smith rendition of God Bless America in the cave cathedral replete with a homespun light show manually conducted by our guide. The loud clacking of the fuse box type ancient light switches were the perfect compliment to the spectacle. The only thing funnier about the tour was the fact that we met a couple on their 3rd visit.
We were soon back in the V-Dub and headed to Route 66 and all points West. Leaving Missouri after about four hours we rolled into Baxter Springs Kansas. All we can say is a twister may have just gone through as it was desolate. We had a piece of Sasquatch jerky and headed to Oklahoma. We were getting tired. Tim wanted to put in his Mandarin Chinese Living Language CD to continue his and John’s lesson…ni how ma…but they opted for some road tunes in order to not be hypnotized by the endless straight highway.
Finally at 6:30 Central Tim and John arrived at the Colcord Hotel in OKC. After a freshen up…a walk to the Oklahoma City National Memorial was necessary. Very well done and a great tribute to those lost on that horrific day.
We asked a local where we could get the best burger in town. Not sure we got it, but we ate fried green beans and burgers at the S & B Burger Joint. Star Wars was playing in the restaurant so John was happy. John wanted a chicken sandwich, but opted for the burger after Tim’s scowl. Desert was a salted caramel bacon homemade pie called a Hot Mess. Our server at the S & B bid us a farewell with, “Have fun tomorrow driving through nothing!” Tomorrow The Beetle TDI takes us to Santa Fe, New Mexico. God Bless America and Happy 236th. Photos and more at the Facebook page, Focus Group Radio.
