June 9, 2004

Springfield, MO

A few days after the two enjoyable events in the St. Louis area, I hit the road for Springfield, MO. With rain coming down in buckets, I started to worry about the planned photo op, but fortunately, Springfield hadn't seen a drop. Outside the Springfield Brewing Company, I was met by local resident and book author Susan Kelly, who wrote "Route 66: The Highway and Its People," featuring photographs by Quinta Scott. She presented me with an autographed copy of her book for the journey, and it proved to be a valuable resource. Susan pointed out that Route 66 is where many Americans who travelled by car were introduced to new products and concepts -- like wall-to-wall carpeting in motor lodges! Travelling "the Mother Road" to spread the word about modern, fuel-saving technology, then, just seemed like a perfect fit.

Quite a few Springfield-area Sierrans turned out for the event, including Stan Van Velsor, Linda Chipperfield, Will and Andrea Hardiman, and Cameron Wickham, plus Water Sentinels organizer Angel Kruzen. Linda and Angel brought their own hybrids. I took the local television crew on a test drive. Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner at the Springfield Brewing Company restaurant.

The next day, I did an interview with a local radio station, then back-tracked a bit to take in the wild sights at the "Exotic Animal Paradise" near Stafford, MO. Talk about getting your licks on Route 66! The car and I were investigated by llamas, deer, emus, ostriches, a gnu, a camel, goats, bison, even a couple of tigers...or maybe the big cats were looking at the deer hiding behind the car.

Early Friday morning, I was on my way to Joplin. Route 66 diverges from the highway, finally, and goes its own way through picturesque rolling hayfields, woods, and small towns. It was exciting to drive a stretch of the original Portland cement road for the first time.

-- Jill