Route 66 In Missouri: Butt Jokes and Old Bridges

When most people talk about Route 66, it’s all about visiting the past. Neon lights, the movie Cars (especially in my last post), space age cars with fins and faux jet nozzles, and everything else from the good old days washes over our minds. But, that’s not all that Route 66 is about. Sometimes, getting your kicks on 66 means going to a place that’s entirely silly and maybe a little gross. Like other states, Route 66 also has its share of history and scenery.

As we left Kansas and crossed into Missouri, we thought we knew what we’d see, but just as with the other states, things were a little different than we expected.

A Shared Canopy For Electric and Gas

After a rough night next to a semi-truck with a leaky air brake system in Joplin, we doubled back into Kansas for a few to see a couple more things in Galena. Then, we crossed back into Missouri to start making our way across the state. Our first charging stop (after we had topped up in Joplin) was in Springfield. That’s where we found this:

Normally, if a gas station or truck stop has EV charging, it’s off in its own corner of the lot. Sadly, this means that the gas pumps usually aren’t very accessible for a trailer. Usually, I worm my way around the lot to keep from unhooking, but occasionally I can’t get away with it.

At Pilot, Flying J, and One9 truck stops, it’s a mix of easy pull-thru stalls and stations I have to play Trailer Tetris to get a charge at. There’s often just not that much room at older truck stops to set up an EV island with its own canopy. At this station in Springfield, they actually got it right. By positioning the EV “pumps” next to the gas and diesel pumps, we were able to easily get a charge in a lot that wasn’t that big.

I’d really like to see more places take this approach when they add EV charging to a gas station. It just makes sense. Gas stations are the way they are because the industry has been improving for over a century. EV charging companies need to remember that it’s not always smart to reinvent the wheel.

Uranus! Get it? Ur Anus? Get it? Get it?

In the movie ET, Elliott has a run in with another kid around his age telling one of the oldest jokes known to astronomy. Hearing (but obviously not believing) that Elliott had befriended an alien, he asks the all important question about ET’s origins:

Yes, it’s one of the most childish jokes ever. Some scientists (especially science teachers and profs) change how the pronounce the name of the planet just to avoid too much self-inflicted face palming (Picard, his face in his palm). But, there’s a magical place in Missouri where the Uranus joke never, ever gets old. From the minute you arrive until the minute you leave, Uranus Fudge Factory will have you thinking about the orifice everyone needs but nobody wants to really think too much about.

When you walk into the store, they’ll start with something like “Welcome! Don’t be afraid to poke around Uranus!”. Uranus-themed music and PSAs play while you go deeper into Uranus, where you’ll find things like large pickles and bigfoot scat. There are even large sticks that some people feel the need to remove (after paying for it, of course). It’s also true that Uranus does sell fudge (it’s actually good fudge), and their employees will lovingly and gently pack your fudge once you decide what you want.

But, it’s more than just a general store with gag gifts. There’s a liquor store deep inside Uranus called “Uranus Liquors”. The town’s museum focuses on old carnival acts and freak shows. The newspaper, the “Uranus Examiner” takes a closer look at Uranus to keep things from getting messy. There’s a Uranus Police Department (consisting of one old car with no officers in it), and toward one side of Uranus, you can find a double decker bus. Yep, things are pretty packed in there.

If you’re a church lady at heart, don’t go. Keep driving down 66 and find something more inspiring. But, if you’re up for some gross jokes and want to channel your inner 11-year-old, definitely stop by Uranus. Just be careful when you’re pulling out, because the mayor hates it when people make a mess in front of his town.

The Devil’s Elbow And Ozark Scenery

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that the US has more than two big mountain ranges. The Rockies and the Appalachians get all of the attention. But when you’re passing through Missouri, the mountains are a little different. The rolling hills of Oklahoma seem to get taller and taller until SURPRISE! you find out you’re in the mountains again.

It was here in the Ozarks that I found the Devil’s Elbow Bridge. This older alignment of Route 66 requires going on a fairly rough four lane alignment from later iterations of the highway and then turning off at just the right time onto the oldest segment in the area.

This area is called the Devil’s Elbow because the Big Piney River takes a sharp turn here between St. Roberts and Rolla. Loggers used to make a living by putting logs in the river and letting them float down to the mills, but this was an area where logjams were very common. Many a logger’s month was ruined right here at the Devil’s Elbow, hence the cursed name.

A Personal Connection

I have actually never been through these parts of Missouri, and it gave me a chance to see where my grandfather was from. He was born in a Saint Louis suburb and had a somewhat rough childhood because his parents didn’t get along well. There’s some debate over who his father really was, and this could have contributed to the strife and poverty he experienced.

One thing that helped him get out of Missouri was joining the Army and serving in World War II at age 17. Initially, he was assigned to fight in Africa, and was sent to Fort Bliss in El Paso to learn to fight in the desert. But, the war in Africa was won sooner than expected, and he was quickly reassigned to fight in Europe, arriving just before the Battle of the Bulge with uniforms and gear meant for the desert.

For the rest of his life, he walked with a limp, earned along with a Purple Heart at Bastogne.

After the war, he used his GI benefits to purchase some land in Rolla. According to family, he spent 12 years there trying to forget the war and heal in more ways than one. There, he picked up a distinctive accent and vocabulary that I picked up a little bit as a kid. On this trip, I got a chance to see the scenery he saw as he brought himself back from the war. Later, craving warmer temperatures and a different life, he went back to El Paso, and lived near there until he passed away in 1997.

Arriving Late For Gateway Arch

Sadly, we spent too much time in Uranus and the Ozarks to spend much time in St. Louis. We did get to see the Gateway Arch, but we couldn’t park because the RV lot was underwater from spring runoff.

Leaving Missouri was a lot like seeing the Devil’s Elbow bridge. Instead of taking the interstate, we crossed the Blue Line on the McKinley bridge. It was a tighter than normal fit, but our travel trailer was well within the weight limits and well below the height limit. We couldn’t use the bridge that Route 66 crossed over, so we picked the oldest bridge we could!

In our next article, we’ll share our Route 66 stories from Illinois, starting at the Chain of Rocks.