This morning, we got up early, packed and left early.
We passed St. Louis, with the big arch, and got stuck in some early morning traffic. There were some neat orange bridges over the Mississippi, and into Missouri. We stopped at the Wal Mart Superstore to pick up some food and such. Outside, we met Gary (?) who told us about motorcycle bed and breakfasts that we will have to look into. Although it was only 10am, it was HOT!!! So we headed off again, and made it to Cuba, Missouri, before we stopped for lunch. There, a lady asked us which way we were going, and said that west, in Rolla (the way we were headed), there was a guy with an automatic gun shooting at people, cops, and cars, and that he had gotten into a grey car and they didn’t know where he was. So we took our time at the Country Kitchen, and then headed out. We saw the police investigation, but were on Route 66, so missed most of it. Then back on the interstate until we overheated. It was extremely hot, and so we stopped in St. Roberts at the visitor centre and to get some ice. Devin put the ice in his jacket, and then we headed to the nearest swimming hole.
Devin needed to get his body cool, so the river was the perfect solution. We jumped in the river and it was great! It was slightly flooded, but nice and cool. There was an old-school ice cream truck trolling around, but we didn’t get any (boo). We then headed out, but didn’t want to waste time, so got to Springfield, Missouri on the interstate. 
After Springfield (the home of the Simpsons???) we got on Route 66 for a bit. We got a bit lost, and it was getting dark, so we tried to find a campsite. Then we saw huge lightning, and it started to rain. We got into Monett just as the rain came pouring down, and sideways. We decided to get a hotel (from the long drive, the heat, and the rain), so are here at the Days Inn, enjoying a bed, shower, and no rain! 
-Lauren
Some of those American overpasses are incredible! There stacked at least 4 high, with traffic going every which way. Its kinda confusing, except that they write the road number on the road as well as the street sign. Which is great because you know your are literally on that road.
There is also an incredible amount of construction happening state to state. This must be some of the infrastructure spending, to boost America, creating jobs and what not. 
There are signs posted nearby, $10,000 plus 15 year jail time if you hit a worker. I guess it’s a real problem, I hope that money goes to the medical bills.
Found the best highway for riding yet on route 66. It was great, I got some GoPro footage on Lauren’s head (she really likes it when I put the camera on her helmet;). And plus that it was fun…
The other cool thing is the people we are meeting. They just seem to come out of know where, Its that American charm, theres something about it, just the culture, it’s the same but different.
I’ve been to the state before, but this trip is giving us the chance to meet all these regular people doing regular things.
When we stopped outside of St. Louis, there where all these people fishing. Children playing around the rocks, parents casting in the lake. It seemed like what they must do this every day.
I think we traveled 479 km today, not that bad considering we stopped to have a swim, after overheating. Gary who we met at Wall Mart suggested putting bags of ice in our pockets. Which was a life saver for me today. 5 Hours later I pulled out my bags of water…
~Devin
You are getting close to Kansas City where I worked for about a year. In June that year it got up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit. You could cook an egg on the parking lots. If you do go near there, let me know. My friend Derick Sherry might put you up if you need a shower at that point.
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