Our Route 66 Daily Journal: September 21, 2026

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Today we drove mostly Route 66 from Rolla to Carthage. As we had done Route 66 from Springfield to Carthage in April, we ended up doing the Interstate for that part to save time for the things we wanted to fit in.

We started our day with coffee at Southwend Spill the Beans.

Next we visited the Pulaski County Visitors Center.

As we drove Route 66 through Waynesville, we made a quick stop at Roubidoux Springs Cherokee Campsite, which is part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

We then visited the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Museum.

On our way to our next stop, we made an unplanned stop at Redmon’s Candy Factory and World’s Largest Gift Store.

As we drove through Marshfield, we found their Route 66 Shield Monument.

In Marshfield, we also took a slight detour off Route 66 to see the Hubble Telescope Replica Statue.

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Next we took a detour from Route 66 and visited the Precious Moments Chapel and Museum.

As we headed back to Route 66, we stopped at the 66 Drive In to take photos of the Carthage Route 66 Shield Monument.

We then checked in to our room at Boots Court Motel.

We had planned to then bowl and play mini golf at a nearby bowling alley, but instead I had seen Maple Leaf art at Precious Moments Chapel and 66 Drive In and when we found there was a booklet to lead you to 22 around Carthage, we decided to instead see how many we could find (17 with plan to find 4 more tomorrow…1 we couldn’t find at the address listed).

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Our Koffee Trail: Southwend Spill the Beans

Date of Visit: September 21, 2026

Location: Southwend Spill the Beans, St. Robert, MO

Rating: ❤️

This morning we got coffee at Southwend Spill the Beans, which is located in the back of a laundromat. We ended up spending quite a bit of time here as Dad got to talking with the owner and he told us about how they roast the coffee onsite and a lot of the different roasts they do. Who would have thought one of our favorite koffee trail stops ever is in a laundromat?

I got a latte and Dad got a pour over.

We also got some coffee beans for the road.

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Our Route 66 Daily Journal: September 20, 2026

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Today we did Route 66 between Cuba and Lebanon and back to St. Robert to see the neon sign park in the evening.

Our first stop of the day was an unplanned one to take photos of the Giant Hillbilly in Rolla, MO.

I didn’t have a planned coffee stop this morning because I had trouble finding one on our route open on Sunday. Dad ended up finding Giddy Goat Coffeehouse to check out quite a bit off Route 66 in Rolla that would have been better if we had skipped.

After getting coffee, we headed back to Route 66 to see Stonehenge at Missouri S&T.

As we continued through Rolla, we found the Rolla Route 66 Shield Monument.

We also stopped to take photos of a Route 66 Centennial Mural before leaving Rolla.

Next we drove Route 66 to Devil’s Elbow Bridge.

As we continued along Route 66, our next stop was at Uranus Fudge Factory, where we got some fudge and saw the World’s Largest Belt Buckle.

Despite it continuing to be unseasonably hot and humid, we did play a round of mini golf at Uranus Putt Pirates.

As we drove Route 66 to our next stop, we found the Waynesville Route 66 Shield Monument.

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Our next planned stop was at Bowlmor Lanes Rt 66, where we bowled a game.

We the went across the street to take photos of the Munger Moss Motel and the Gigantapick.

As it was still only early afternoon, we decided to also check out the murals at Boswell Park, which was originally on tomorrow’s schedule.

As we had skipped lunch and wanted to kill time to see the Route 66 Neon Sign Park later in the day, we stopped and had pizza at Piney River Taproom in Waynesville.

We then checked out the Route 66 Neon Sign Park in St. Robert after a rain storm came through.

As we had a few hours before sunset, we checked into our hotel and came back to see the neon at sunset - right when the next storm started, but it was only light rain.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Our Route 66 Daily Journal: September 19, 2026

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Today we did Route 66 from Eureka to Cuba, MO.

We started our day grabbing some coffee at La Finca Coffee.

Next we headed to Route 66 State Park, where we hiked to Times Beach before heading over to the Visitor Center shortly after it opened.

Next was a quick photo stop at Campbell’s Service Station.

We then checked out the Red Cedar Inn Museum & Visitor Center.

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Nearby we took an unplanned short climb up to Jensen Point.

After a quick lunch of PB&J in the parking lot, we took a tour of Meramac Caverns, which was a nice cool break from yet another unseasonably hot and humid day.

As we entered Cuba, MO, we stopped and took photos with the Cuba Route 66 Shield Monument.

We then headed to see the Giant Rocking Chair at Fanning US 66 Outpost.

Next we checked into our room for the night at the Wagon Wheel Motel.

We then drove around Cuba, MO, checking out the various murals and Route 66 birthday cakes.

For dinner, we ate at Missouri Hick Bar-B-Que.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Our Koffee Trail: La Finca Coffee

Date of Visit: September 19, 2026

Location: La Finca Coffee, Eureka, MO

Rating: 👍 (Like)

This morning we stopped at La Finca Coffee in Eureka, MO, to grab some coffee on our way to the Route 66 State Park.

I got a Banana Bread Latte.

Dad got a Dirty Maple Pumpkin Chai.

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.

Our Route 66 Daily Journal: September 18, 2026

Today we entered Missouri and then walked to Illinois and back to Missouri before spending the day mostly in St. Louis.

We started our day only minutes from the Chain of Rocks Bridge in Illinois, but to park and walk across the bridge we had to take the long way around to the Missouri side.

After we walked to Illinois and back to the car, we drove to Gateway Arch National Park. As we have visited many times before, we just stopped in quickly for national park stamps (and ended up with the Mini Building Block set).

Before continuing back on Route 66, we walked over to the Old Courthouse for more national park stamps and spent some time going through the exhibits as we had not visited there before.

Back on Route 66, we stopped at Ted Drewe’s Frozen Custard, which was refreshing with today being another very unseasonable hot and humid day (it was up to feeling like 112!).

After lunch, we headed over to the National Museum of Transportation. We spent over an hour exploring here, but due to the heat and humidity we did not linger and really see as much of it as we would have liked and only briefly checked out some of the outdoor exhibits. At least the Route 66 stuff was indoors.

Our last planned stop of the day was at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, where we got a brief tour of the home and grounds (tour was shorter than usual due to heat advisory) before enjoying the very well air conditioned musuem.

Originally, we planned to just do the I-44 Route 66 alignment to the KOA for the night, but ended up deciding to take the more scenic original 1926-1932 alignment. There really was not much to see on this alignment, but we did find a Route 66 Shield Monument in Kirkwood.

We also made a brief photo stop at the Big Chief Roadhouse in Wildwood, MO.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.