Day 6 – To Branson, Missouri

This morning, Monday 6/5/2017, it is 8:00 am and we are on our way to Branson, Missouri.  We begin u making our way to I-44 and driving south to Springfield and then taking US 65 south to Branson. 

As we drive along I-44 to Branson we find that there is a very different landscape.  Driving to St Louis we saw very large farms that were miles long and wide.  From St. Louis along I-44 we have seen a mostly forested landscape

Although there were not many farms during the drive, we did come across an area where grapes were the crop of choice.

Our drive along I-44 parallels “The Mother Road” or Route 66 and at different locations we see evidence of the old road.  We saw a Wigwam hotel off the highway, but Carmen was on the phone ad didn’t get a picture.  Here though we both saw this road attraction with an old Corvair car and a Big Boy burger mascot in the background.

Here is a good look of the landscape we are seeing along our trek today.  As you can clearly see, much of the land we have along the highway is forested.

Now even though we have not seen much in the way of farm lands, that doesn’t mean we haven’t seen any barns.  Carmen was just able to take a picture of this pair before we were past.

We continue to see various references to Route 66 like this one.  Almost all, like this one, will sell you nostalgia gifts.  How about a used car, like you can get at this place?

Carmen was able to get another picture of a nice looking barn.  This one looks close to collapsing as the front looks like it is bowing out.

Much of the I-44 road has been blasted out of the countryside.  This is a sample of how much of the surrounding landscape had to be blasted out to accommodate the roadway.

Near the end of our I-44 drive we stopped at a rest area and saw this sign.  What a great sign.

We get off of I-44 and head south on US-65 on our last leg heading to Branson.  Here is a good typical view of the roadway we have been on since leaving St. Louis.  Look at how much of the hill that had to be removed in order to make the roadway flatter.

We reach our hotel in Branson and after checking in we decided to go on the Scenic Train Ride.  So off we go and get tickets for the 2:00pm train.  As it comes into the station we can see that there are 3 observation cars, so we will try to get into one of those.

If you are interested in just a train ride, this would be good for you.  But as a “scenic” train ride, it wasn’t so much.  This painted Caboose, according to me, was one of the highlights as most of the rest of the trip was looking at trees along the track.

You can see the other two observation cars as the train progresses along the tracks.  As I mentioned earlier, the views from the train was mostly like you see here.  In many cases if you were not in the observation car, you would not get to see anything.

We did traverse two tunnels.  Our train ride is 20 miles of track one-way and then a return through the same 20 miles back.  So we go through the two tunnels twice.

On our return trip, I decided to go to the lower level of the observation car we were in.  You can see Carmen in the upper section taking a short nap.

Nearly to the Station, we cross this river.  Should I say another highlight of the train ride?

We decided not to go to any shows after our Train ride.  So after an early dinner we just head back to the hotel and will get an early start tomorrow.  Tomorrow we are heading to Dodge City, Kansas.