After a good nights sleep in Topeka Kansas, it was time for @mrsbozz and I to put some more miles behind us and edge even closer to home. We were now on our twelfth day on the road or something like that and I think the desire to be back home was pretty strong in both of us.
Instead of heading due East from Topeka, we angled a bit North East taking some back roads to essentially skirt around Kansas City and eventually St. Louis. Which is good because although I was well rested, I was personally not excited about driving through big city traffic. The fact that I had to go through Gary Indiana again in a day was enough to have me on edge.
Although taking the back roads can be a bit slower at times, it has certain distinct advantages. Views like the one above for example. I can't think of anything that screams middle America more than a farm field with a train and a tree covered hill in the background.
Eventually we got closer to the train and @mrsbozz got this really awesome shot. She was pretty proud of herself after she took this one and exclaimed something like "I should get paid for this!". Perhaps I should set her up as a beneficiary on this post....
Those back roads ultimately led us to St. Joseph Missouri which oddly enough was only one of three towns called St. Joseph we would drive through over the next two days. I stopped on the outskirts of town to get some gas in the car and as soon as I got out to pump I was hit with a very distinct smell.
Given the proximity to the farm fields you might expect it was crops or animal manure, that wasn't the case though. Instead, I was eventually able to place it as dog food. It seemed weird to me at the time, but eventually, it all made sense as we navigated through the town and found ourselves driving by a massive Nestle/Purina factory.
Probably what St. Joseph Missouri is most known for is it was the start of the Pony Express. We ended up driving past the origin point and taking some photos while we were in St. Joseph. We didn't get out because we wanted to continue our journey as quickly as possible. Plus, it looked like they were running some kind of kids day camp at the facility.
The Pony Express was a mail service that ran from St. Joseph Missouri to California. Believe it or not, according to Wikipedia, it only lasted for 18 months and was started in 1860. It helped reduce the amount of time it took a message to get from the East coast to the West coast by ten days. It may have continued for much longer if the telegraph hadn't been invented in 1861.
Another distinct piece of information about St. Joseph is the starting point for Highway 36 across Missouri. Also called "The Genius Highway", Highway 36 has many towns along it's way that were the birthplace of famous inventions or prominent figures in history.
Sliced bread, Walt Disney, General Omar Bradley, and J.C. Penny all call one of the little towns along Highway 36 home.
As well as many others. You should check out that site above if you want to find out more!
The trip across Highway 36 in Missouri culminates at Hannibal Missouri, birthplace of American author Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Located on the banks of the Mississippi river, Hannibal is a quaint "little" town. We actually bypassed most of it by staying on Highway 36 and not taking any of the exits.
We still had a bit to go before we ended up in Champaign/Urbana Illinois, home of the University of Illinois.
This was only the second time that @mrsbozz has even driven over the Mississippi. She was pretty impressed with just how large it is. I can definitely see the romanticism of the river that made it the key factor in many of Mark Twain's writings. There's just something special about crossing over the river whether you are in the air or on the land.
One day I would like to head to Northern Minnesota and visit the location where the headwaters of the Mississippi river are formed. I think there is a sign there you can get your picture taken by.
We had maybe hoped to dip down into Missouri a bit further and visit Lake of the Ozarks, but it was too far out of our way. We will have to save that for another trip.
The stop in St. Joseph and the slow crawl across the Genius Highway was enough to qualify Missouri for placement on the map of states we have visited together.
It's hard to believe, but I only have one more post to share with you to finish up our 13 day trip out to Colorado. I'm already missing talking about it!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
Off the beaten track offers far more of what one enjoys seeing in my opinion, freeways and cities are one and the same in most places.
Train looks mean big diesel loco, @mrsbozz did well capturing on the move, Pony Express looks quaint!
!BEER
It was actually a really cool area in the downtown part of St. Joseph. It wasn't super busy and we were able to drive around the block several times to get our shots.
Appears a small town environment, somewhere one could really enjoy settling later in life.
Yes, all the towns along this corridor are pretty small relatively speaking.
Will be good they remain small, homely, tight communities.
Wow so beautiful places 🤩🤩
Thank you! Lot's of history in this part of the country too!
I would definitely like to read it sir😊
A long and enjoyable journey with extraordinary beautiful natural views
It really was. It was a really great experience all around!
I do like the train shot. Will go back and read the rest of the road trip.
Thanks! It was definitely one of her best shots from the car on this trip.
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Wow, what wonderful photographs. Thanks for sharing 😃
Thank you! It was a really great drive for us!
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Great pictures! I love driving along next to the railroad tracks and slowly overtaking the trains. Along I-10 in New Mexico and Arizona you see a lot of trains throughout the two states!
Isn't the Mississippi a big river? It's impressive every time you drive across the bridge. Interesting facts about St. Joseph. the Pony Express really was short lived, the old wild west... The genius highway was another interesting fact. I never did much research on those areas when I drove through. I'm glad you guys had a fun and safe trip!
If we had more time it might have been cool to stop at some more of the places, but some of the people were just so obscure that I am not sure it would have mattered too much. I just wish the trains in the US were able to travel fast enough that overtaking them wouldn't be an option. I hate flying and a high speed rail system would be amazing.
It would be nice to have one, but I think it's still just cost prohibitive at the time. They are still trying to get the high speed rail done from Orange County to Las Vegas but the cost keeps ballooning way out of control. A California public works project at it's finest. A waste of money...
Yeah, I agree with you, it's likely never going to happen, but man it would be cool. Even a hyperloop or something like that.
You know who else likes trains... @silvertop and @elizabethbit!
@mrsbozz took nice photos, @bozz
!BBH
Thank you! I know @livinguktaiwan has a whole community dedicated to trains too.
As someone who lives in a different country, seeing your photos makes me happy because of how beautiful the places are.
I'm sure you have some beautiful places in your own country as well!
St. Joseph! Been a while since I've been up that way but did remember the pony express link.
It's a nice little town from what I could tell. A bit industrial in parts, but I think every small city has that.
I've always said that when I retire, I'd like to buy an RV and drive the backroads of Japan, and of the US. Just explore. Drive, explore, take photos, talk to people. Avoid the highways and only take local roads. That'd be a fun retirement.
(My wife doesn't agree)
My wife would actually love to do that. She wants to turn a bus into an office so she can do mobile counseling and social work service. She says I get half the bus to do mobile tech support.
very peaceful place 🤗
It was a really great ride thanks!
Hello bozz!
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STOPor to resume write a wordSTARTThe place was so calm
It was a pretty lazy Monday morning for us. I think the town was still waking up!
@bozz! @silversaver888 likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @silversaver888. (8/20)
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