Tag Archives: Rolla

Friday 14th June

Leaving Rolla passing it’s Stonehenge monument, which basically is a concrete replica kinda reminds me of Milton Keynes! We headed to a town on our map that was marked as having restaurants for our breakfast 10 miles away called newburg. We should of had breakfast in Rolla as we got to newburg and the whole town was deserted and anything that resembled a diner/restaurant was boarded up.Nothing to do but push on.

Our route took us through beautiful pine forest and hooker cut which is a 90 foot deep cut through rock cut back in 1940 at the time of construction was considered to be a miracle. It remained to be the deepest road cut in America for many years.

Breakfast turned into lunch 25 miles after leaving Rolla. We found a smoke house bar just before devils Elbow bridge. A small bar with a unique feel basically full of local pissheads a bit intimidating to walk in. Dark smokey and loud with woman’s underwear hanging from the ceiling. But we were hungry so bravely ordered food, cash only and sat and soaked up the atmosphere!

Straight out of the bar and across the river using the 1923 devils Elbow truss bridge a excellent example of a concrete open spandrel arch bridge.

Leaving great historic sites and beautiful scenery we rejoin the side of the interstate and the Uranus fudge & Entertainment complex. Yep mikes in childish heaven we spent sometime here and yes we brought some fudge

We met a fellow cycle tourist he was going the opposite direction because apparently were going the wrong way! He was from Montreal doing a USA tour and headed home. We wished him safe travels and moved on to our home for the night.

Home tonight is the lamplight lane RV resort. Just passed Waynesville, deep in the ozarks which is a big hunting, fishing and trapping location and apparently moonshine country.

Thursday 13th June

The day started with a uninspired McDonald’s, we needed to use the internet to sort out bits and pieces at home. We also decided to book another motel for tonight as the next campsite on our map was over 50 miles away, to much in these hills.

We passed a treading post outlet in a place called fanning it claimed to have the worlds largest rocking chair.42 feet tall and 20 feet wide.

And it sells over 100 different popcorn flavours countless different fudge flavours. It also carries lots of Route 66 gifts. An enjoyable break in the day.

Were now passing vineyards and passing st James winery opened in 1970, and is now Missouri’s largest. It’s won many awards. It temptingly offers free tastings but neither one of us are big wine drinkers, we wouldn’t be able to tell if its good.

We are staying in Rolla tonight only 24 miles done today. Just outside of Rolla, we stopped for a water break. A guy called us over to where he was working and gave us both a cold bottle of water each. He would love to travel himself but as yet has never left America. I thanked him for the drinks and told him that he was still young enough to go and he should do it. So far we are having a very positive experience and are overwhelmed by people’s generosity towards us. Amazing.

Opposite our motel is a steak and shake family restaurant. We’ve not seen one before, it looked popular judging by the car park so we gave it a try.

“Steak ‘n Shake, a classic American brand, was founded in 1934 in Normal, Illinois by Gus Belt who pioneered the concept of premium burgers and milk shakes. For over 85 years, the company’s name has been symbolic of its heritage. The word “steak” stood for steakburger. The term “shake” stood for hand-dipped milkshakes. Gus was determined to serve his customers the finest burgers and shakes in the business. Today, Steak ‘n Shake remains the “better burger” leader, serving premium 100% beef steakburgers, hand-dipped milkshakes, and thin crispy fries. Steakburgers are made without preservatives or artificial ingredients, topped with fresh produce, and always hand-crafted to order.”

As you can imagine the menu was limited for vegetarians but that’s normal for over here. I had a cheese toastie and thin crispy fries but the selling point for me was the selection of milk shakes.heaven. I chose the Reece’s chocolate peanut butter made with ice cream a cool 900 calories not that I’m counting. Delicious!