As planned, we continued our northbound trek through the Ozarks this morning on highway 7. We soon came upon a sign that warned “Caution: Road is Crooked and Steep next 63 Miles”. Well, there were some hills and pleasant corners, and it may have been considered steep and crooked by tho
se in the flatlands, but I noticed that while I cruised along at 60, an 18 wheeler was gaining on me. Not wanting to get behind him in the approaching steep and crooked part, I stepped it up to 70. He was still about a quarter mile back, and slowly gaining, even in the curves. We eventually caught up with another car, then stopped at a scenic turnout for some great views and to let him go by. The funny part is a couple hours later we heard some locals talking at a small general store, and apparently one of the activities here is to collect “passes”. They were talking about so and so, who could collect more passes than anyone else. A pass is achieved by passing a tourist on the highway. We never did come upon any true switchbacks, and for the run to the Missouri border we were even in the passer and passee count.
We passed through many communities that weren’t on the map, including Chigger Hollow and Booger Hollow. As we got further into the hills, the road got even better, as did the scenery of mountains and green, plush valleys. Our course before us was like a loosely thrown ribbon of asphalt over a velvet green landscape. We enjoyed the drive and the views from the highway and overlooks. In one small town, a young lady noticed our Washington license plates, and came over to ask where we were from. She had moved there from Yakima, and was definitely ready to return.
When we crossed the border into Missouri, we found ourselves headed for Branson, Mo., a destination town with lots of country western shows and attractions. We both prefer the scenic countryside to the more structured and “created” attractions, so we
turned west on a small gray line that took us through the Lake of the Ozarks, another twisting and scenic drive that led us over a few bridges and by some marinas. We could see that the water level was high, a result of the flooding that has been happening a little higher upstream.
We stopped at a small café for some lunch, and by the time we were through, the weather front, which we’d been watching on the local news for the past few nights, was getting pretty close. It’s a band of rain and storms working its way across the Midwest. Within a few miles further down the road, we were driving through a thunderstorm with the wipers on high speed. This lasted less than an hour, and we emerged on the other side to more fair weather, but not as hot, for which we were grateful.
We had programmed the GPS to take us to Minden, Nebraska, avoiding freeways, and it led us into downtown Kansas City right at rush hour. We managed to get out of that, but instead of following the Missouri River further north we decided we’d get across it now before the water rose any more. We crossed into Kansas a bit north of K.C. on highway 36. We could see flooding in progress, and on the railroad bridge near our highway bridge the water was within a couple feet of the tracks. We soon ca
me upon a backup where one lane was closed due to a bridge problem. Erin had noticed a detour feature on the GPS whereby we could avoid an obstruction and return to the highway. There was an exit just a few hundred yards ahead, and we were instructed to take it. We did a few turns, went through a couple of neighborhoods, crossed a couple bridges spanning rising waters, and found ourselves on a nice two lane highway going our direction. We stayed on it the rest of the day. Later that evening in our motel room, we watched a news report of the flooding of streets and homes in Weston, where we had crossed hours before, and think the traffic delay we encountered on the main highway may have been flooding related. We are high and dry in Kansas and headed west, hopefully out of the flood area.
se in the flatlands, but I noticed that while I cruised along at 60, an 18 wheeler was gaining on me. Not wanting to get behind him in the approaching steep and crooked part, I stepped it up to 70. He was still about a quarter mile back, and slowly gaining, even in the curves. We eventually caught up with another car, then stopped at a scenic turnout for some great views and to let him go by. The funny part is a couple hours later we heard some locals talking at a small general store, and apparently one of the activities here is to collect “passes”. They were talking about so and so, who could collect more passes than anyone else. A pass is achieved by passing a tourist on the highway. We never did come upon any true switchbacks, and for the run to the Missouri border we were even in the passer and passee count.We passed through many communities that weren’t on the map, including Chigger Hollow and Booger Hollow. As we got further into the hills, the road got even better, as did the scenery of mountains and green, plush valleys. Our course before us was like a loosely thrown ribbon of asphalt over a velvet green landscape. We enjoyed the drive and the views from the highway and overlooks. In one small town, a young lady noticed our Washington license plates, and came over to ask where we were from. She had moved there from Yakima, and was definitely ready to return.
When we crossed the border into Missouri, we found ourselves headed for Branson, Mo., a destination town with lots of country western shows and attractions. We both prefer the scenic countryside to the more structured and “created” attractions, so we
turned west on a small gray line that took us through the Lake of the Ozarks, another twisting and scenic drive that led us over a few bridges and by some marinas. We could see that the water level was high, a result of the flooding that has been happening a little higher upstream.We stopped at a small café for some lunch, and by the time we were through, the weather front, which we’d been watching on the local news for the past few nights, was getting pretty close. It’s a band of rain and storms working its way across the Midwest. Within a few miles further down the road, we were driving through a thunderstorm with the wipers on high speed. This lasted less than an hour, and we emerged on the other side to more fair weather, but not as hot, for which we were grateful.
We had programmed the GPS to take us to Minden, Nebraska, avoiding freeways, and it led us into downtown Kansas City right at rush hour. We managed to get out of that, but instead of following the Missouri River further north we decided we’d get across it now before the water rose any more. We crossed into Kansas a bit north of K.C. on highway 36. We could see flooding in progress, and on the railroad bridge near our highway bridge the water was within a couple feet of the tracks. We soon ca
me upon a backup where one lane was closed due to a bridge problem. Erin had noticed a detour feature on the GPS whereby we could avoid an obstruction and return to the highway. There was an exit just a few hundred yards ahead, and we were instructed to take it. We did a few turns, went through a couple of neighborhoods, crossed a couple bridges spanning rising waters, and found ourselves on a nice two lane highway going our direction. We stayed on it the rest of the day. Later that evening in our motel room, we watched a news report of the flooding of streets and homes in Weston, where we had crossed hours before, and think the traffic delay we encountered on the main highway may have been flooding related. We are high and dry in Kansas and headed west, hopefully out of the flood area.
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