Cemetery Tour on Route 66?

Hello Everyone,

Like I said in my last blog (Flip Floppin’ in Springfield, Sept 2017) that I was going to go back and forth from my 2016 Route 66 Travels and my 2017 adventures on the Main Street of America. Well, this is my first blog talking about my second trip.

I headed out September 9th from my humble home, in New Brighton, Minnesota, in my Man Van. My goal...drive to Joplin, stay the night there, and then hit the Mother Road. I ended my 2016 journey in Miami, Oklahoma which is 30-35 miles away from Joplin. At this point I was traveling alone and driving to Joplin was feasible to do in one day.

Instead of bolting to Miami, I decided to take some time to look for some geocaches and Route 66 related sites first. I am glad I did. The first stop I made was the Route 66 Mural Park.

If you take a closer look, you'll see that this mural is made of pictures of people from Joplin

The park itself isn’t all that big, but there are plenty of pictures that can be taken there.

Nearby the mural site was a geocache, Going Down? (GC4R68W, hid by whereisitnow!, 37 favorite points). It was a fun hide that had a bit of gadget feel to it. If you are geocaching, put this one on your list.

It was still early in the morning and I decided to find some geocaches that weren’t Route 66 related but was still on the Mother Road.

The next one I found was Smiley! (GC5WC7H, hid by chuck80198, 3 favorite points). It’s in what looks like a parking lot of an out-of-business used car lot. When you get there, you’ll completely figure out how this geocache got it’s name.

The next geocache I get is located in Schifferdecker Park and is nearby the Joplin History & Mineral Museum. You might see mention of this location in some your Route 66 books and/or apps on your phone. The cache is named, Electric Park (GC4BFAK, hid by Roadster, 44 favorite points) and when you get there you’ll see an outdoor collection of electrical equipment. The cache is a bit tricky, so pay attention to the hint on the cache page.

The museum wasn’t open yet so I went back onto Route 66 to find more geocaches.

One of the greatest things about geocaching is that it takes you to unexpected places and the next cache, Shewmake Cemetery (GC43XGJ, hid by Gracie & Me, 2 favorite points) was one of those places. This cache was hidden in an abandoned cemetery. Some of the grasses were thigh high and a lot of the headstones were very old. Take a look at the pictures.

Being a funeral director, cemeteries, and especially abandoned cemeteries, can be fun geocaches even if they are not difficult to find.

I cross over into the state Kansas and into the city of Galena. I revisit some Route 66 related spots here....

There is a geocache hidden near the ancient jail, Route 66 -- Roadhouse Jail (GC4HFK3, hid by spiritguide, 29 favorite points) that continues to elude me. Been here twice and still can’t find it. Perhaps you’ll have better luck.

On my way out of Galena, I stopped at three other cemetery geocaches, Cemeteries of Cherokee County: Galena (GC497WV, hid by Ghostiegal, 23 favorite points), Hilltop Resting Place (GC4958G, hid by florida bum, 5 favorite points) and Stevenson Cemetery (GC1P1D7, hid by Keymaster angel, 4 favorite points). None one of the geocaches were hard to find, but the first cemetery cache did have a cute container.

After Galena I get to the town of Riverton. There are a couple of Route 66 related places you can visit here and there is even a Wherigo Geocache here, One of only three (GC5XXT3, set up by stearman5, 11 favorite points). The Wherigo app on my phone was not working right so I skipped this cache. I did however end up visiting a couple of places mentioned on the geocaching webpage, The Old Eisler Brother Store and one of Riverton’s original water towers.

According the geocaching webpage, “The old Eisler Brother Store, built in 1925 and has been in continuous operation since before U.S. 66 became the official cross-country highway from Chicago to Los Angeles. Still operating as it did ‘back then,’ it serves as a stopping, shopping place for the small community of Riverton, as well as for travelers on Route 66. This building replaced the one that was destroyed by the tornado of 1923. The existing building originally had an open front porch, but the present closed in porch replaced that in 1933. It is one story, built of hollow, dark red bricks on a concrete slab foundation. The interior has changed little since 1925.”

It was around lunchtime so I did get myself a small lunch here and sat in the patio area. It felt nice and homey. After that, I go to an old water tower.

Compared to the picture on the geocaching webpage, this water tower is showing more of it’s age or it could be that it’s early September and the trees and bushes and weeds are making their final stand before Winter.

That’s it for now. Next time I talk about my 2017 trip, I’ll be in Baxter Springs, Kansas, where I have a great time finding a geocache on an abandoned bridge and then start my Route 66 travels in Oklahoma.

I had the time of my life on Route 66. I know you would too. But don’t take my word for it, go and experience for yourself.

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Thanks,

Rich