Day 1 - Warrensburg to Poplar Bluff

Hit the road bright and early at 0645.  First stop was a visit to friend Sharon at her donut shop in Stover, MO.  Heading east on MO-52, we saw some trail improvements at Versailles - could they be working on their own little stretch of the Rock Island?  After wandering through various backroads, rife with construction delays, we arrived at Vienna, MO, home of Americana Antiques.  Owner John Viessman is a reenactor (retired) and a purveyor of military books (among other things).  Bill salivated over many of them, but John knows what they're worth.

Lunch at Country Bob's (highly recommended) just north of St. James on MO-68, then into the hills.  Next stop was Dillard Mill State Historic Site, a scenic mill & pond, with much improved access since our Ozarks trip a decade+ ago.

We'd not been to Johnson's Shut-Ins for a very long time, certainly before the dam collapse.  It's only 40 hilly, curvy miles from Dillard Mill. The walkways are much improved, parking areas good, and the shut-ins are still scenic.  The only signs of  the big flood were the large red boulders scattered throughout the area. 

w
We hustled on to Pilot Knob so we could hit the visitor center before it closed at 4.  The main point was for Sandra to visit her Yankee great-grandfather, John A. Adams, whose equestrian photo is blown up at the end of the main hallway (along with a description of his small mistake involving a couple of mules).  We walked around and Bill took pictures while Sandra reminded him the temperature was in the 80s.

We also noted that the Ironton area displayed more Rebel flags than we saw the rest of the day.

We got into the Poplar Bluff Holiday Inn almost 11 hours after we left home.  Our travels took us through a lot of scenic country, with more than its share of Sandra's "Tid-bits"  - you'll have to wait for our trip story to see them.


338 miles on the day.  Tomorrow it's Greenville, MS, via Helena, AR (another CW battlefield involving MO Rebs - do you sense a theme developing?).