Day 3 - Olney, Illinois to Ottawa, Kansas

First of all, let me say it is HOT here! Tomorrow promises to be even hotter, probably over 100 on my way to Colorado, according to the Kansas City TV weather. I am sure grateful for AC at the Best Western! As I walked over to Walmart (sorry, Lainey!) to get a snack, it dawned on me that there is a Walmart Distribution Center near the town I live in (Smyrna, DE), one in Olney, and one here in Ottawa. Just can't get away from Wally, can I? Today was a looonnng day, starting at 7:00 AM and ending at 4:30 PM when I checked in to the hotel. A quick drink and nap refreshed me, though, and now it's time to update the blog. One further comment, and this is not intended to be political. I have heard some say it is time to make America great again. Well, for the past 3 days, I have not seen nor experienced anything that tells me that America is not already great! Beautiful country, neat little towns, wonderful friendly people, freedom to go anywhere, great roads, CHEAP gas, 65 MPH speed limits on 2-lane roads, unlimited corn and soybean fields, etc., etc., etc. OK, off the soap box. :)

The GPS told me that it was this far to Ottawa before I left Olney, but, of course, I decided to go my own way:

Southern Illinois is pretty flat, so most of the morning I saw this out the windshield:

After having to take the Interstate around St. Louis, I saw a sign that intrigued me, so I decided to take the exit, and I was not disappointed:

Although the original Route 66 pavement was long gone, this Byway was on the original route and provided me about 30 minutes of sweet 2-lane driving!

Most of today's routing was on US50, which took me through Missouri's state capital, Jefferson City. I took this opportunity to take a few pictures at the Capitol Building, plus of some statues which overlooked the Missouri River.

Soon, it was time for lunch, so I found myself in the neat town of Sedalia, Missouri, so I took a chance and headed to the center of town. Just by luck, found this neat pub, Fitters on 5th St, and had a great lunch and brew. Asked the cute bartender if I could take her picture to send to my buddy Jon back in Delaware, and she said, "Sure!" So thought I would share it here as well.

Finally, my GPS tells the tale of today's trip:

Tomorrow: I predict even flatter country as I cross Kansas into Colorado.