Well, I'm here....

A lot of guys asked me to send pics of the Route 66 trip, so I started this thread.

I'll update it as I travel across the USA, when I have wifi.

The pictures will just be iPhone pics, I don't have any way to upload my good pics out on the road. They are what they are.

We spent a week in Los Angeles first, haven't been there for a while. Hasn't really changed much ...

Well, Disneyland has doubled the price ($130 USD for a one day pass) and also got insanely busy. We were there on a Wednesday which should usually be quiet, and there was like 50,000 people there. People were queuing an hour for a "fast pass". Mental. The RD trick is do "single rider" when ever you can ... my longest wait was the new Cars ride which was 35-40 mins. The normal queue was 120 minutes.

We went to Pinball Land in Santa Ana on Saturday for the Mustang Launch Party. Cool setup down there, a good mix of DMD and classic titles. Ron and team were lovely hosts, even shouting us a few drinks for "being from another continent"

After that I had the privilege of meeting a hep cat and seeing his private setup up in the hills. He knows he has to send me his 50s Ford pickup truck when he's done with it ...

Otherwise we just spent the week driving around the city, which is what I like to do. Well, usually I like to walk everywhere, but you can't do that in L.A, it's just too spread out.

rd

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The meals in the States haven't decreased in size ... Add in a Double Gulp soda and you're on a winner!

Or having a heart attack. Take your pick.

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While in Los Angeles, I hit solid gold in the 99c shop.

Pinsiders favorite beverage. Except Carl, he prefers Pepsi products.

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We flew into Chicago yesterday night. Got this cool pic of the city out the plane window.

Hope it comes up ok here. The city was shrouded in rain and looked quite dark and menacing.

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We drove down to DeMotte, Indiana today to collect the hearse for the Route 66 trip.

The funeral home website said the address was 621 N Hallett Street, we looked and looked and finally found the address which was a house (!!!) I went in there and knocked on the door ... Nobody there ... Went around back, all around, place was deserted. I thought, this can't be right ... I went next door to a store, and they knew where the home was, it was a mile down the road at 621 S Hallett Street ... Dohhhh! Lucky 621 N Hallett wasn't home or I might have got some shotgun pellets for my troubles!

When we got to the home, the funeral director was waiting. He was a nice guy ... I asked him why the address is wrong on his website and he's like "I've asked them to change it but they won't" Time for a new web company buddy!

The good news .. The hearse is pretty mint! It has a little rust around the back door handle which I knew of, otherwise for a 1993 car it is very good indeed. The air con even works! It's only done 60,000 miles.

PS the guy also has a 1997 White Caddy hearse for sale ... Looks mint. Don't know the price.

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I was soooooo going to bring a 12 pack of Mince and Cheese pies!

But having a 12 hour flight, then a week in L.A., plus another 4 hour flight, plus no refrigeration would equal ...

PIE APOCALYPSE!

I wouldn't want to food poison my Pinside pals!

rd.

That's what we do ... Split the meals. They are just too big.

Danni and I split those ribs between us. And good they were too!

rd.

Occasionally ... Like Gary Stern, vodka would probably be my first choice.

Might be limited to a few beers on this trip though, I don't think Fiona is too keen to pilot the hearse. It's massive!

rd.

Thanks!

The Griswolds are our big inspiration for the trip! "Hi Holmes!"

I can't wait to strap a body to the roof. Because there won't be room inside .. It's full of pins!

Holiday roadddddddddd!

rd.

Thanks guys, and also thanks to the other kiwis that emailed.

rd.

The weather has been crap up in Chicago today. I wanted to walk around and check out the city ... But it's been too wet.

Did an Architect Society tour at the Merchandise Mart building. This was the biggest building in the world when it was built in the 1920s. 4,200,000 sq foot. It takes up two city blocks.

And I got insurance on the Hearse! $200 for 6 months with State Farm. Even though I only need 1 month. Oh well, cheap enough and I have to have it or my ass will be in a sling.

Went to Guiliana and Bills restaurant for dinner. Big place ... Had a queue out the door at 630pm. Luckily Fiona booked 3 months ago. . Food was good, wasn't too pricey.

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Nothing truer!

rd

Yes, the MM logo does look a little like an upside down Williams logo .. There are the big Ms on the floor (reportedly standing for Marshall Fields who built the place in the 20s for $35m) and this main MM logo.

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Yeah that does ...

They have three whole floors. That's a lot of square footage!

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Yes, we are playing in the Classic on the friday. Plus all the other comps that week.

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Yeah, heading there in an hour. I already offered Gary a ride in the hearse ...

We will see if he's into it soon ...

rd

Gary and Jody are loving the hearse!

rd

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He was holding the iPhone and taking the picture

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The first victim has gone into the hearse ...

And a fitting one it was.

Check out the handy extending table ... You can lift the machine up here, remove the legs, swivel it around ... Winner!

rd

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BangerJay was cool enough to invite us and a few dudes to his house.

He's got a great collection of pins. Some real nice 80s ones ... Even a Joust!!

Check out his crazy rocking Flash. We had a 4 player $1 game and I won first out. Nice.

Even better, it was Centreflanks $1 so he is up $3. Super winner!

rd

I bought BangerJay and Centerflank some top quality gifts!!

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The Flank and RD rocking some Shasta at 130am.

Hey, it's only an hour drive back to Chicago...

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Sorry Jetzxi!

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Well, it's 3.30am and we just got back to the hotel.

Big pin day! Stern factory tour, picking up pins, Pinball Life (cheers Terry!) BangerJays ...

The Hearse has done almost 400 miles since we picked it up!

Averages 22mpg so far. But with the pins in the back, it certainly feels a lot heavier. So the mileage will go down the toilet, I bet ...

BangerJay, thanks for the hospitality tonight. Awesome.

Corey, thanks for bringing my pin and my boards ... I hope the beers (and Shasta!) show my appreciation

Nice to meet all you other dudes too!

Sweeeeet

You guys and your rooting! We've had this discussion!

Lionmans neighbours kill Lionman when his guests shout LIONMAAAANNNNN repeatedly at 230am ...

rd

"Sweet home, Chicago..."

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You know it!

Actually, we booked into the only hotel in downtown Chicago with free parking.

The car park attendant said to me this morning ... "I saw the boxes in the back of it last night (the pins) and I thought Shitttttttt they got a body in that thinnnnnng! But then I saw they were just boxes ..."

Lol

rd

Had to do some emergency pin surgery in the hotel carpark tonight.

I hadn't accounted for the curve in the cars roof. So the headboxes needed to come off.

I knew I would have to remove one of them when I planned it ... But not all of them!

So armed with my Walmart socket set, off I went ....

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And you know what's funny?

This is totally by accident .....

Look in the side door windows of the Hearse ....

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Best Western River North. Bit of an older place, but it's a good spot and a reasonable price.

And free Hearse parking

rd

It was insane. When I walked up to the machine I saw the high score and thought "I'm in here!"

Then a powerball came out. Ok ... I'll get a Multiball going and get rid of it.

Oh ... There are now 3 powerballs. Hmmmm.

I think I got up to 20m odd which was pretty good considering the chaos.

Mind you, I think my retinas were damaged from playing the Ironman the game before. Ooooofffff !!

rd

3 ... No sweat.

4 .... Hmmm ....

rd.

Three is better than the zero I would have got in a rental car!

These are all ones I wanted so that's cool.

Hey, I would have loved to take 10 ... But it is what it is ...

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That Portillos place is crazy ... I haven't eaten there yet, but I walked past the other day at about 3pm and there was 2 lanes of cars blocking the road waiting for drivethru hotdogs!

I read the business might be coming up for sale. 50 restaurants and 4000 employees. All owned by Mr Portillo.

I had a Chicago Hotdog yesterday from somewhere else. Had a polish sausage, pickles and onions and lots of other stuff on it. Enjoyed it! Its like a whole meal on a bun.

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There is no shortage of food outlets in this city ... There must be 20 in this block!

Eataly had a queue of 50 people outside last night at 9pm. Every place is crazy busy.

The recession must be over.

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Cheers Art! I need a cool 1950s truck to fill up with pins so I can do a convoy ... Do you know of any?

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Leaving here Monday.

Don't know if we will hit Galloping Ghost .. Only 7 pins (I have most of em) and I'm not really into arcades.

We are going to Logan Hardware at 12 (ish) if anyone wants to head over.

We will be there for an hour or two.

You can watch a machine being loaded into a hearse around 12

rd.

Hahaha what a classic!

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I'm at Logan Hardware arcade. This is possibly the coolest place in the world.

Vintage Arcade games ... Check
Pinballs from all eras ... Check
Lots of beer .... Check
Lots of hearse parking ... Check
Checkered shirts .... Check

F*** me this place is cool. I just wish I could stay here all day.

Thanks to Barron for organizing the visit so Danni could play the games (she's under 21)

Jim Zespy, the owner, is such a nice guy.

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Plaid shirts and mondo facial hair!

I thought I was in Seattle in 1992!

Hahaha!

rd.

A couple of pictures from Stern the other day ...

The Mustang LEs were running down the line. This was the first day they were being made.

These machines were labeled for Australia and France.

rd

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Oooooh how exciting

That's some rare air up there!

rd

4 people were shot last night not far from the hotel. Cops everywhere tonight.

3 people killed this weekend, 25 others shot (but not dead yet).

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/545/video/p2p-80097917/

Crikey!

rd

Yes Scott, it's printed on foil type stuff. It gives it a slight 3D effect.

You can definitely notice it if you look closely.

PS I have your Pinball Life stash in the hearse

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I see what you did there ...

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Ironically, they will be riding in one.

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We're on a budget, champ!

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It's been considered ....

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Sorry mate, a bit late ... We are hitting the road today.

Holiday roaaaadddddd!

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Good tips, cheers. We will be in St Louis Tuesday ... Will see if we can check em out!

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Yes, they have a good collection of games.

Unfortunately only open Fridays and Saturdays so we will miss out this time around.

All good!

rd.

This is the best thing about the hearse ... The locking system.

Locks them pins in good and tight!!

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That 25 years I spent moving furniture and packing trucks has finally paid off.

rd

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The last meal in Chicago ... Portillos Hot Dogs.

Right over the road from the huge Rock n Roll McDonalds.

To give you an idea how popular this place is ... Mcdonalds probably had 20 patrons. Portillos would have had 200. Plus huge lines of cars for the double lane drive through.

Hot dog was great. The best $3.15 I have spent today.

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The Route 66 Roadtrip started today.

Here we hit the Magnificent Mile Michigan Ave in the hearse.

We thought this soundtrack would be appropriate. Although technically, we should have been on Lake Shore Drive for this. But I thought it'd be funnier on Michigan Ave with the fancy stores.

rd

Here's the beast at the start of Route 66 on Adams Drive. The sign is on the left hand side.

No room to park there ... So I just double parked it

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This picture was taken in Joliet. It just seemed appropriate.

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Of course, Illinois is the home of the Blues Brothers. Joliet Jake was in Joliet Prison, and Elwood is named after the town up the road.

So of course, Joliet has to have a Blues mobile up on a stick!

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Here is the famous Gemini Giant.

Unfortunately, the Launching Pad restaurant it is part of closed last year, and is up for sale.

If anyone is looking for a change of lifestyle, buy it and I'll give you some tips to make it into a winner.

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One thing we don't have in NZ is huge truck stops like you have here in the states.

This one is a famous one, there would have been 50-60 big rigs here. All driven by big dudes!

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I needed to go to the bathroom ... I was a bit worried that SeaBass might come in ....

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The Hearse and it's contents are shipping out of Los Angeles to Auckland.

rd.

The day we get to your house.

Hahaha!

rd.

I'll let you know at the end.

I guess it depends what you're looking for. If you want dancing girls and Vegas shows, I ain't seen too many of them so far.

If you want to see a slice of middle America, I think that's what you'll see. We're in Springfield Illinois now, today we will check out the Abraham Lincoln stuff around here and a few other things.

Another update tonight!

rd.

This.

rd

The Roadtrip Breakfast of Champions.

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Rightyho! Today started in Springfield.

We visited Lincoln's house first ... Run by the National Parks Service, they've rebuilt the whole neighborhood to be as it was when Lincoln lived here pre 1860. What that cost ... I don't know. But I bet it was plenty!

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Then we visited Lincoln's tomb. Nobody does a tomb like the USA does. I went to Arlington in 2006 and saw the JFK tomb. What an cool experience that was. Very eerie.

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Then we went to OSheas museum. They knew we were coming so they were closed. Lol

Looked like a big pile of junk anyway! Haha! But they had an Airstream caravan that would have been cool to see.

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Oh yeah, I forgot!

We had a hearse convention at the Springfield cemetery.

Two ladies were driving this white Caddy. It was identical to mine (except a caddy of course) made by the same dudes, Sayers and Scovill.

Then a black Ford hearse showed up! It was a hearse ho down at the cemetery!

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The hearse seemed pleased to be back in its natural habitat.

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You'd think the capital of Illinois would be Chicago. It ain't. It's Springfield.

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On to a highlight so far ... COZY DOG!

This place does hot dogs on a stick. In NZ, that's what a "hot dog" is. On a stick. We have them in a bun too, we call those ones "American hot dogs"

The Cozy Dog ones were nice. Different to NZ ones. The coating was more like a doughnut. NZ ones are fryed crispy.

But nice all the same. And they were nice guys too. Family owned for 50 years. Or something.

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Out of Springfield, down to Mt Olive. There's an old motel and service station there, long abandoned ...

The Belevidere motel. The Cafe still had all the fittings inside it!

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On to Staunton ... Where we find Henry's Ra66it (that's rabbit..) Ranch.

We got there after closing. The guy was there mowing his lawns. I saw all the crap around the place and thought "this guys a whacko"

But he came on over and got talking, opened up his store, and was probably one of the nicest guys I've met.

He did have a strange penchant for rabbits though. Both the furry kind, and the VW kind. Hmmm.

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Then we made it through to St Louis. That arch is very large indeed.

We were too late to get inside it ... But I got some cool "magic hour" photos of it.

Now we are at the Hard Rock in St Louis in the restored Union Station. Having a beer to end off the day.

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Made to handle fat dead people.

Actually the air suspension system in the rear is acting up. Seems to have a slow leak.

It's got worse with all the weight in the back. The car floats a little but isn't too bad.

I'll get it up on a hoist somewhere and check it out.

rd

Everything in moderation Horse.

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Yep!

We split the meals up. For example tonight at Hard Rock we had a Cobb Salad main meal and Chicken Tenders starter. Me and Danni had a few tenders each and Fiona and I had some salad.

Neat!

rd.

Indeed we do!

rd

You drive on the wrong side of the road. What's wrong with you people?

In Los Angeles and Chicago the drivers are a lot more aggressive for sure. Cutting in and out of traffic. Rarely using turn signals. Cutting right in front of you. Out in the country things are better

The country roads are surprisingly narrow considering the size of the cars/trucks using them.

Also, a lot of the main freeways in Chicago and L.A. are third world standards. Where do all the road tolls go?

Honestly, I went over a pothole in Chicago the other day, it was so big there were three families living in it.

Boom boom tish!

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Today's extravaganza ... We stayed overnight in Wildwood Hotel just south of St Louis.

First we headed to the Meramac Caverns. Jesse James hid out here from the chasing lawmen.

Pretty extensive cave network. I think he said there were 16 miles of caves?

Worth a look if you're passing. About $16 a head for a 90 minute tour.

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Oh yeah! In the gift shop, I found a shirt for Ted!

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In Fanning MO, It's the Worlds Biggest Rocking Chair! Presumably for the Worlds Biggest Ass! Which I saw at dinner tonight, coincidently.

While the chair is a bit lame, the store has a good selection of Route 66 shit and an archery range out back where you can go and shoot off some arrows. At fake animals. THUNK!

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The Famous Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, MO.

This place is still going strong after 50+ years.

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This is the Laura Ingalls house in Mansfield, MO. Not the one on the TV show Little House on the Prarie, but the one where she lived when she wrote the books.

Of course, we missed it by half an hour ... But probably not a huge loss.

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We made it to Branson Missouri tonight.

Tomorrow we are off to Silver Dollar City to ride the roller coasters.

Just had a nice dinner at Montana Mikes Steak House. I had a great steak. Fiona ordered a $10 salad ... I think it was big enough for the whole family ...!!

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Look what I found today ....

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FRAZIER is the funeral director I bought it off. I have X number of days to get the title changed to my name. By that time, she's on the boat to NZ.

With the insurance, I got it from State Farm. $200 for 6 months. Of which I'm only using 1 month, but it's worth it and of course, I have to have insurance in the USA.

rd.

Well, you're right there. I think when you need to use an Electric Scooter to get around Walmart, it's time to reassess your life decisions.

There was a guy on the cave tour this morning, probably my age but twice my size (and I'm hardly small ..)

He couldn't make it up the stairs to the final section of the cave. He needed to wait there for everyone to come back. That's pretty stink!

rd

Hmmmmmmm now you got me thinking ....

rd.

Talking of meth, reminds me of a funny story from the other day.

We were driving to the Belvedere Motels. We went past an old run down motel place, and some redneck type guy was sitting outside a room on a deck chair. Looked a bit down and out.

Anyway, he sees the hearse driving past slowly because we are looking for the Belvedere place.

He stands up and takes his cap off and holds it in front of his chest to pay respect to the dead guy in the hearse ...

It was pretty funny to see ....

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Oh yeah ... Yesterday we clicked up 1000 miles on the trip so far (1600km)

I had the iPhone poised by the trip meter to record this momentous occasion, and it rolled from 999 miles to 0 miles ... It only went to 999! That was a bit of an anticlimax.

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Spent the day at Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri.

What a top place. Had a similar "family feel" to KennyWood over in Pittsburgh.

It's been built in the middle of the woods, so plenty of mature trees around. Really well done.

We went on the Outlaw Run ... Indeed, it's probably one of the best coasters I've ever been on. And I've been on a few.

Possibly Hades at Mt Olympus in Wisconsin Dells tops it for sheer "ohhh faaark I'm gonna die" fear ... But Outlaw Run is definitely cooler.

A wooden coaster that does a corkscrew? Say whaaaat! You have to ride it to believe it. It's very fast, the whole ride would last a minute I guess. Maybe 90 seconds.

We had one ride and decided to come back later to have more.

We hit up all the other rides, but around 2pm a huge thunder/lightning storm came in. We were on the Wide Fire coaster when it started, we got pelted with huge ran drops in the face at 60mph. It was cool! And wet.

And that was it. The place had to close because of all the lightning.

So we only got one go on Outlaw Run. But we really enjoyed the place.

Possibly the best park I've been to overall? Not as many rides as Cedar Point but it balances all the stuff it has got nicely with other stuff like the "bluegrass and BBQ" thing it's got running now.

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We waited till 330 but it was obvious the rain wasn't going to stop. So we bailed off for the 2 hour drive to Joplin MO for the night.

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There were a few candidates for "Worlds biggest ass" to use the Worlds biggest Rocking chair we saw the other day.

Oddly, all these pictures were taken around food outlets.

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Missouri is the home of churches. I have never seen so many churches.

In stores, "Thank you" and "have a nice day" have been replaced by "bless you" and "have a blessed day"

We started a car game. Everytime we spot a church, we shout CHURCH and hit the person next to us.

We all have bruised legs.

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A funny story. We started talking to a lovely lady at Silver Dollar City who was tending to the goats and other farm animals they have there.

She asked "where y'all from" and we said New Zealand ...

She immediately started talking really slow so we could understand her!

"Wel - come to Sil - ver Doll - ar cit - y Ya - all .... Do You Like It Here ?"

Imagine her surprise when we answered in almost perfect queens English. She sped it up a little after that.

She was a really nice lady... As was everyone at the park. A lot of older folk work there which makes a change from kids you see at the other parks.

rd

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Yep, that's the one. It's shakin all over the place ... You think it's gonna fly off the tracks and smash you into the underground tunnel.

I rarely get scared on rides, but I poohed my pants on that one!!

One girl was so traumatized by her ride, she wouldn't/couldn't get out of the car at the end. They had to close the ride until her friends could get her out. Then she crawled (literally) out of the car, over to the hand rail and held onto it for like 15 minutes.

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Lol! I looked up a video of it. It sure looked rough.

The coasters at Silver Dollar were all buttery smooth.

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Just cracked open a Route 66 beer.

Looks light ... But tastes dark! Quite weird. It's made in Wisconsin.

Not a bad drop!

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I've been on it! Great coaster.

My father in Law was siting next to me on it ... Honestly, I thought he was having a heart attack. He was puffing and wheezing ... He gave me the shits!

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