Now that night falls so early, we have plenty of time to enjoy planning next year's adventures. I'm hoping to go to the Steens Mountains in southeastern Oregon.

One year, one of our daughters asked me to join her on a camping trip through 6 states to see everything from the headwaters of the Missouri River to Mount Rushmore.  We also visited Devil's Tower and the beautiful grasslands of Wyoming.  Throw in a little Yellowstone National Park, and you have the camping trip of a lifetime.

 Route 66 now travels south and west across the state, entering St. Louis near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Mark Twain country is in the northeast of the state, and you can't help but think of him when you think of Missouri. 

Some sections of the road went through private property, and drivers were encouraged to close the gates behind them. In other places, farmhouses served up meals to passers by.

The lower portion of the state contains the higher elevations of the Ozark Mountain Region, represented beautifully in warm tan and brown tones.

  Please send any photos taken along Route 66!