Make mine a MOKA - that's Missouri and Kansas

Woke up to rain - and learned the 9" fell in this area yesterday.  But I'm hoping to get through it by heading west, across the wide Mississippi near Cape Girardeau, another important stop on the Trail of Tears northern route. 

This is definitely a tough way to travel!

It's all Cherokee to me!

????

Big Springs, with a daily output (256 million gallons) enough to fill a major league stadium every day!

Finally, I decide two nights camping in the rain (and roads flooding) in Missouri is enough,, and I head for Branson for a  night of "civilization."  I'll let these photos speak for themselves, just let me say now I know why there's always timeshare vacancies in Branson...who in their right might would spend a week there?

I am struck by how much nicer I'm finding Kansas than the first time I crossed the state.  Perhaps keeping off the Interstate and going through the southern part is all the difference!

I was so happy to find this small town, Baxter Springs, in southern Kansas which still has a segment of the old Route 66!  Had a wonderful lunch at this small cafe, run by a couple who've lived here their whole lives.   The town was an important mining town, the original Kansas "cowtown" where huge herds were driven through on their way to Texas, and an important place for...baseball; Mickey Mantle grew up just three miles down the road.