RESTAURANT, rest in peace

As I passed the Honey Creek exit on I-29 this afternoon, I quickly realized that something was missing that I've enjoyed for as long as I can remember. The giant red-roofed RESTAURANT, unoccupied for most of the last decade, has been torn down. 

I imagine the Missouri River flood two years ago didn't do the building any favors. It also doesn't help that exit 66 is an exit to pretty much nowhere not too far away from all the services and restaurants that the Omaha / Council Bluffs area provides. If a person actually wanted to go to Honey Creek, they'd be hard pressed to find it from this exit. There's a few miles of gravel in between and the town can barely even be considered a bump in the road.

Still, I'll miss seeing RESTAURANT when I pass by. Time marches on and so it goes.

RESTAURANT, May of 2009 

RESTAURANT, March of 2013

I spent the afternoon wandering around the central portion of Iowa's Loess Hills. It was the first great spring day we've had this year and I just couldn't resist. Today was a day of bearded old guys stopping me to say hello as I walked around. Three of 'em, all together. Us beards stick together.

Also visited: Modale, Mondamin, Murray Hill, Preparation Canyon, Moorhead, Turin, Castana, Hornick, Sloan and Whiting.

Ozark-bound

I spent a few days last week exploring central Missouri, mostly around the Lake of the Ozarks. It's been twenty years since my last visit and a lot has changed, but there's still some of the old tourist trap quirks to be found if a person looks hard enough. The same goes for my time spent along the old Route 66 around Lebanon, Missouri.

Now I'm back to Nebraska and ready for spring. Surprisingly, there was more snow in Missouri than there was in Omaha when I left. That is until Sunday when a freak 6-8" snowstorm rolled through completely unannounced.

Just a few more weeks.

St. Joseph, Missouri 

 Lupus, Missouri

Lebanon, Missouri

Also visited, Day 1: Atchison and Leavenworth, Kansas. St. Joseph, Rushville, Platte City, Peculiar, Creighton and Urich Missouri.

Also visited, Day 2: Clinton, Tightwad, Warsaw, Climax Springs, Lebanon, Waynesville, Mark Twain National Forest, Roby and Lynchburg, Missouri.

Also visited, Day 3: Camdenton, Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Osage Beach, Lake Ozark, Eldon, Rocky Mountain, Olean, High Point, California, Jamestown, Sandy Hook, Marion, Marion Bottoms Conservation Area, Lupus, Wooldridge, Overton, Overton Bottoms Conservation Area, Huntsdale and McBaine, Missouri.

Also visited, Day 4: Rocheport, New Franklin, Boonesboro, Lisbon, Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge, Glasgow, Gilliam, Slater, Miami, De Witt, Cary, Carrolton, Norborne, Hardin, Richmond, Polo, Lathrop and Plattsburg, Missouri.