Day 1: Germantown, TN to Carthage, MO – 466 Miles of Asphalt, Rain Skirting, and Mother Road History
It was a tough pill to swallow leaving one of our charter members behind—hope you heal up quick, dude. But that early start turned out to be the best call of the day.
Technically, the adventure started on July 1st. The crew all rolled into the house under a light drizzle, missing our buddy Andy Dean, who unfortunately couldn’t make the trip. We managed to call ahead to the hotels and get a refund on his room, packed the bikes, held our pre-trip meeting, and made the executive decision to kick stands up at 6:00 AM sharp.
Leaving Memphis & The First Fuel Stop
We caught a beautiful sunrise as we rolled out, the morning air already hinting at the heat to come. We bypassed the standard route, taking I-55 over the bridge into Arkansas by 6:49 AM. The pavement on 55 had plenty of rough patches, but we cleared the Memphis traffic with zero issues.
Our first official stop was the Love’s in Jonesboro for fuel. While stretching our legs, we crossed paths with a really nice local showing off a flawless, beautifully restored 1957 Ford. He’d spent five years bringing it back to life, and it showed. Before clearing town, we made a quick detour to the Jonesboro Harley-Davidson dealership to snap a few group photos.
Ravens, Crop Dusters, and Fast Water
Heading further down the highway, we roared through Ravenden and caught a glimpse of the town’s giant Raven statue keeping watch over the road. Shortly after, a big yellow crop duster put on a show for us to our left, coming in incredibly low to the field and letting loose a spray that definitely didn’t smell like roses. It was a cool sight, though a bit different from the kind of crop dusting granddaddy does to us!
As we pushed towards Hardy, Arkansas, we pulled off at Mammoth Spring State Park for a quick foot hike to see the springs. The water was absolutely rushing. From there, it was time to cross the state line into Missouri, and the summer heat turned up instantly. We stopped one more time for fuel, then pointed the bikes down Highway M—a fantastic, winding little stretch of asphalt that leads right into Highway Z, which officially puts us on historic Route 66.
Uranus, Diners, and Dodging Storms
Our first major roadside spectacle was the quirky town of Uranus, Missouri. We hit the standard tourist checklist hard:
- Snapped the mandatory coin picture.
- Got a group shot by the World’s Largest Belt Buckle.
- Met an awesome special-needs guy from San Antonio who absolutely loved the bikes, so we made sure to hand him a chapter challenge chip.
For lunch, we just rolled right across the street to the Route 66 Diner. When we stepped back outside, the sky had completely flipped—huge, dark clouds and lightning caught us completely off guard. We threw a leg over the seats and ran southwest, miraculously managing to skirt the edge of the system and completely miss the downpour.
Neon Parks, Giant Frogs, and the Mother Road Legacy
Back on 66 towards Springfield, the classic Americana started coming fast and furious. We cruised past the Neon Park, and when we hit Waynesville, we kept our eyes peeled for “Frog Rock”—a massive boulder up on the hill painted to look like a giant frog. It’s tough to spot, but we nailed it.
Next was the giant bowling pin in Hazel Green, followed by a stop at the historic Munger Moss Hotel. The last time we were here, we actually met Reba McEntire’s cousin, who made us walk a wooden plank in the back. The property has since been converted into apartments, but the city still owns and lights up that beautiful, iconic vintage sign out front.
From there, we rode into Marshfield, the home of Edwin Hubble (inventor of the Hubble Telescope). They have a massive, scaling replica of the telescope sitting right in front of the courthouse, along with a fantastic mural dedicated to his life.
Chasing Wild Bill and the 1,057-Mile Mark
We pushed into Springfield and headed straight for the famous Rail Haven Motel to get our picture under the historic neon sign, then did a drive-by of the classic Springfield Steak ‘n Shake (or as the locals like to call it, “takhomasak”).
We parked the bikes at the south square in downtown Springfield to hunt for the historical markers where Wild Bill Hickok had his legendary shootout with Davis Tutt. We looked everywhere, but couldn’t find them—reckon they either got moved or covered up during the recent square renovations.
Leaving Springfield, we hit the tiny town of Spencer to check out the Gay Parita Sinclair station. It was closed up for the day, but it’s a beautiful preservation spot packed with vintage gas pumps and old cars. While we were there, we showed Tyler the famous “Here It Is” sign. It noted we are still 1,057 miles away from “Here it is”, but looking at the excitement on his face, there’s no doubt we’re going to make it.
[ Spencer, MO ] —————————-> [ “Here it is” ]
1,057 Miles
Calling it a Night in Carthage
A short ride further down the pavement brought us into Carthage, where we finally checked into the iconic Boots Court Motel. The place is pure Route 66 history; they had some great memorabilia, so I grabbed a few stickers and souvenirs to load into my pack.
After unloading the gear, we took a quick evening ride to Braum’s for a simple dinner, some snacks, cherry limeades, and ice cream.
We’re back in the lobby at the Boots now. The vintage neon is glowing bright outside, and we just finished taking some incredible nighttime photos out front. Now, we’re heading back to the rooms for our nightly pre-ride brief and some end-of-the-day laughs.
As I write this, you can hear tons of fireworks echoing in the distance. Folks are firing them off a few days early for the 4th, but it sounds damn cool out here in the dark.
Day one is officially in the books. 465.9 miles down, a thousand more memories to go.
