What's around the bend? That question runs through your mind a lot as you travel in this part of Missouri on two-lane Route 66. The modern and not so far away interstate may offer a clear view ahead for miles at a time, but old 66 twists and turns through the towns and wooded areas of this region, and what's ahead is anybody's guess.
The Johnson Creek Bridge, top, on the way to Spencer, Missouri, is a steel truss bridge built in 1926, and don't you wish you lived in a place where the creeks have names? The Phillips 66 station has been further restored since my visit in 2008, the property having been purchased by a couple of Kansans, Francis and Marie Lynn Ryan. Next trip, I will stop and shake the hands of these devoted 66er's, just for keeping it so much fun for the rest of us. The top attraction in Spencer is the old road itself, vintage concrete 66, with just enough grass growing through the cracks to mark off the old sections.
There was never very much to the town of Spencer at all. It was originally founded in the 1870's, with a church, a store, and a Post Office, all this made possible by a new road that connected the town to the rest of the world. But the road was allowed to deteriorate, the cut-off town did as well, and there was very little left of Spencer after the turn of the century. It was given a second chance when Route 66 was built through the same area in the 1920's, and things did pick up a bit with a few new roadside businesses springing up, but the coming of the interstate killed the town once again. Log Book: 555 miles traveled on old 66.
