Ryan Chiaverini made his way through Missouri and rediscovered a childhood favorite en route to two classic locations.
In a grocery store parking lot in Pacific, Missouri, Chiaverini and his crew stumbled upon Bigfoot 5: the tallest, widest and heaviest monster truck in the world. A fan of the legendary vehicle when he was young, Chiaverini's now 6-foot, 1-inch frame was dwarfed by its 10-foot tires, which once belonged to an Alaskan land train.
Chiaverini's Hyundai Palisade drove him next to one of the most popular tourist destinations on Route 66, Meramec Caverns, near Stanton, Missouri. Tour guide Jeremy Anderson said the 26-mile cave system was created by an ancient ocean 400 million years ago and features thousands of unique mineral structures.
"A lot of stalactites, stalagmites, a lot of rare formations, flowstones," Anderson said. "People bump their heads on them all the time. Trust me, it's not Styrofoam."
Legend has it the caverns were a hideout for the famous outlaw Jesse James in the 1870s. Its 1930s owner, Lester Dill, is credited with revolutionizing outdoor advertising through painted barn murals and car bumper signs that publicized the tourist destination.
"He had a buddy in St. Louis that did some kind of adhesive, and they got together. And supposedly, that's where his bumper sticker was formed," Anderson said.
After a few hours traversing Meramec Caverns, Chiaverini and his crew found rest and relaxation at the oldest continuously running motel on Route 66, the Wagon Wheel Motel. The motel was purchased this year by Roamin' Rich Dinkela, who helped popularize the painting of 66 shield markers on roadways.
"In the 30s, people were just happy to have a place to get out of their car and sleep and not have to sleep on the side of the road," Dinkela said. "When motels and motor courts came around that provided a higher luxury."
The Wagon Wheel is a motor court style motel built with native Ozark stone. The 1936 facility once allowed each guest to have an adjoining garage with their room rental.
"You probably would've walked in from your garage into the room," Dinkela said. "But cars became bigger and Route 66 and traveling became a lot more popular. So they turned the garages back into rooms for more space."
You learn something new every day on Route 66 and this Missouri stretch was a crash course in vintage road trip history. In 2,000 more miles, Chiaverini will graduate with a certificate of completion at Santa Monica Pier.
"Pier To Pier: Celebrating 100 Years of Route 66" is sponsored by Hyundai.