June 8, 2018 North Miami, OK to Carthage, Missouri

48.06 miles. Campgrounds that can handle our stegasaurus are few and far between in this area. My choices, after consulting with my trip concierge, (Pam) were 50 miles, or 100 miles. I chose 50. The wind was good, the cloud cover was apparent at times, I had the time, just not the desire. Temps were going to be in the high 90's, with heat index near 100, so I decided not to kill myself. With the realization that I'm not going to finish this trip, I've lost motivation to pound day after day. I'm good with where ever I stop, and the reason for stopping is as good as it gets, with our son getting married.
Ben and I rode out at about 8:30 after I grabbed a breakfast sandwich at the casino, and filled up all the water bottles with the type of ice that I like. ( Crushed.....it lasts longer than cubes). We were on the same road, but it seemed to have many different names. 66, 69a, among others. We passed thru the small village of Quapaw, and then it was mildly rolling  through the very Southeast corner of Kansas, and into Joplin, Missouri. Ben and I parted ways on Main Street in Joplin. He was headed north to ride the Katy Trail across the state to St Louis, and I was staying the course on old route 66. Joplin was smaller than I thought it was, but Webb City, and other towns stretched along 66 all the way to Carthage. I got onto a limited access road, for a few miles between Webb City and Carthage, but I soon tired of it, and walked my bike through some grass to get back on 66. Once I got to Carthage, I let Google maps guide me through residential areas until I found the Red Barn campground, where Pam had set up shop, near I 44. It was a short day, so I took advantage of my free time to lay around in the air conditioning and do some down time. We couldn't get the Rv door open to get the water hoses out, so Pam called a mobile Rv mechanic, and we got that operable, though not fixed. Then we ate supper at a little RT 66 diner that wasn't on 66, and Pam did some wash while I faded off to an early finish.