Day 20, Progress not Perfection, Kuttawa KY to Neosho MO

We managed to get on the road by 8:30, a great start for us.  The gas station near the hotel offered ethanol free gasoline.  We filled the tank, even though it was just below half full. (or empty).

These are old bridges were probably
built before 1937.  They still are
a tight fit for the LaSalle

Our route proved very interesting.   We left I-24 without regrets and headed west on US 60 just north of Kuttawa.  The road was rather pleasant, a great improvement over the congestion of I-24.  US 60 managed to skirt Paducah with little traffic or hassle. It offered an extremely scenic pass over the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.  The old truss bridges that cross these rivers are very old, tall and narrow.  They offer incredible views of these enormous rivers and terrifying encounters with oncoming semi trucks.  Bill was driving and was not able to enjoy the views.  He focused on staying in his very skinny lane.  He did recall that we passed this same route about 20 years ago in a cross country trip with David and Malli.  On that trip, we stopped for a picnic or hike between these two mighty rivers that define so many quadrants of this country.

After the river crossings, US 60 went four lane divided across southern Missouri and carried us many miles directly into Springfield MO.  US 60 was very light on traffic and trucks.  We were able to keep rolling mostly non-stop at 60 MPH.  The LaSalle did exhibit a few fuel supply stumbles on the modest hills on US 60.  It seemed to do a bit better with a full tank and just slowing down to 50 or so was enough to smooth out the engine.  This was not a problem while driving on US 60, but after Springfield, we jumped to I-44.  This did not work out well.  The traffic was very heavy on I-44 and the LaSalle's tendency to lose power suddenly on hills put us a risk with aggressive truck and auto traffic.   We quickly got off the interstate and followed secondary roads to the south to rejoin US 60. It was a good call.  We motored on until dark and settled in Neosho, MO in a comfortable Super 8. Rooms were scarce here, there are various weekend events (including a VW show) planned for tomorrow.  We were lucky to find this one.

Nance the gardener noticed that tent worms
were thriving in Southern MO; trees not so well.

Bill decided that the car was not vapor locking but rather the two fuel pumps we use simply cannot keep up with the demand for fuel.  The car only stumbles on hills and recovers quickly when we slow up a bit.  This is not the case with vapor lock, once the fuel starts boiling recovery only happens when the engine cools to condense the fuel. The electric fuel pump we installed back on Day 1 is an Airtex, not known to be as good as the Carter pump we replaced.  What's mysterious is why the Airtex worked so well for so many previous travel days.  There are a couple of fuel filters on the car that Bill thought might be restricted.  He tried to change them but they are located under the car near the gas tank and they are very hard to reach. It was too much for the limited tools and access we have in the motel parking lot.

So good night to all; we hope we are only two days from home.