Hermannia

The Gasconade County Courthouse sits on a regal perch overlooking the Missouri River at Hermann, Missouri. Just a bike ride across the bridge from the Katy Trail, Hermann holds a unique spot in American history and culture. Fearless riverboat captains … Read More

Finding Haven

From Washington, Highway 100 stretches toward Hermann like a clothesline, draping over bluffs and peeking down ravines at your road’s companion, the Missouri River. The river was the major highway when John Colter traveled upstream with Lewis and Clark. Later, … Read More

A Higher Power

I warmed my hands by the fire. The crisp fall day had ushered me through rolling loess hills, past newspaper offices whose names are as vibrant as their communities: Stanberry Headlight. Fairfax Forum. Tarkio Avalanche. I learned that Tarkio is … Read More

Love this rollercoaster.

The road to Falling Spring is a destination in itself. Missouri highway delivers you there. And Falling Spring Mill has been restored. But wait. There’s more. A little further down the road, Greer Spring busts out of a mountainside gushing … Read More

When a restaurant becomes more than a meal

Heading west on I-44, we hit a late-spring snowstorm that quickly turned the roads into a luge run. So we retreated to a town called Traveler’s Repose to let the snowstorm pass. Well, that was the name of the town … Read More

Reading The Good Badass Samaritan

Notable podcaster Josh Colvin invited me to read a story for his American Miles: A Roadtrip Podcast. If you’re in a hurry, my story, The Good Badass Samaritan, begins at 45:40. But if you have time listen to the whole … Read More

America’s Next Big Water Park

The location of Missouri’s next proposed water park may surprise you. It’s not in a resort or even a town.  But it’s the doorstep to more than five dozen Missouri communities, and three quarters of the state’s population. A few … Read More

My car won an Emmy. She let me ride along…

I’m John Robinson and this is my fellow traveler, Erifnus Caitnop. Together we have traveled more than 300,000 miles covering every mile of every road on the Missouri highway map. Along the way we’ve seen hidden gems that you won’t … Read More

Lunch at the Eagles Club

“Don’t be disappointed if we don’t see any eagles,” I warned my two young daughters as we drove round the last curve before we reached the river. A frigid January had tamed the top of the Mighty Mississippi. Only the … Read More

Cave In

The tow truck raced past Graham Cave, the world’s most bypassed state park. Within spittin’ distance of I-70, the cave entrance resembles Mick Jagger’s lips. For eons, folks took shelter beneath this stiff upper lip and sat around ancient cook … Read More