I finally left at 10:34 am with Zeke. I knew I had to drive long days to get to Crown Point, IN by Christmas. Weather looked good for the entire route.
The drive was uneventful. I stopped in Truth or Consequences (formally Indian Springs, NM) at the brewery by the same name and had a 5oz goblet of their Christmas Ale. I enjoyed the spacious taproom and the friendly service, but with a long drive ahead of me, knew I couldn't drink much else. The only hiking I did while on the 2.5-day drive was in and around rest areas.
I don't like driving on Christmas Eve and Christmas as only travel centers are open. Restaurants and fast-food joints were all closed by 6pm. I was driving on Route 66 through Marshfield, MO when the only place open at night was a Taco Mayo. The only hike of any significance was two miles along the Meremec Greenway west of St Louis, a trail so lovely that I was determined to explore it some more on my return drive. I discovered this trail on my Alltrails app. It just happened to be three miles from the QT gas station I had stopped at off MO109. (It turns out there are plenty of short trails in the St Louis region; I will explore others on future road trips.)
I had above-average temperatures all through the drive, which made car camping very pleasant as I woke up to sunrises in the low 40s. It was 66F at 11:30am when I finished the Meremec hike.
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