JHA Conference 2026
Day 1
Nothing New
Day 2
MO Miles
Day 3
The Miner's Drive
Day 4
A Day of Variety
Day 5
A Day in the Park
Day 6
JH and 66 Cruising
Day 7
Presentation Day
Day 8
Neon to Neon
Day 9
All the Way Home
September 22, 2026 (day 9)
I anticipated another overnight, but started the day with a great
breakfast and ended it in my own bed.
September 21, 2026 (day 8)
It doesn't get much better than starting and ending the day with the glow
of neon and having the hum of the road sound like America the Beautiful in
between.
September 21, 2026 (day 7)
Music from a band in a box started the day, and music from live performers
ended it. Interesting presentations filled the time in between.
September 20, 2026 (day 6)
Today members of the Route 66 Association of Missouri and the Jefferson
Highway Association cruised from Joplin, MO, to Vinita, OK, on a route
with a large portion shared by the two highways. I got inside of three
roadside attractions I'd previously seen only from the outside.
September 19, 2026 (day 5)
After a short drive, we had plenty of good stuff to look at, listen to,
and eat.
September 18, 2026 (day 4)
My car got better all by itself and took me to a couple of museums, a
library, and a really big shovel.
September 17, 2026 (day 3)
I was part of a small caravan that drove from Harrisonville, MO, to
Pittsburg, KS, on a Sociability Run called The Miner's Drive. Museums,
forts, and bridges filled the drive.
September 16, 2026 (day 2)
Today's journal is rather sparse since the goals were visiting an uncle
and getting in position for tomorrow's cruise.
September 15, 2026 (day 1)
Looks like I was wrong about posting more preludes. Time constraints had
me on expressways today, but I made a couple of short detours to visit
familiar places. The day even ended at a familiar place.
Prelude - December 31, 2025
The annual Jefferson Highway Association Conference moves around the
calendar. The last one I attended was in April 2024. The 2025 conference,
which I missed, was in June. The next one is scheduled for September
20-23, 2026 in Joplin, Missouri. Registration is not yet open, and a host
hotel has not been announced, but I have my room reserved. Wanting to stay
at the historic Boots Court in nearby Carthage, I booked a room nearly a
year in advance. I'm pretty sure that's a personal record.
The September date was selected to tie in with the Route 66 Association of Missouri. Parts of the pre-conference sociability run or the conference or both will somehow be coordinated with them. I have a feeling I'll be posting another prelude or two before this actually goes down.