I might jump all over the place here. East of Joplin is a spot on free camping called Talbot...don't expect much. West of Joplin is The Downstream Casino. It's free but you have to register at the casino...slight pain but I hit the spot on a night it was hot and humid so nice to run the A/C. It's a parking lot with water/electric from what I remember. Tornado season so keep that in mind. There's two pie places in Pie Town and the north side street one was closed that day so I hit the south side one. Good pie and surprisingly they had wifi. I camped at Datil Well. The Very Large Array is not far away. Pretty cool. You will pay a toll between OKC and Tulsa, again between Tulsa and the state line. Cheap for you but adds up for 4 axles. Death Valley can be a roll of the dice in April. One of the worst nights of camping I ever had. Strong winds and about 90+ temps. I think it got down to 85 that night. Janns suggested a good alternate leaving at Tucumcari going up to Kansas City.Get on #36 across Missouri to Hannibal. It's divided highway and pretty good shape. My oldest brother suggested it to me and he drove a truck for many years. I hit the salt mine at Hutchinson last September. very cool. The Cosmosphere is cool too.
