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route66trip
29 October 2007 @ 01:39 pm
178 Miles Today
5,871 Miles Trip Total
And so we're home.
Becky and Phillip were waiting to wave us in with checkered flags then John and Madi came over and we all had lunch at Gringo's.
 
 
route66trip
28 October 2007 @ 07:34 pm
272 Miles Today
5,693 Trip Total
We had a beautiful fall afternoon to drive through the beautiful Texas hill country and arrived in Seguin at 7:00 p.m.
We left the motel and drove to the First Baptist Church of San Angelo to meet our former pastor. He and his wife are the directors of an adult Sunday School department. She has just recently had back surgery, so is not going out for more than short trips. We met a couple in the Sunday School class whose daughter lives in Pearland just down the street from our daughter. We called our daughter and her children know their children.

After church, our former pastor got some lunch to go and we had lunch and a nice visit with them. They have been in San Angelo for about eight years, so there was a lot of church and family news to catch up on. We left at 2:30 and drove south on 277 to intersect I10 again. We bought gas there in Senora and then drove non-stop to Seguin.
Our former pastor and his wife.
A pleasant afternoon with our former pastor and his wife.

Hills

More Hills

Central Texas Hills
 
 
route66trip
27 October 2007 @ 07:02 pm
333 Miles Today
5,421 Trip Total
6,436 Miles on the overhaul.

We got to San Angelo at 4:30 for an early day stop. They're having a Roping Rodeo of some sort, so the motels are filling up quickly. We got to Big Spring at noon and ate Bar-B-Q sandwitches at Al's and Son Barbeque in Big Spring. Then we drove around to see the Ann's family's old home places. We drove around the scenic drive on the hill above the VA Hospital area. The road and park features were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corp back in 1935 and now it's operated by the Texas State Parks system. The weather and drive were nice.

Horizon
The vast west Texas plain. (Click for 1500 x 332 pixel size.)

CCC Roadway
Interesting rock architecture along the one-lane road of Skyline Drive built by the CCC.
Big Spring View
View from Skyline Drive.
 
 
route66trip
26 October 2007 @ 07:14 pm
437 Miles Today
5,088 Trip Total
6,103 Miles on the overhauled engine and transmission.
We had a quick breakfast at the motel in Tucson and left there at 10:00 CDT. We had lunch at the Rancher's Grill in Deming, New Mexico, and arrived in Van Horn, Texas, at 7:00 CDT. Van Horn is 138 miles from the border. Traffic had to stop for a large Border Patrol checkpoint just west of here. I10 is a little smoother across Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, but there are still some occasional rough spots.

We are taking a detour through Big Spring where Ann was born and where her mother's family lived for many years. Then we turn south to San Angelo where a former pastor and his wife live. Then it's on to San Antonio and back on I10.

View from Motel
View from Tucson motel room this morning.

New Mexico Mountains
A mountain road in New Mexico.

Near Continental Divide
Approaching the continental divide in southern New Mexico at 4585 feet above sea level.

Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande valley near Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Mountain Pass
Moving toward a mountain pass in Texas between El Paso and Van Horn.

View from motel
View from Van Horn motel room this evening.
 
 
route66trip
25 October 2007 @ 09:24 pm
395 Miles Today
4,648 Trip Total
5,664 Miles on the overhauled engine and transmission.

While I was sitting in the lobby waiting for the laundry to dry, a young man can in and checked the lobby computer where I had been looking at our web site. He commented on the car and I explained a little about our trip. I think he had already looked at the web site.

Anyway, he is down here at an "airplane graveyard" with a crew from Montana to get three DeHaviland four-engine jet commuter planes ready to fly back to one of their main facilities in Calgary, Manitoba, for complete refurbishment. They will use one of the planes for parts. When two are ready they'll fly them to Dubai to be used as executive transport for some big company. (I may be off a little on some of this information, but you get the idea.)

They have one plane running, but are running into a few problems. They expected about six weeks to two months and he hopes to be home for Christmas. They get a few days off to visit places in the area.

The drive from Calimesa to Tucson was pretty smooth. The Barracuda is quiet and smooth now. The engine temperature did rise a little coming up the nine-mile grade west of here. I'm running about 60 to 70 mph on level or downhill. An indicated 70 on the speedometer is about 67 to 68 mph according to our GPS display. I did a 100 mile odometer check against the interstate mileposts. At 100 miles by milepost the odometer had increased by 97.5 miles, so we are actually traveling about 2.5% further than the odometer says.

At 171,455 Miles
I10 near Picacho
Full Moon Over Tucson
 
 
route66trip
25 October 2007 @ 12:40 am
334 Miles Today
Route 66 Trip - 2,495
4,254 Trip Total
We circled through the Pier driveway again, but still didn't see a Route 66 sign so we headed west-northwest on California Highway 1 the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Then switched to U.S. 101. Ann and Becky consulted over the phone and decided that it was too far to see too little at the Hearst Castle so we turned back at Buellton. Becky found a fast route for us on Goodle and I put it into the Streets and Trips software that Becky had recommended for our trip. We drove back through the hills on Calif. 154 and found that the engine temp. does increase about one mark on the long steep pulls up the hills. It cools right down on the downhills. 154 took us back to 101 and we stayed on 101 until we reached Interstate 10 and turned east there. Becky says it's 1400 miles back to Pearland. About 800 of those miles are in Texas, so only about 500 miles back to Texas from here.
 
 
route66trip



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166 Miles Today, but it seemed like forever. I think it took four hours to drive from San Bernardino to the Santa Monica Pier. It was a nice drive though. We got to the Pier at 5:50 local time. (7:50 CDT)
Route 66 Trip - 2,495
3,920 Trip Total

We visited the Old Harvey House in Barstow and saw that the Route 66 Museum didn't open until 11:00 so we went to the giant McDonalds with the railroad theme for breakfast. We visited the old Rancho Motel that was built of discarded railroad ties, then went back to the museum only to find out that it opens only on the weekend.

We took the old road from Barstow to Victorville. A beautiful drive and Victorville looks like a nice place to visit, but we just drove on through.

Much smoke in the Cajon Summit area. It was thick enough to shade us at one place and make it feel cooler. Otherwise the air was very hot, but apparently the humidity wasn't too high. We were on I15 through the Cajon Pass and then took the old road to San Bernardino and visited the McDonalds Museum. An interesting place owned by Juan Pollo, who recently bought the abandoned town of Amboy, California, the one we were not brave enough to drive to. More about the museum later.

From there we took the well-marked Route 66 west through all those towns and that was a really nice drive. Lots of stops for traffic lights though. Then south on the Arroyo Parkway to Highway 110 and to Sunset Boulevard. It's a wonder and mostly luck that we made every turn. We did miss the turn onto Santa Monica Blvd and had to circle the block. Santa Monica Blvd wasn't bad until we got into heavy traffic in the downtown area. That's where we just drove up to the policemen blocking the street and told them we just didn't know where to go. They must have had the street closed for local traffic and buses only because on of the officers was kind enough to say, "Help me out, just make a right turn at the strip-mall." I guess that made us local traffic. So that's what we did and there we went around another block to the right and then back to Santa Monica Blvd.

I turned on 9th street instead of Lincoln Blvd because the way I read the map they were the same street. Then we missed Colorado because we didn't see a sign there. Just made another block and came back on Ocean Ave and left onto the Pier.

We're back on Santa Monica Blvd at a Days Inn. I don't think I'll post any photos tonight. Maybe tomorrow night.
At the Santa Monica Pier
Young Tom
 
 
route66trip
23 October 2007 @ 09:29 am
Because of the fires in the L.A. area, we are considering a side trip through Bakersfield and San Simeon to tour the Hearst Castle.

Then the logical thing would be to take the coast highway to Santa Monica. Then we'd have to drive the final part of Route 66 backward to San Bernardino and perhaps miss the Barstow to San Bernardino section altogether.

We'll see how the time goes. Of course, this inconvenience is nothing compared to what the people in the fire zones are suffering.
 
 
route66trip
22 October 2007 @ 11:10 pm
232 Miles Today
Route 66 Trip - 2,329
3,754 Trip Total
The road up into the mountains and over the Sitgreaves Pass (Elv. 3550 ft. #39) to Oatman was beautiful and exciting. There are curves, grades, and switchbacks like these in the Arkansas Ozarks, but there the forests hide much of the view.
1. Sitgreaves Approach

2. Sitgreaves Pass

3. Down Hill

We enjoyed the quaint village of Oatman; at one time a gold-rush town of 20,000. The tourist season is just starting. Apparently folks from further north come down to get away from the cold and snow and make side trips to Oatman. We ate breakfast there. The folks were just opening their shops at 9:00 and the burros didn't come out while we were there, but we could smell them (horse manure).
Oatman

We drove back down from the mountains into the valley of the Colorado River and across into California for a stop in Needles.
Needles Welcome Wagon

We took old Route 66 in an arc north of I40 and through Goffs. It was a beautiful drive.
Road West

Goffs Sign

Road Sign

We skipped the old road through Amboy, because we had been told by local people that the pavement was very rough. We did stop at Ludlow and drive back
east on Route 66 for about five miles to see how bad it really was. The first couple of miles were good, but it got a little rougher. There was now cell phone coverage in that area anyway.
West to Ludlow

Ann by the Barracuda at Ludlow

We ate at Ludlow and drove some on the freeway and some on the old road to the Bagdad Cafe.
Bagdad Cafe

Then on into Barstow. We got here at about 5:30 and drove on through town on Main Street then came back and bought some more motor oil at the Auto Zone and then found a motel.
Old Hotels
This photo was made at 5:14 CDT. Big fires near San Bernardino may delay our travel south. I15 has been closed today just north of San Bernardino.
 
 
route66trip
22 October 2007 @ 05:29 am
Link to their blog.
Magnus and Annika have some great photos of their trip, but if you can't read Swedish, you'll just have to go by the dates of their posts to know roughly where they were. They even have a photo of Ann in the Barracuda at the Dixie Trucker's Home in Illinois.

They are more adventurous they we. They visited the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and took some great photos from the top. They've been done some of the old "dead end" sections of Route 66 and apparently Annika went inside the old abanconed filling station in Glenrio and took a photo of Magnus pretending to be knocking on the broken window as he peers in.

Their latest entry is from Flagstaff so they are catching up with us again. They did the Sante Fe loop and took more time than we did in some of the other places.

(Becky, here's a cat picture.)
 
 
route66trip
21 October 2007 @ 07:22 pm
100 Miles Today
Route 66 Trip - 2,097
3,522 miles - Trip Total
It was cold and windy when we got up in Seligman this morning. We waited until daylight to take some more photos before leaving town.
Delgidillos Order Area
Delgadillos

It's a beautiful drive from Seligman to Kingman.
1. The Old Road A

2. The Old Road B

3. The Old Road C

4. The Old Road D

5. The Old Road E

An old store on the tour guide list of places to visit.
Old Store

West to Kingman.
Old Road West to Kingman

We got to the First Southern Baptist Church of Kingman in time for their Bible study and then worship.
FBC Sign

By then we were pretty hungry because it seemed more like 2:30 rather than the 12:30 local time. We had lunch at Arby's and then toured the Visitors Center in old downtown and drove a few blocks to the courthouse and saw some of the town north of Andy Devine Avenue.
Welcome Sign

Old Plymouth and New Dodge

Old Hotels

We checked into a motel early because it seemed late to us. The folks at the Visitors Center side that the old road through the desert past Amboy is very rough, so we may skip that. It's fifty miles from the freeway exit to Amboy and that's a long way to drive back. We'll at least drive up the mountain pass switch-backs hairpin curves to Oatman and continue down the other side to Topock and then decide how much time we have and how daring I'm am.
 
 
route66trip
20 October 2007 @ 08:19 pm
181 Miles Today
Route 66 Trip - 1,997
3,422 miles - Trip Total
The Wig Wam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona.
Barracuda at the Wig Wam
Becky and Ann at the Wig Wam

Jack Rabbit west of Joseph, Arizona.
The Jack Rabbit Trading Post is the best Route 66/western souvenir shop we've seen. It's an easy off and on just west of Joseph, Arizona. Cindy said that her grandfather, Glenn Blansett, bought the Jack Rabbit from the original owner, Jim Taylor, in 1961. Mr. Blansett had a motel and restaurant in Joseph and built an RV Park and home just beyound the Jack Rabbit. She said it was a very busy place back then as all the traffic came through Joseph and beside the trading post. Cindy's father and mother, Phil and Pat Blansett took over in 1969, and now she and her husband Tony are running it. If you want to see a nice part of the old Route 66 tourist business and get a good deal on some great souvenirs, stop here.
At the Jack Rabbit
Cindy at the Jack Rabbit

"The Corner" in Winslow, Arizona
Becky on the Corner

We enjoyed this stop. A bus-load of seniors was there getting their photos made. Also a couple of guys who had flown into Los Vegas with a group and then rented Harlys for a tour of the west.
Becky on the Corner

Old Road
A section of the old road

Flagstaff
We ate lunch in Flagstaff and then took Becky to the airport for her flight to Phoenix and then to Houston.
Becky at the Flagstaff Airport

More scenic old road.
As we neared Seligman on the old road we saw the old road bed a little below us on the south of the current alignment. It was very overgrown and would have made a great photo, but I felt like we needed to keep moving.

Supai Motel, 134 W. Chino, Seligman, Arizona.
This is a beautifully restored old style motel with a 'U' shape where cars can park in a protected area. Great rates and wireless or ether net connections.
Supai Motel Office
We arrived here about 4:30 our time and that's 2:30 their time (MST).

Supai Motel
 
 
route66trip
20 October 2007 @ 05:32 pm
309 Miles Today
Route 66 Trip - 1,816
3,241 miles - Trip Total
We drove down old 66 which is the main street of Albuquerque and stopped for photo opportunities along the way. We then turned south on the pre-1937 alignment of Route 66 and crossed the Rio Grande on Bridge Blvd. and continued through native American communities crossing the river two more times before heading west and north back to the later road location.

Aztec Motel
Now a private residence on the old main street of Albuquerque.

More of the old road
The pre-1937 alignment southwest of Albuquerque.

We stayed mostly on the old road with a few miles on the freeway. We stopped at a few small towns and had lunch in Grants, Arizona. Eighteen miles west of
Grants we turned to get back on the freeway and realized that the axle bearing was in serious condition. We went on across the freeway to a graveled parking area and unloaded the trunk to get the jack and raise the car. A fellow who had parked his RV there brought us a chock for the wheel. It was clear from just turning the right rear wheel by had so he suggested starting the car to spin the wheel. Ann did that and then it was obvious that the bearing was bad. We slowly drove back to Grants and some customers at a tire store told us who could help us out. We went there and the mechanic said he was just getting ready to start another job so he could go ahead with our repair. He replaced the bearing and seal in only and hour and his rates were low.

Bad Bearing

The car seemed to drive so much better without the rumble of the bad bearing and we stayed mostly on the freeway, but took an eight-mile segment of the old road through a mountainous area where there was some beautiful scenery.

We got to Holbrook after dark and checked in at the Wig Wam Motel. Ann had called ahead for a reservation. They don't open the office until 4:00 p.m. local time. The office is open until 9:30 p.m. We check ourselves out before 11:00 in the morning. It was 9:00 p.m. CDT, 8:00 p.m. MDT, and 7:00 p.m. local Arizona MST.
 
 
route66trip
18 October 2007 @ 11:59 pm
285 Miles Today
Route 66 Trip - 1,507
2,932 miles - Trip Total
What a surprise! We exited I40 and drove about half a block to the motel row. And as we turned right toward the motels we found that the final street and rod car show of the season was being held at the Owl Cafe on the corner. They hold them once a month from May through October. They invited me to pull on in. My dirty, rust-specked Barracuda didn't show up well against a long line of meticulously restored early Mustangs, but at least it was a novelty! The owner of the cafe sponsers the events and was out serving hot dogs. He insisted on giving me one for free since I had just driven in from Amarillo. :)

Car Show

Owl Cafe

This morning we had breakfast at the motel with Annika and Magnus and said our "Goodbyes" since they are taking more time along the way and also taking a side trip to Los Vegas. The sky was clear and blue and the air was rather cool when we left Amarillo. There was a strong, gusty head or cross wind all day. We stopped at the "Cadillic Ranch" and then many small towns and "ghost" towns.
Cadillac Ranch

We had some "ugly crust" pie in Adrian, Texas; the official mid-way point between Chicago and L.A. The sign says 1139 miles each way.
Midpoint Route 66

We drove on some old rough roads including some with cattle guards and some of the old road we skipped. The little Barracuda did well even with the head wind. I would try to stay behind a slow "semi" or other vehicle so that I could run about 60 to 66 mph on the freeway.

We arrived in Albuquerque about 6:30 CDT.
 
 
route66trip
17 October 2007 @ 08:54 pm
292 Miles Today
Route 66 Trip - 1222
2746 miles - Trip Total
We visited the Murrah Federal Building Memorial before leaving Oklahoma City. (See my web page of photos of the memorial.) We drove over interesting sections of the old road west of Oklahoma City, but soon ran into stormy weather. It seems that the old curbed concrete pavement serves as a channel for the water run-off from the adjoining fields which had just been plowed so we had to run through a lot of brown water.

Viewing Photos
Photos at the memorial show the building before and after the bombing and the implosion and other things.


Rainy Bridge
The long "Pony Bridge" across the South Canadian River (1938) uses 38 "pony" (small) trusses.



A great Route 66 museum in Clinton, Oklahoma


The restored U-Drop Inn/Tower in Shamrock is now the Chamber of Commerce.

The skys soon cleared and it was warm and humid. However, there was a strong, gusty southwest wind that made driving difficult. The Barracuda never did handle well in crosswinds.

We met Annika and Magnus again at the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma. We took many old sections of Route 66 and some on I40 arriving in Amarillo at about 7:30. I had decided to try the same motel that Annika and Magnus were staying at and we got there just a few minutes after they did.
 
 
route66trip
16 October 2007 @ 10:23 pm
344 Miles Today
Route 66 Trip - 930
2355 miles - Trip Total
We back-tracked from Springfield, Missouri, to Carterville, Missouri; sometimes on old 66 and sometimes on I44. I did drive most of the old road though. The old road had been moved over from its original location in some areas and the old pavement ran along side the new alignment to provide access to folks on that side of the old road.

We made a quick stop again at the visitors' center in Carterville and then drove through Joplin and on to Kansas. Interesting things in Galena and Baxter Springs. The road through northeast Oklahoma was very nice and it didn't have to switch back and forth under a new interstate. I missed the old one-lane section though, but a friend of mine grew up there and he got a photo of it on a recent trip. (Recently he drove his A Model Ford up Pike's Peak!)
Old Overpass
The old road and railroad overpass in Kansas south of Galena.

We met our daughter, Becky at the Tulsa airport and she helped us locate things as we drove on to Edmond, Oklahoma. I had planned to stop there for the night, but we drove on into Oklahoma City. Since we didn't know where we wanted to go, we wandered around for awhile and then got on I40 and immediately found a motel and a Craker Barrel Restaurant.
Old Bridge
Becky at the bridge on the original alignment (Ozark Trail) west of Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

On to Amarillo.
 
 
route66trip
16 October 2007 @ 08:59 pm
354 Today
Route 66 Trip - 586
2011 miles - Trip Total
We took the 1926-1930 alignment from Springfield to Staunton. It was a nice drive through farm country and several small towns and at least one county site. I think it was twice as far as the freeway and took much longer. We drove on some of that old pavement and it was very rough. Many of the old 90 degree corners had been bypassed with big curves even back in those days. We saw one section of the old road running out through a corn field and it made three 90s before it rejoined the curve.
Original Surface in Illinois.
This was a very rough section of the old road. Fortunately it was short. It provides access to a couple of homes.

We stopped on the Illinois side of the Mississippi to get access to the old Chain of Rocks bridge. It is two lane and has a 22 degree turn toward the Missouri end. I walked that far, but decided that we didn't have time for the entire bridge. The "chain of rocks" make an interesting rapids across the river. There is a canal to let shipping go around.
Chain of Rocks Bridge
A view of the bridge from downstream. Notice the bend on the Missouri side of the river and the I270 bridge further upstream.

Bend in Bridge
A view of the curve from the Missouri approach.

We skipped St. Louis. We've been there before. Took I270 around the north and west to I44 and then west on I44 to the Route 66 Stare Park which is old Times Beach. Then a few miles further we stopped at Eureka for lunch. We drove some old road and some I44 to keep to our time schedule. We did take the old Devil's Elbow alignment south of Arlington. Hooker Cut was cut through to bypass the old Devil's Elbow bridge and the step climb back out of the river valley on the west side.

We got to Springfield, Missouri, around 6:30, but didn't find a motel until after 7:00. It's one of the old motels on old 66. I think we in the honeymoon suite or the call girl's room. The walls are red with fancy wood trim with hearts cut into it a various places. There are mirrors all over and a a bardillo-looking lamp and fancy flower stands. I guess I'll just take some photos. :)

It has been a difficult drive. Thinking of turning back at Flagstaff. (NOTE: Tuesday was a lot better!)
 
 
route66trip
15 October 2007 @ 07:43 am
The car and license. Well, duh! Ann!!. Dad had buffalo chicken and fries covered with melted cheese. I had an open face hot beef and mashed potatoes covered with gravy. Not bad. We got one Baklava for dessert.

We left the restaurant at 1:45. From here we are going North on the old 1930-1940 alignment to 1040-1970 alignment to continue on to I55. In ‘40 they shifted the road to go more west of town. We are staying on the main road 55. We are stopping for gas at 4:05. Mileage is 282.1 Odom reading 168319. We gassed up at Towanda for $2.79 a gal. Took 13.2 gal for $36.97.We made it through Chicago border with several “discussions” We called Chester where we were near the area to let them know where we were. He gave us some directions that were different from the GPS.
After we got there Skip added a quart of oil at 168458.


Sunday October 14 54’ rainy and cool

It is rainy this morning and cool. Opps! We passed through a toll booth at mileage 168466. Now we will have to pay online. It was around 2001 Highway 90 where there is a big castle like structure. I need to check it out.
We just flew through another toll booth. Skip thought it was just an exit area.
We have seen hundreds of gray geese flying and in golf course like areas.
Just saw a big gravel truck with a Harley sticker on the back. We saw the Morton Salt Company. We had a time getting to Grant Park where route 66 sorta started. Round and round, where he stops nobody knows!
We finally left our “starting point” at 9:10. Ten minutes after scheduled time.
If I don’t get an ulcer from this navigator job, I will be surprised!! Whew!! Turn right, so he goes straight. Oh, Well! We will get there eventually.
There is the Cook County hospital. Boy is it big! I took a picture of it.
At 9:45 it is 168516. We forgot to record it when we left Chester’s place.
Oh, My goodness! What a tangle of directions! I say turn, he goes straight. I say go straight, he turns. Guess we are going the scenic route. But we finally get back on track.
We are stopped for gas in Bollingbook area at Barbaras Corners. 10:40. Mileage is 219.9 168545. $2.81 gal for regular.
We have stopped to take a picture of the Romeoville town sign north of Joliet. There is some discussion among town folk whether it is Juliet or Joliet. But with Romeoville north of Joliet, it seems obvious. Since Louis teaches that story to his class every year, we thought a picture would be good to have of each town. We had pulled into a McD’s to park while Skip took the picture and two guys came by to look at the car. They talked a bit and then we went on.
We stopped in Romeoville to go to church. It was a church about the size of our building originally but only had about 20 folks there. The service was good and the people very friendly. They hoped we were new in the area and would be staying. It is still raining.
We had lunch in Wilmington at the Launch Pad Café, where the Giant Missile man is standing. Skip took a picture of him there. After Skip went up to wait for our order, I noticed him outside talking to a couple with camera and microphone. My thought was some news team from a local paper had seen the car and decided to interview him. He had taken the mic from the fellow and was talking into it. It turned out that they were from Sweden taking route 66 also. They were documenting their trip and decided to add him to the movie.
We saw an Amtrak passenger train pass. We have seen lots of Amtrak stations.
In 7 hours we have driven 160 miles. Not good. I guess the stops have been more than realized. That is from Chicago.
We are nearing Funks Grove. After a lot of circling streets in town, we found our way back to the freeway area where we saw the Dixie Truckers Café and General store. While getting gas there, the Swedish couple came over to say hi again. We visited some. They are young and interesting. Their English is very good.
Her name is Annika and his is Magnus. She works as a clerk in a hospital managing communications and he is in the restaurant field, taking classes in wine and beverages. %They are driving a silver Chrysler 300 license plate .
Gas at 131 168675 $2.93 a gallon and $28.50. On the road again. At Mclean at 4:45. Gas in Sherman is down to $2.47 a gallon. 186714 at 5:45.
I wanted to stop and eat at the original Corn dog place called Cozy Dog but they were closed on Sunday . We are stopping at the route 66 hotel and Conference center. $64.95 plus tax. And that is with a discount for seniors. Yeiks!! We may be looking for a park bench before we are through! Ha ha!
The grill here is closed today so we drove down the road looking for a local cafe the clerk told us about. But we did not find it and came back to Arby’s and I got an Italian sub and came back to the room. That’s all for tonight. See you tomorrow!
 
 
route66trip
14 October 2007 @ 09:11 pm
Route 66 Miles - 232
Total Trip - 1657
Miles since engine rebuild - 2672
We had a relaxing day with Chester and his family. The engine has burned about one quart of oil in 1200 miles. That's probably OK for a new engine. The bright yellow oil container is visible draining oil into the engine.
Their House

We left in a drizzily rain and 54 degrees. It was a little dryer by the time we got to Chicago. We missed the toll booths because they look like freeway exits, so we're supposed to pay through the web. We missed our downtown exit, but soon made our way to Grant Park. We drove around it twice and didn't find a parking place, so I pulled over and got these photos in the tow-away zone.
Lake Michigan
Headed West

We drove two or three blocks and turned north to Adams Street, took Adams Street west, and then Ogden Avenue sourthwest into Cicero.
Adams at Ogden

Ann finally found our way out of Cicero into Romeoville.
Romeoville Sign
We passed the First Baptist Church of Romeoville at 11:00, so we did a quick 'u'-turn and visited them for Sunday worship. Then it was on to Joliet which may be a variant of Juliet. They don't seem to be sure.


Here is the famous Gemini Giant at the Launching Pad Drive-in in Wilmington. I met Annika and Magnus there. They are from Sweden and are making the Route 66 trip for their honeymoon. Then they will go on a cruise.
Gemini Giant

They found us while we were 'gassing up' at the old Dixie Truckers' Home in McLean and got to visit with Ann. The restaurant is a Dixie Diner now, I think.
Annika and Magnuss

The 'smiley face' water tank in Atlanta is for Becky.
Smiley Face Water Tank

We enjoyed a quiet ride along the old road through Springfield just a dusk and on the south side found the Route 66 Hotel and Conference Center at about 6:30.
 
 
route66trip
13 October 2007 @ 04:46 pm
Farewell Breakfast
Here we are at IHop with the kids having breakfast before we drove off on our Big Trip!

Juke Box
On Thursday we went to Webb City to eat at Bradbury and Bishop Delli . It was a neat place with lots of old fashioned stuff.

On the Pig Trail Scenic Byway
This is hiway 23 toward Turner Bend where Grady goes on his cycle week end each year. It has a river to float on and cottages to stay in. Great place!

Monk at AQ
Monk came along with us. I saw a place that told to buy the bobble head doll and take him along on our trip. We are to take pictures and send them along to them. This is the famous AQ Chicken Restaurant.
Rabbit Ranch Sign
These next pictures are self explained. See more of the area on Skip's site.
Rabbit Graveyard

VW Rabbit

Interstate Road Cut
This is a beautiful cut, sad one too, knowing they had to cut through a mountain to do it. One cut through we saw was the largest made, 90 feet tall.
 
 
 
 

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