April 22-24

Wow, what a couple of days.   We drove through so many small towns these few days on Route 66  like: Joliet, Elwood, Braidwood, Godley, Garner, Dwight, Odell, Pontiac, Chenoa, Lexington, Towanda, Normal, Wilmington, Funks Grove, Shirley, McLean, Alanta, Lincoln, Broadwell, Elkhart, Williamsville, Lexington, Bloomington, Springfield, Virden, Girard, Gillespie, Litchfield, Mt Olive, Livingston, Staunton, Granite City and Collinsville (wow, my fingers are tired listing all these towns) all on the pavement the original Mother Road took.  Some roads were in better shape than others.  One road had been defaced by a turkey when the concrete was poured.

dead mans curve

turkey tracks

We took so many pictures of the roadside landmarks like the famous giants.  I guess you can say we had a thing for them

Other novelties:

Numerus signage:

Old gas stations:

Lincoln Library and Home:

Famous Cozy Dog drive in (home of the first corn dog) 

And so much more:

It has been pretty exciting to be able to be on this road but there was never a straight road and so many crazy turns.  Illinois is the first state of our travels on Route 66, sure hope the road gets a little straight as we work our way west.  The pictures are endless, but I will try to keep it to a minimum, not 😊.

 

 

 

April 20-21

Route 66 was established in 1926, it spanned 2400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica Pier linking the Midwest of California   Known as the “Mother Road” it was crucial for the 1930’s Dust Bowl migration and WWII military mobilization.  Route 66 connected rural towns to major cities, connecting, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.   Officially decommission in 1985 after the interstate Highway System made it obsolete, but it still remains a crucial icon.  Many of the portions of Route 66 have been replaced by Interstate 55, 40 and others but some of these Interstates are the original road.  There are also sections that have been totally abandoned or no longer exist.    

This year is the 100^th anniversary of Route 66. We thought this would be a great adventure to be a part of its centennial celebration and travel it from its start to end.  We research like crazy to see what parts of Historic Route 66 that we could actually travel/drive on and where we would have to hop on the Interstate.  On this journey we will also be able to see many of the iconic landmarks and businesses.  Some businesses are still in operation and others were victims of the Interstate system that now bypasses them.

Our journey begins in Chicago where we had to locate the original Route 66 start sign.  It was located on the corner of S. Adams and Michigan Ave.  So we played frogger in the traffic to get that perfect picture.  

While in the city we decided to play tourist and went to Millennium Park, home of the huge silver bean, went to the 106^th floor of the Willis Tower AKA Sears Tower, rode the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier and then enjoyed a fantastic lunch at Berghoffs restaurant.  This restaurant opened its doors in 1898 and was a primary stop for travelers starting or ending their journey on the Mother Road.

Special note: We don’t ever plan on driving into Chicago again.  We spent 1 ½ hours to get into the city and another 2 hours just trying to escape. We decided that the city planners just through a pot of spaghetti in the air and wherever it landed they built a road.