While we sit here in Rio Rancho until the Balloon Fiesta I thought I would regale you with some interesting and quirky things we have encountered on our trip so far. And the only way that I could keep them straight is by doing them in state order. But I need to let you know that I am working with two books and trying to see as much as we can is a little difficult. Our main book is an excellent one that takes you step by step through this journey as we travel '66, but sometimes he does go off route if there is something he thinks is worthy of discovery. Our second book does the same thing, but not with the same detail. The only problem I have with going "further afield" is that the directions are a little sketchy in that they will say "west of town on route such-n-such you will find so-n-so. Problem with that is they do not put in the mileage or any other focus point for you to look for. So we have probably missed quite a few things. Also, like I said in my last post, if we stopped at every museum and/or antique shop they suggest we would be on the road for months! Now with that said, let's go!
Illinois:
They love their "three giant brothers" in this state. If you have ever seen large or giant statues of men that look like Paul Bunyan holding an axe or a muffler or something like that, that is what these "giants" are. And they are well loved here. One is dressed in a spacesuit, one holds a hot dog and the third holds an American flag.
There are few places where original '66 is abandoned, but you walk (or drive) on some of it. The concrete is cracked and grass is coming up through the cracks giving it a very depressed look, and it goes parallel with the newer section of '66.
Bloomington is the home of McLean Stevenson of M*A*S*H and his cousin Adlai Stevenson, but you would never know because there is no notifications that we could see. BUT it is also the world's sole source of BEER NUTS!!!!!
We took a side trip just so we could go by the town of Funks Grove. I mean how many times can you see a place called Funks Grove? Also they are the home of Funks Grove Maple SIRIP (correct spelling), sold since 1891.
Springfield we already told you about the Abe Lincoln stuff, but we didn't tell you about having lunch at the Cozy Drive-In. So what you say? Well, I will have you know that the Cozy Drive-In is home to the original CORN DOG!
The Luna Café in Mitchell has it's history with the gangsters including Al Capone. Also gambling and "ladies of the night" were in residence there and the neon sign out front would tell when the "ladies" were there by lighting the "cherry" on the sign.
Missouri:
Stanton is home to the Meramec Caverns ((which were advertised for MILES before ever reaching them) and the Jesse James Wax Museum. They claim the outlaw didn't die in 1881, but in 1952 under the name J. Frank Dalton.
Bourbon tickled me when we saw the huge water tower with just the word Bourbon on it. Imagine a whole tower full of bourbon!
In Buckhorn another sign got me giggling - there is an adult bookstore by the road and a sign that advertises it and right below the sign is a bowling pin (with no bowling alley in sight) - go figure.
Marshfield is the hometown of Dr. Edwin Hubble, the astronomer and namesake of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Kansas:
This was the shortest route that '66 took. It is only 13 miles on the Southwest corner of the state.
In Baxter Springs there is Murphy's Restaurant hitch is housed in the former Baxter National Bank. Checks are positioned under the glass table tops and the ladies room is the former bank vault.
Oklahoma;
Commerce was the former hometown of Mickey Mantle. Unfortunately there has been no push to point this out at all. There is a little league field named after his dad, Mutt and the book mentions his former "home" address, but there is nothing there. There is also supposed to be a small display in a park commemorates a local constable who was killed by Bonnie and Clyde. We found the park and where the display would have been, but everything was gone from it.
Miami (say My-am-uh) is a remnant of the 9-foot Hwy AKA Sidewalk Hwy, Ribbon Rd. It's only 9 feet wide, made of concrete with curbs and asphalted over was paved in 1922. The book said that some sections were bumpy and gravelly. HA, most of the road was gone and only dirt remained. We did find some concrete sections towards the end, but remember that we are in the Corvette. Needless to say, the car got a little dirty that day. It was an experience though.
Vinita we stopped and ate at Clintons Café which has been owned by the same family since 1927. In fact the son, grandson and niece were working there that day. The World's Largest McDonald's is there and it crosses over the I-44 freeway (all lanes). It was a rather awesome sight! We missed the World's' Largest Calf-Fry Festival too. That was in mid-Sept. You do know what a calf-fry is, right?
Chelsea has the honor of being the home of a vintage house mail-ordered from the Sears catalogue in 1913. They even take tours by appointment so you can see inside.
Andy Payne is honored in his hometown of Foil as the winner of the 1928 Bunion Derby - the transcontinental foot race from LA to NYC that followed all of US 66.
Claremore is all about Will Rogers. Museum, Blvd, Hwy, and statue.
Erick is the hometown of the singers Roger Miller and Sheba Woolley who sang Purple People Eater. There is a Roger Miller museum in this tiny town.
Texas
Second shortest alignment of '66 at only 178 miles of the original. Now about 150 miles remain.
Shamrock has it's own piece of the Blarney Stone from Ireland..
Conway has it's version of Cadillac Ranch (in Amarillo next to I-40 where Cadillac cars are buried nose first into the ground then graffitied) with Bug Ranch. Instead of Cadillac's buried, it's VW bugs. Karl was rather offended since he still owns his first VW.
Adrian is billed as midpoint on '66. It has a small display roadside, a café and gift shop.
Glenrio is basically a ghost town now. It was bypassed by I-40 and so it died. There was good picture taking shots there and there is one house still occupied. In the town there is the ruins of the Texas Longhorn Motel and as we were entering the town here comes a couple from the front of the motel where they staged a photo op with the women waiting at the front of the motel with a suitcase!
New Mexico:
Tucumcari is still a busy town, but it has a lot of old '66 remains. And that brings us to Rio Rancho after going through downtown Albuquerque.
When we leave here we will be continuing to Arizona, drop down into Phoenix to see our building project in Surprise and then back up to Flagstaff to finish '66 into Santa Monica, CA. So stay tuned and we will move in about a month. See ya!!
Monday, September 15, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Route 66 - Part 2
When we left St, Louis many of our readers were afraid that we were going to go by Ferguson, but no worries - we went around the east of town where Ferguson is on the upper left of town. So we were off!
Going on this journey has really been a great tour through earlier times and a slower way of life. You don't realize how much the interstate has taken away from just a slower pace of life. Towns which probably were once thriving are almost to the point of total abandonment due to the diversion of the main traffic. We see businesses closed and buildings in ruin, houses deserted and families gone, industry closed and money lost. Mother Natures has taken back many places that once was alive and vibrant. On the other hand we have crossed bridges that have been in use since the early 1900's and are still being used today
For the most part we have been following an interstate through the states, but some places we are paralleling the original abandoned '66. It is usually cracked and the grass is coming through the pavement. It is a melancholy feeling looking at that concrete road. I wish I could post some pictures, but only using a tablet makes it a little tough. I do have plans to put a lot of these pictures in a book so if you ever get close to us I will show them to you.
Right now we are in Amarillo and are only about 300+ miles from our house in New Mexico. We are planning on staying there until, after the balloon fiesta which ends the 2nd weekend of October. Then we will drive down to Phoenix to see our building project on our RV lot for a few days then continue our '66 journey in Flagstaf. For those who are wondering, we left Chicago on Sep. 3, had two stops where we stayed for 2 nights and now it's Sep. 10. So we have traveled about 1100 miles in 6 days (but we haven't stopped at a lot of the places they suggest because you can only see so many museums until they start looking the same.)
Friday, September 5, 2014
Route 66-And Away We Go!
Start - 9/3/2014, 8:44am, 16,835 miles on the odometer
We left Chicago and started our journey down Route 66 in the Corvette. Of course our first stop was to have breakfast at the famous Lou Mitchell's on Jackson St. What makes them so famous is that they have been doing business on the same block since 1928! So of course it has been a staple for route 66 travelers to start (or end) they trip there. They greet you with fresh donut holes no matter what time you show up. They are famous for their fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice, homemade bread, fresh made orange marmalade and breakfasts that will fill up the heaviest eater. I asked about their omelets and the waitress said that they use 3 eggs, but it comes out to be about 4.5 eggs all together. So being the lighter eater that I am I ordered two eggs and she put down 1 egg! So I was a little suspicious. But when she brought it to the table the 1 egg almost equaled 2.5 eggs. Plus they give you toast and potatoes! Then at the end of the meal they give you a petite bowl of ice cream to "cleanse the palate". Chicago wasn't as bad as we thought or were told it was. We walked the streets and felt very safe. It isn't as congested as New York City and not as crowded.
As we continued down the road we made wrong turns, u-turns and not even close turns (thank God for my smart phone and Google maps!) But we always got back on track. One funny thing happened in Joliet, Illinois. Firstly Illinois is very proud of their 3 "giants" on 66. They are statues that were created in the early 1950's and you would recognize the mold of them as they are the large man that usually holds a muffler in his hands in from of a garage. Well, Illinois has three of them: one is a spaceman, one holds a hot dog and one holds an American flag.
We have gone through towns with names like: Romeoville, Elwood (where the Blues Brothers took that name for John Belushi's character), Chenoa (which is just a spot in the road now), Shirley, Funks Grove that sells maple SIRUP, McLean where Adilai Stevenson and his cousin McLean Stevenson who paid Coronel Blakes on the M*A*S*H Tv series were born and Atlanta with it's big smiley face water tower.
We arrived in Springfield, Illinois where it is all about Abe Lincoln. We started by having lunch at the Cozy Dog drive-in. What is so special about that you ask? Well, that is where the corn dog was first invented and served! We then went to visit Lincoln's tomb a little outside of town in Oak Creek Cemetery. It is a very impressive place outside and inside. The inside is all marble and very well maintained. As you walk through the hall to his tomb you can see how much this man was loved because of the care that was taken in building the whole building. He is buried under the big marble square and his wife, Mary and three of his sons are buried in the wall opposite of him. His oldest son, Robert is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Then we went to his museum and spent almost three hours there. It is split into four parts. Journey 1 is his life from growing up in Kentucky and getting into politics. Journey 2 is his journey through his presidency and assassination. Then there are two short movies. Next door is the library that is just as big if not bigger than the museum.
Today we were traveling through a lot of corn fields going on the old roads of 66 that aren't used anymore since a better highway was built. We even found a 1.4 mile stretch of road that was brick! Our last major stop today was at the St. Louis Arch. We took a tramcar up to the top of the 630 foot arch and could see forever! We tried to get to it about 7 years ago, but weather forced us to forgo that. And after driving in St. Louis we both agreed that we are NOT city people - never have been, never will be. We are in Pacific, Missouri tonight and will be in Springfield, Missouri tomorrow. As you can see we aren't in any hurry!
We left Chicago and started our journey down Route 66 in the Corvette. Of course our first stop was to have breakfast at the famous Lou Mitchell's on Jackson St. What makes them so famous is that they have been doing business on the same block since 1928! So of course it has been a staple for route 66 travelers to start (or end) they trip there. They greet you with fresh donut holes no matter what time you show up. They are famous for their fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice, homemade bread, fresh made orange marmalade and breakfasts that will fill up the heaviest eater. I asked about their omelets and the waitress said that they use 3 eggs, but it comes out to be about 4.5 eggs all together. So being the lighter eater that I am I ordered two eggs and she put down 1 egg! So I was a little suspicious. But when she brought it to the table the 1 egg almost equaled 2.5 eggs. Plus they give you toast and potatoes! Then at the end of the meal they give you a petite bowl of ice cream to "cleanse the palate". Chicago wasn't as bad as we thought or were told it was. We walked the streets and felt very safe. It isn't as congested as New York City and not as crowded.
As we continued down the road we made wrong turns, u-turns and not even close turns (thank God for my smart phone and Google maps!) But we always got back on track. One funny thing happened in Joliet, Illinois. Firstly Illinois is very proud of their 3 "giants" on 66. They are statues that were created in the early 1950's and you would recognize the mold of them as they are the large man that usually holds a muffler in his hands in from of a garage. Well, Illinois has three of them: one is a spaceman, one holds a hot dog and one holds an American flag.
We have gone through towns with names like: Romeoville, Elwood (where the Blues Brothers took that name for John Belushi's character), Chenoa (which is just a spot in the road now), Shirley, Funks Grove that sells maple SIRUP, McLean where Adilai Stevenson and his cousin McLean Stevenson who paid Coronel Blakes on the M*A*S*H Tv series were born and Atlanta with it's big smiley face water tower.
We arrived in Springfield, Illinois where it is all about Abe Lincoln. We started by having lunch at the Cozy Dog drive-in. What is so special about that you ask? Well, that is where the corn dog was first invented and served! We then went to visit Lincoln's tomb a little outside of town in Oak Creek Cemetery. It is a very impressive place outside and inside. The inside is all marble and very well maintained. As you walk through the hall to his tomb you can see how much this man was loved because of the care that was taken in building the whole building. He is buried under the big marble square and his wife, Mary and three of his sons are buried in the wall opposite of him. His oldest son, Robert is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Then we went to his museum and spent almost three hours there. It is split into four parts. Journey 1 is his life from growing up in Kentucky and getting into politics. Journey 2 is his journey through his presidency and assassination. Then there are two short movies. Next door is the library that is just as big if not bigger than the museum.
Today we were traveling through a lot of corn fields going on the old roads of 66 that aren't used anymore since a better highway was built. We even found a 1.4 mile stretch of road that was brick! Our last major stop today was at the St. Louis Arch. We took a tramcar up to the top of the 630 foot arch and could see forever! We tried to get to it about 7 years ago, but weather forced us to forgo that. And after driving in St. Louis we both agreed that we are NOT city people - never have been, never will be. We are in Pacific, Missouri tonight and will be in Springfield, Missouri tomorrow. As you can see we aren't in any hurry!
Monday, September 1, 2014
Trip Beginnings
We have started the next phase of our summer traveling! After driving 1,937 miles in 4 days we arrived in Bowling Green, Kentucky for our first stop of our journey. We went there to take the factory tour of the Corvette factory that we didn't get to take when we picked up our car in 2013. Problem is along with ourselves there were over 6,000 other cars at the museum! Have you ever seen 6000 Corvettes together at one time? It was an awesome sight, believe me! Every place that had room to park, it was filled. Cars from the 1950's up to and including the new 2014's were there. Blue, white, red, black gray - with stripes, without stripes, with chrome wheels, or aluminum, or black - convertibles, T-tops and half-tops. Our tour was fantastic. Usually a regular tour consists of 15-20 people and 1 guide with no sound assist for their voice so it's very difficult to hear them in a large and noisy factory. Since we picked our car up at the factory last year we were to get a VIP tour which only takes 6-8 people. We actually got a better tour since the van left the museum without us and another couple. They immediately came back with another guide and the four of us had our tour.
The next day we took off to our next stop (which really started this whole 66 trip). We went to Nashville for a Gold Wing (motorcycle) get-together. That is what we started to talk about doing during the beginning of the year, then added the Corvette tour and when I found out that Karl had a bucket list item of driving Route 66 it all came together. Anyways, this second stop was just time to be other Gold Wing riders from all over the US. We stayed at the Opryland Hotel which was a beautiful place with all sorts of Southern charm. We went to the Grand Ol Opry one night and on the General Jackson paddlewheeler showboat on another.
Today we moved towards our third stop and are in Indianapolis on our way to Chicago to start Route 66 on Wednesday. Everyone has asked us how long do we plan on being on it and our honest answer is we really don't know. It is 2400 miles and most people have done it in about 2 weeks. Our goal is just to really take our time and stop to see what we want for as long as we want. We have no plans on where to stop or for how long. This trip is kinda freaking Karl out because he doesn't like to be spontaneous. He wants to know where, when , how, etc. My answer is stop planning for once!
Oh, and for those keeping - we only had one problem when we left on this trip. I had forgotten something at the CA house and we had to go back to get it, but we were only a block away.
Stay tuned!!!
The next day we took off to our next stop (which really started this whole 66 trip). We went to Nashville for a Gold Wing (motorcycle) get-together. That is what we started to talk about doing during the beginning of the year, then added the Corvette tour and when I found out that Karl had a bucket list item of driving Route 66 it all came together. Anyways, this second stop was just time to be other Gold Wing riders from all over the US. We stayed at the Opryland Hotel which was a beautiful place with all sorts of Southern charm. We went to the Grand Ol Opry one night and on the General Jackson paddlewheeler showboat on another.
Today we moved towards our third stop and are in Indianapolis on our way to Chicago to start Route 66 on Wednesday. Everyone has asked us how long do we plan on being on it and our honest answer is we really don't know. It is 2400 miles and most people have done it in about 2 weeks. Our goal is just to really take our time and stop to see what we want for as long as we want. We have no plans on where to stop or for how long. This trip is kinda freaking Karl out because he doesn't like to be spontaneous. He wants to know where, when , how, etc. My answer is stop planning for once!
Oh, and for those keeping - we only had one problem when we left on this trip. I had forgotten something at the CA house and we had to go back to get it, but we were only a block away.
Stay tuned!!!
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