Friday, August 3, 2007

Day Three, still in Illinois

We have gone 80 miles today. Tonight we are at the Comfort Inn in Pontiac Illinois. I was certain we would make it out of Illinois but Penny and I keep being distracted. We have met some great people.

Elaine is the manager of the Joliet Historical Museum. She is a wealth of information with maps, information, and connections. She certainly knows how to connect her network to everyone who comes to her shop. This is a great place to start your trip on Route 66. We could never get to the beginning because Grant Park was closed in Chicago. Elaine told us about Scott who use to be the manager for Muddy Waters, now he owns a store and makes Route 66 Root Beer. She was also able to tell us which hotels had washers and dryers, which other sites we needed to visit, and gave us great maps. Thanks Elaine for the Batteries for my camera, they are great.
Scott, past manager of Muddy Waters, has a great store in Wilmington. He has a private formula for Root Beer, lots of great stuff, and some great Muddy Water Memorabilia. He loves Route 66 and recommended the Riviera as a place to visit. It was the speak easy of Al Capone. It was a very interesting place.

A time to pause. We really do not have anywhere to be................or anyone expecting us to be there. No time schedules, no pressure. So we took time to pause, sit by the river Kankakee, enjoy the quiet and these little deer were enjoying the same solitude.
I think we will make it to Springfield tomorrow.
Have a great day!
Hazel M. Walker

2 comments:

KimIndy said...

I am so thrilled you are taking time to visit with folks who will make this journey the most memorable and to rest along side the river too. Reminds me of a song...(forgive my singing voice).."gonna lay down my burdens, down by the riverside, down by the riverside, down by the riverside. Gonna lay down my sword and shield down by the riverside..." I sound better with back-up ..LOL

Shirley said...

I'm sooooooo envious!! What a thrilling trip this is going to be for the two of you!