Day 4: Pontiac to Springfield

Today's adventure started out at the Route 66 Museum and Hall of Fame in Pontiac, Illinois....yes Illinois...where we met Durelle and Marilyn Pritchard. Durelle met us at the door, and is very proud of their fairly new museum. Their Hall of Fame focuses primarily on the people that made Route 66 famous, the service men, gas station owners, and the like. These wonderful people were fascinated with the Flat boys and graciously posed with my guys for some pictures.

The people of the Route 66 Association of Illinois, and the merchants along the Mother Road, take great pride in their stretch of this highway. In Towanda, a portion of the original 2-lane road has been turned into a memory lane....a short section for pedestrian traffic only with newly planted trees, plaques, and information boards. As you step onto the road, there is a box with a spiral notebook to sign in. Looking through the pages, I am once again amazed at the number of people from countries far away that come here just to travel the historic pavement. Brochures are placed in boxes along the Memory Lane and are printed in German, Spanish, French and Japanese. Really gives you a sense of who is getting their kicks on Route 66!





If there is one disappointment, it is the obvious lack of Starbucks! When Hazel and I went to Virginia a few years ago, our progress could easily be monitored by tracking the Starbucks between Indy and Richmond, VA. I'm sure that we hit 90 percent of them. This trip, however, we have not seen a Starbucks since we escaped...er, left...Chicago. If I can't have my cigarettes, then I darn well want my coffee! But, let's not get started on the lack of nicotine. I've been good and have not complained, and fortunately, Hazel knows me well enough to recognize Marlboro withdrawal.





Route 66 hosts 3 Giants. There's the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, the Bunyon Giant (with his big, giant hot dot) in Atlanta, and a third one to be named later in Oklahoma. Dad and Mike like the Hot Dog Giant.

~Penny 8/5/07

"He lit a match...

To check the tank...

That's why they call him...

Skinless Frank...

Burma-Shave"

Yes, we are still in Illinois

Yes, we are still in Illinois.

We are staying at the Route 66 Motel in Springfield. It is a very cool location, like staying in a museum. Tomorrow I will put photos up of the hotel. Today, has been very very pleasant, the weather perfect, overcast and a little cooler. Illinois has so much to see historically and many of the small towns have embraced that heritage and started the process of rebuilding and restoring their towns.



This is Ruth Hieronymus. She is the Librarian at the Historic Octagonal Library in Atlanta, Illinois.







We stopped in Atlanta after being told by several people it was a MUST see. The Library is beautiful, old and loved. Ruth has lots of information about the history of the town, when she saw us walking around the town taking photos she opened the Library privately for us. We were very excited to meet her and learn more about the town. If you decide to do Route 66 stop and talk to Ruth. You will be glad you did.

Penny and I are having a great time meeting people and driving the legendary mother road. But every now and then we are attracted by small signs that takes us off the road. Today was another one of those days. We decided to take the road less traveled. Like this one, the long road with beautiful green over head and on either side, as far as we could see. At the end of the road, beautiful flowers, birds, butterflies and a nice place to take time to just sit and enjoy life.

Sometimes it is good to just take the time to slow down, get off the beaten path and enjoy what you find. Not having a schedule to adhere to has been a bit of a challenge for us to start, we keep thinking we need to hurry up. Then we see places like this or the deer that we watched yesterday and we realize, there is nowhere we have to be except home by labor day.

Hazel M. Walker

As we prepare for day 4, it's time to reflect on Day 3. Mike and Dad enjoyed the Historical Museum in Joliet as much as we did. Elaine (see Hazel's post) thought our Flat Boys were a hoot, and couldn't wait to stage the next photo.

I'm learning that Route 66ers are a fun lot of people. They all have a story to share, and each one leads you to the next stop. Of course, we are living the tourist dream. If it looks like a photo opportunity, we have to stop and snap a picture. My family will be happy to know that I'm getting better at the digital picture thing. You can almost always tell what I was aiming at by now. However, I'm no longer allowed to touch the GPS screen in Baby. Maybe by the time we head home, I'll be allowed to do that again.

The Flat Boys were delighted to stop at the Polka Dot Drive Inn! The two of them have certainly given this trip some added value. People will stop and stare as we unroll our doll, and when they realize that we are taking pictures, everyone has had a good laugh.

We met a couple yesterday that has come from the Netherlands to do Route 66! She had on an Elvis skirt, and sleevless top. Not wanting to stare, but doing so anyway, I found that she had a tatoo of Elvis on her arm! This is their 2nd trip on 66, and they are going to Tennessee when the finish so they can attend a Rock-a-billy festival. I was pretty blown away by that!

So, today we start Day 4....are we ever going to get out of Illinois? Stay tuned. Perhaps if we don't feel the need to buy food or drink at every diner/drive-in/speakeasy (that was sooo cool) we visit, we'll make better time. Although, my lesson learned yesterday was that "making time" is not the important thing right now. People come from all over the world to drive our Mother Road. I'm grateful that I have this opportunity to experience it and appreciate it myself.

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

Day Three: Just How Big is Illinois?

As we prepare to hit the road for Day Three, I have to ask myself, just how big is Illinois anyway?

Chicago was a blast, but then Hazel and I always have fun in Chicago. A lot of walking, a lot of shopping. Fortunately, this time, we did more walking than shopping. Just no place to put a lot of treasures in Baby. However, after a whole lot of walking, it was time to get this show on the road. The whole point of going to Chicago in the first place was to begin our trip at the "official" starting point. After several hours of wrong turns, closed streets (Lollapalooza was in town), rush hour traffic in downtown Chicago, we decided to give up the search for the starting intersection. Getting out of Chicago proved to be an adventure in itself, and after a few more wrong turns (how many times can you go past Division St anyway?!?!?), we stumbled upon our path.

Anyone who has traveled with me knows that although I can tell my left from my right, I'm map challenged! When we stopped for dinner at a really cool McDonald's in Romeoville, I discovered that the maps in our highly recommended travel guide are the original maps from 1933! No wonder our directions didn't match the maps!

Today's goal...maps! Real, 2007 maps!

Lessons Learned:
1. Don't panic, we don't have to be anywhere, or be responsible to anybody for 5 weeks!
2. Cinnamon Surge Nicorette gum will set your mouth on fire!
3. If you're going to stand along the side of the road with a life-sized doll, taking pictures of road signs, you've got to expect people to yell out their windows as they pass you by.

Chicago, how do we get out of here?

We found our way into Chicago, downtown to the Sheraton 4 Points. What we did not know, it is the weekend for Lalapalooza! Talk about a crowd! We spent the day walking, sightseeing, and doing a little shopping. Very little shopping, since we are driving Baby we can't buy anything, there is no place to carry it. All items will have to be shipped home! Wow, that is one way to learn to be selective.

We stopped at a Barnes and Noble and met a man named Mike, his photo is above,.....he too is a Route 66 enthusiast. He has traveled parts of it and highly recommends Flagstaff. Here is his picture, he was a great source of information. He also showed us a book on the history of the Lincoln National Road, or highway 30. I think that could be our next road trip, or maybe highway 40.

We had lunch at Rosebuds, I would highly recommend it. The food and the service were excellent. After lunch we went back to the hotel, picked up the car and headed out of town, around town, back and forth across town, how the hell do we get out of downtown! Oh look, it is the hotel again!!!! Imagine that.

Tonight we stay in Joliet Ill. Stay tuned will we make it out of Illinois?

Hazel M. Walker

Day One

We are on the road! We stopped by Penny's Moms house. She took a picture of us with the Flat Bob, a replica of her dad. He really wanted to take this trip with us so she made a Flat Bob, and a Flat Mike, her husband. You will be seeing more of them!

We left Indianapolis at 3pm and arrived in Chicago around 6:30pm. We made great time. Baby handles so well on the interstate you are doing 80-85 without even being aware of it.

We got to Chicago, no reservations so we had to search a little to find a hotel with a room available. We finally found a room at the Sheraton 4 Seasons. Nice room great location. Tomorrow we will spend the day in Chicago. We are not far from where Route 66 Starts.

Tomorrow I will attempt to upload pictures again. Seems there is a problem tonight and I can't get them to up load.

It is an odd feeling to know that know one is expecting me, I have no schedule, no where to be and nothing to really do. Penny and I can stay in Chicago as long as we want there are not time schedules. Wow!

Until tomorrow,

Hazel M. Walker