One journey ends... another begins...

Sorry for the delay on getting this day's blog up...

We were back on schedule staying at Barstow and we were looking forward to finishing up the 66 Tour. 2 weeks prior - we never thought that we would of finished (or even on time) and now the end was in sight.

After breakfast at IHOP, we checked out and headed out of town. The next 35 miles or so were along side the Santa Fe Railroad and went through the towns of Hodge, Helendale, and Oro Grande. The drive was fairly uneventful as we headed into Victorville. There, we stopped at the California Route 66 Museum. It was a really nice museum and had preserved signs and relics of not just Route 66, but the town of Victorville as well.

At this point, we ended back on the Interstate for the last time heading over the Cajon Summit and Cajon Junction. There are older 66 segments around this area; however, they are difficult to get to. We then drove into San Bernardino and took the turn West on Foothill Blvd.

We stayed on Foothill and drove through Rialto, Fontana, and Rancho Cucamonga; taking a break for lunch at In-n-Out Burger (first time ever for Ilana... YUM...). Except for a loop tour of Glendora... we basically stayed on Foothill to Pasadena. On Foothill, we started to hit our first taste of LA traffic... mainly due to the timing (or lack thereof) of traffic lights.

In Pasadena, after a stretch on Colorado Blvd. (which is also where the Rose Parade floats), we turned on the Arroyo Pkwy/Arroyo Seco Pkwy. The Arroyo Seco (1940) is a really nice parkway; however, since it was built for slower speeds... it can make it a very interesting ride for today's vehicles.

Luckly, we hit this at a good time and got off at Sunset Blvd which took us to Santa Monica Blvd. Once again, we hit multiple traffic lights and increased traffic flow as we went through parts of LA, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills (catching a glimpse of the Hollywood sign through some light smog/haze).

The last stretch was on Santa Monica Blvd. into Santa Monica proper and ended the trip at Olympic and Lincoln Blvds. This definitely felt like the longest day on the road... especially when you consider that we were on 66 for about 7 hours today (including lunch) and only drove around 150 miles!

After a quick drive south, we parked and took a quick walk along the beach here. It was quick because the weather here was fairly cool (upper 60s) and windy. We then got back in the car and headed north to our hotel near LAX. For $99 per night, this suite room is really nice... and will be our home for the next 3 nights (leaving on Monday morning).

Oh yeah... one other thing occurred that evening


I figured that, if she could put up with me for 2 weeks on the road... :)

We'll post some thoughts on what we did and think about LA... and then some final thoughts about the trip.

We have reached Terminus...

... at least, the Western Terminus of 66.

At approximately 4:10pm PDT, we arrived at the intersection of Lincoln Blvd & Olympic Blvd; the western end of Route 66 (as of 1936). Contrary to popular belief, Route 66 never made it to the Santa Monica Pier or even Ocean Avenue... or even within sight of the ocean or beach.

Simply put, the official end was kind of unsatisfying - especially after almost 3,000 miles on the car and being on the road for 12 days (including 2 1/2 in Santa Fe/Los Alamos).

The day's official blog will be posted, as usual, tomorrow; but we wanted to let people know that we are here.

I&J

No officer...we aren't selling crack

We began our morning in the same place we left off...the Grand Canyons Cavern Inn. We decided to be brave and try the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. It was much, much better than dinner had been the previous night. With our bellies happy, we packed up the car, and headed west on 66. We quickly came to the town of Peach Springs, which gave us a view of, believe it or not, the Grand Canyon! It was a quick view, and we could only see the rim, but it was a view!

At the next town, Truxton, we took a picture of the sign that boasts having all of the cities listed in the song "Route 66", but to us there seemed to be a few missing. We drove through Valentine into Hackberry - whose only building was the fun to visit Hackberry General Store.

Kingman was our next stop, and we took a short side trip on old 66 that now ends at a motocross track. We also topped off the gas tank in anticipation of our trek up the mountains to Oatman. We should say that Ilana had not really been looking forward to this part of the trip. She is not overly fond of heights - especially heights with little to no guardrails! But, she did a great job, and didn't worry too much about falling off of the mountain. The drive begins easily enough, but soon there are a lot of switchbacks, curvy turns, and steep climbs. However, we both quickly realized that the drive was well worth it. By taking this route, we got to see the newly rebuilt Cool Springs store and camp (well, it was closed-so the outside anyway) and also the ruins of Ed's Camp. It was here that we saw our one and only Saguaro cactus - something Ilana had been really excited about. We also stopped at Sitgreaves Pass and took a picture of the road we had just come up! It was all downhill from here into Oatman, but that didn't make the road any less dangerous. Especially because on the way down the mountain, we saw the remains of a very old car wreck. It appears the car simply drove off of the cliff - and the rusted shell still remains where it fell. We wanted to stop and take a picture, but there was no pull-off and there were people right behind us. Thankfully, in just a few miles, we pulled into Oatman.

Neither of us had really been prepared for Oatman, but we ended up having more fun here than we had imagined. The town is basically one street, with buildings dating to the early 1900's. But, the strangest thing about the town are the wild burros that roam the streets trying to get food from the tourists. You can buy carrots and feed at about every shop in town, and the burros definitely know it. They were cute and friendly, and it was still an odd sight. We also managed to get into town just before high noon, and we were able to see a Wild West gunfight re-enactment. We also took a quick tour of the Oatman Hotel and Cafe, which is home to the famous ghost of "Oatie." We also snapped a pic of the room that Clark Gable and Carol Lombard shared after their wedding during the filming of Gone With the Wind.

Next, it was finally time to enter California. This was a very bittersweet moment for us. On one hand, we are finally happy to be reaching the end of the journey, but on the other hand, we are having such a good time we don't want the trip to end. Once we entered California, we took a quick side trip on an older part of 66 (how it used to come into CA) that now ends at a PG&E plant. There is still a sign standing that welcomes travelers to Route 66 that we wanted to take a picture of. It was while we were parked here that a very nice Environmental Ranger asked us what we were doing there. We explained that we simply wanted to take a picture, and she seemed a little disappointed to not have caught us doing some sort of illicit act.

After getting back on the interstate and going through the inspection station, we got off on the next exit and headed into Needles. We stopped for lunch at the Hungry Bear and then, with bellies happy once again, we headed (once again) briefly on and off the Interstate. We then traveled on a pre-1931 section of Route 66 that was a very lonely stretch of the Mojave Desert. There was no services for at least 40 miles... and possibly further.

After taking some pictures at Cadiz Summit (site of a cafe/station/garage... now just foundation walls heavily graffitied), we headed down the hill and through the town of Amboy. The biggest thing here was the sign of Roy's Cafe and Motel; however, it looked to be closed (possibly being restored).

We then passed the Amboy Crater - which definitely looked out of place with the desert scrub and mountains in the background. Passing through Ludlow and Newberry Springs, we got back on the Interstate near the Marine Corps Logistics Base and then headed into Barstow; where we had a ok Italian dinner (we are spoiled with our local place) and called it a night at the Days Inn here (not before posting a blog update).

Onto LA ... and the traffic that awaits us!

I&J

Live from the Days Inn in Barstow, California...

... this is a blog update. Your regularly scheduled blog entry will occur tomorrow morning.

Two things that we have forgotten to mention over the past couple of days.

First - Trains... up through most of New Mexico, we did not see any train traffic. In fact, most of the railways that we passed are for railroads that do not exist anymore.

However, in Arizona and California... we have seen enough train traffic to make up for the difference. Most of these have been very long trains with either the containers for tractor-trailers or the trailers themselves. We have seen this occur for both east & west-bound trains... and we could not tell if the containers/trailers were empty or not.

Our guess is that the trailers going east are coming from the California ports full of non-perishable goods. They are shipped via train to central locations where they are put on tractor-trailers, who take the goods the rest of the way. Empty containers are then loaded back on trains and sent to the ports to repeat the process. (Anyone know for sure?)

The other topic that we failed to mention is Wildlife. While we have mentioned Armadillos & Turtles in the past... the one animal that we have seen and failed to mention was prairie dogs. We saw a bunch of these yesterday in Arizona. At first, we thought they were squirrels or large chipmunks; however, we quickly realized what we were seeing. What was also interesting was that this sighting was only on a couple of miles of road... none before or since.

More tomorrow..

I&J

It's Log... It's Log...

it's big, it's heavy, it's petrified wood! - Bonus points for those that get the reference.

Today was a great day - we saw a lot and took a lot of pictures (definitely more than the previous day). Started out with waking up and having the continental breakfast at the Adobe Inn. Overall, we liked the place and the trains that seemed to go by every 10-15 minutes or so didn't bother us that much.

We then back-tracked a bit and went to the South Entrance of the Petrified Forest National Park. After going through the visitor center and walking on a loop trail for a little bit, we headed North on the main park road. The view was nice... some interesting formations and, of course, petrified wood spread across the park. One of the highlights on this southern part of the road was the petroglyphs that were near an old pueblo; one of them seemingly being a large bird or stork eating a man!

Once we crossed over I-40, the next stop was where 66 went through the park. Except for the roadside sign and the row of old telephone poles, you couldn't see much of the old road at all. At this point, we entered the Painted Desert portion of the park; actually, the whole area is considered Painted Desert... but it is this area that people most associate with the name. WOW! The views were great and our pictures probably will not do it any justice.

After a quick rest stop, we headed out of the park and back on the Interstate; partially retracing our path from the previous early evening. Just off of a 5-mile spur of old 66 was our next stop - Stewart's Rock Shop. Very cheesy... complete with female mannequins being eaten by dinosaurs and a very crowded gift shop. One highlight here - Ostriches!

We then went back through Holbrook and stopped for lunch at Joe & Aggie's Cafe. It was a good meal, despite the fact that Jeff's chicken tacos were bland. Ilana liked the salsa a lot so we purchased a bottle. However, it is very possible that it won't last the next couple of days ... so we may have to use it up on the road.

After going on and off the interstate for about 15 miles... we next stopped at the Jackrabbit Trading Post. As you tell by the picture... where else can you sit on a giant jackrabbit? The gift shop was also neat - we both bought a shirt (tied at 3 a piece) and took pictures of the billboard outside declaring "Here It Is!". One side note, as we were leaving, we saw a trucker leave the shop with a brown paper bag. We can only hope that it was soda and not alcohol inside the bag; but were thankful none the less when he headed East on the Interstate while we continued West.

10 or so miles up the interstate, we went through the town of Winslow. 66 went through the city on two different routes, so we made it a loop. We were both surprised at the overall size (or length thereof) of the city and the business along the route. While we had hoped to stop and take a picture of "Standin' on the Corner", the construction fence, equipment, lack of parking, and the overall traffic in the area made this impossible to accomplish.

We then drove passed the ruins of Two Guns and Twin Arrows. These were former towns along the route, but nothing exists of them today. We then went through Winona, and into Flagstaff. We had talked about staying here overnight previously, but since it was fairly early still, we decided to keep driving. Flagstaff is a beautiful city. It reminded us more of being in the Rocky Mountains than being in Arizona. However, the cool year-round temperatures would keep us from ever living there!

After Flagstaff, we drove our first of two gravel options for the day. The gravel road was well maintained, and took us through the small town of Parks. We then went on our second gravel road of the afternoon, which took us down Deer Farm Road, and to a very unique petting zoo. We decided to stop here, and paid our admission and bought a cup of food for the deer. We were only allowed to feed the deer, llamas, and miniature cows, as all of the other animals were on a restricted diet. However, the deer are pretty aggressive when it comes to food, and it didn't last very long! We also saw buffalo, other types of deer, reindeer, birds, miniature donkeys, and marmosets. What a fun stop!

Our next town was Williams, which is notable mostly because it is considered the "jumping off" point to the Grand Canyon. Like Winslow, we drove through town both ways to see all of it. We then drove through Ash Fork, and then we were able to get off of I-40 for the rest of the day (and part of the next, as well!). We drove through Seligman, and then finally stopped at Grand Canyon Caverns for the night. The hotel also has a restaurant, which provided adequate food last night. We ordered from the menu, but most people choose the overpriced buffet. We will try their breakfast shortly! We are up a little earlier than planned due to LOUD kids outside our room this morning. Oh well - on to California today!

Ilana and Jeff

On the road again...

Today was another of our long driving days as we went south to Albuquerque and west to Holbrook, Arizona. While we did a couple of side trips, much of our time was spent on the interstate, and there weren't a ton of picture opportunities.

We began the morning though with excellent breakfast burritos at a local spot called ChiliWorks. We then headed back down the mountain and into Santa Fe to pick up 66. We followed 66 and the interstate to our first side trip - La Bajada Hill. The actual hill is too treacherous to drive without a 4-wheel drive vehicle, but you can still drive to the base. This was old dirt 66 than ran all the way to Santa Fe. The pictures don't really do it justice - we were awed that cars once made it up that mesa!

From there, we drove through downtown Albuquerque, and mailed the next postcard. Downtown seemed to be a nice area, but unfortunately we did not have a lot of time to explore. We continued our drive through southern suburbs, including Los Lunas, and then continued through Laguna, Paraje, and Budville. At Budville, we had to take a slight detour to Cubero because the road was closed, but we ended up at our next scheduled town, Villa Cubero, with no problems.

After this, we began to notice new rock formations. These are called "malpais" and are rocks created from ancient lava flows. They were especially noticeable at the next town, McCarty's, but they dotted the landscape for the rest of the day.

The next major town was Grants, New Mexico, and we stopped here for lunch. This was a fairly new restaurant called "Chili Kicks on Route 66" but the food was good. Jeff had tacos, and Ilana had a sopapilla that had been stuffed with meat and beans, and had plenty of red chili sauce. While the food was tasty, the service definitely left something to be desired.

After we had filled our tummies, it was back into the car, and we were able to stay on 66 all the way into Arizona. We stopped at the Continental Divide - the point in the United States where water begins flowing towards the Pacific Ocean, rather than the Gulf of Mexico.

Our next stop was Gallup, New Mexio. We did a side trip here that took us downtown. This is a great area of old shops, and an old theater, and we enjoyed getting to look around. Next, it was west to Arizona!

A large chunk of the Tour Route in western/central Arizona is on Interstate... because either 66 is on Reservation land or that it is too poor to travel on. After crossing into Arizona and going through the town of Lupton, we got on I-40 for a couple of miles until the town of Houck; home of Fort Courage, supposedly where they filed the 1960's show "F Troop". We then took the post-1931 route over the Querino Canyon Bridge. This was an interesting route because, while originally paved, it is now a dirt road (with some rub board sections). We wondered why the road was left this way; probably because it is on Navajo Reservation land.

Except for a 6 mile stretch along frontage road between Sanders and Chambers, the rest of the day was on I-40. While this (and gaining an hour due to Arizona not following Daylight Savings Time) did make the miles go by fast... it was a bit sad that there was no non-Interstate roads to travel on until we got to Holbrook. (Having said that, there are older sections that it looks like you can drive on... however, we did not have the time nor the vehicle to do so).

Once in Holbrook, we took Navajo Blvd. and Hopi Drive to our stop for the evening; the Best Western Adobe Inn; right next to the Wigwam Motel ("Have you slept in a Wigwam?"). We had talked about staying there... however, the smallness of the room made us decide to find other accommodations. Maybe another time...

Today - it is on to Flagstaff. But first... breakfast, petrified wood, painted deserts, and dinosaurs!

Monday in Santa Fe

As previously mentioned, we decided to spend an extra day in White Rock and explore Santa Fe today. Unfortunately, things didn't start off as planned.

After sleeping in a bit and having some breakfast, we drove to the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture; located on Museum Hill in Santa Fe. About halfway there, we realized that the camera was still back in White Rock. OOPS! Therefore, due to technical difficulties, the pictures that you will see in our album will be stock photos (and will be updated at a later time).

When we got to the Museum, we were a bit surprised that the parking lot was fairly full. Surprised, that is, until we found out that the museum was closed on Monday and that they were doing an information session for Docents. We later found out that all of the museums in Santa Fe are closed on Mondays until Memorial Day.

We then headed to the Plaza area where we walked around window shopping and looking at the different Indian vendors selling their goods. Ilana bought a frog that was created by one of the Martinez family. Ilana collects frogs, and loves Martinez pottery, so she is very excited about her new acquisition. We then went into the Loretto chapel and viewed the "Miraculous Staircase." This is a mysterious staircase that was built by an unknown carpenter in 1877. It has no support structure, and has perfect 360 degree turns. We also visited the church of San Miguel, which is the oldest church in America, and is also located next to the oldest house in America.

After our adventures in downtown Santa Fe, we were ready for some lunch! Ilana's dad had recommended a local spot called the Cowgirl Grill. The food was quite tasty...we had an appetizer of "Texas Caviar" which is a flavorful salsa made with black-eyed peas, and we each had a buffalo burger. It was a nice day, so we sat outside on the patio, and had some great people-watching time as well.

The rest of our day was quite mundane. We found the Wal-Mart in Santa Fe, and restocked on some necessities for the trip. We also stopped at the Visitor Center/Gift Shop on the Pojoaque Reservation to ogle more pottery and to pick up some souvenirs for family and friends. We spent a quiet evening at home, which included a homemade chicken salad dinner, and the Heroes season finale (of course!).

Today we will be getting breakfast burritos at ChiliWorks, a local favorite, and then heading west to Arizona. See you from the next state!

Ilana and Jeff

2007 Landscape Tour

Today was our scheduled day of "rest" in Santa Fe. Since you are seeing rest in quotes, you are probably already expecting that it wasn't... and you would be correct!

After having breakfast at Ilana's father's house, the four of us (including Ilana's father and step-mother), hit the road towards Bandelier National Monument. Our first stop was a section of Bandelier called Tsankawi which is not as busy as the main area of Bandelier. The trail was relatively level... however, there were a series of 3 ladders that had to be used. In addition, the trail did get narrow at some points. However, the petroglyphs and the view from the mesa were worth it.

We kinda got hiked-out at this point, so we took a drive through the town of Los Alamos; where we had lunch at a Sonic. Tater tots... yum! We continued into the Jemez Mountains; through some of the areas that were burned in a large forest fire several years ago.

Our next stop was the Valles Caldera National Preserve. This area was a series of ranches up to a couple of years ago when the area was donated for the preserve. While we did take a couple of pictures, the weather had gotten colder and it was raining off and on... so we got in the car and continued on.

After turning south, we stopped at the Jemez State Monument where we walked through a small museum and an old pueblo site. Due to restoration and archaeological work going on at the pueblo, there were several sites (including the old church) that were off limits to the public.

Back on the road, we went through a couple of pueblo towns and then skirted the edge of Rio Rancho... which is a new community near Albuquerque. We ended up back on the interstate and headed back to Los Alamos.

While the ride lasted most of the day, it was very nice; not only because of the scenery of the area but also because we were passengers on this trip!

Back at home, we relaxed and had a great dinner of Frito Pie (Chili w/ Frito chips, lettuce, tomatos, onions, sour creme, and guacamole) and chocolate creme pie for dessert. After Ilana and I watched the season finale of The Office, she watched Masterpiece Theatre with her step-mom and half-sister... while I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy (next-to-last for the season).

Today, Ilana and I are back on our own as we tour Santa Fe; mainly Museum Hill and the Plaza... and then one more night in the Los Alamos area before back on 66 on Tuesday. At the moment, we are planning on arriving in LA on Friday afternoon.

Ilana and Jeff

"Home" in Santa Fe

The room in Groom was ok - however we both decided that we probably could of pressed on to Amarillo. After the usual morning routines, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Amarillo for breakfast.

Along the way, we passed through the town of Conway and drove on one of the better sections of 66 in Texas; in fact, at one point we were able to go up to 70 ... legally! Soon we came into Amarillo and headed to the Big Texan.

The Big Texan is a hotel/restaurant just off of the Interstate and a couple of blocks away from the 66 route. As the name suggest, it is huge and, probably like most things in Texas, it does things Big. One of their "specials" is a Free 72 Oz Steak... if you can eat it within an hour. Not only do you need to eat the Steak, but also a Baked Potato, Salad, and Rolls ... all while seated at a table on a elevated platform in front of the whole restaurant.

The Breakfast buffet was good, but no one did the steak challenge (supposedly no one did the previous night as well). We headed out of town and to the Cadillac Ranch; a series of 10 cars buried nose first in the soil. Here, we caught up with a couple from Delaware (Smyrna) who drove from there to Chicago and then driving 66 to LA and then will be driving back to Delaware through Dallas.

Pressing on west, we went through Bushland, Wildorado, Vega and then stopped at the Mid Point Cafe in Adrian. They list themselves as the midway point of 66 - 1,139 miles to LA and Chicago. While they are famous for their "Ugly Crust Pies", Jeff bought a polo shirt. For the record, we are tied 2-2 on shirts.

At this point, we had to get back on the Interstate and headed down the Caprock to New Mexico (State # 6). Within a mile or two of crossing the state line, we got off the interstate and followed Frontage roads through San Jon to Tucumcari. The town is known for their old and very beautiful motels and the neon that lights their signs. We stopped briefly at the Blue Swallow Motel but, since the gift shop/office was not open at the time, we continued through the town.

After a quick ride on the Interstate, we got back on the Frontage road and passed through a very tight tunnel under I-40. Crossing the Interstate a couple more times, we passed through Montoya, Newkirk and Cuervo before jumping back on the Interstate and headed to Santa Rosa.

In town, we had some New Mexican food at the Comet 2 Restaurant; very good and the first of many Southwestern meals I am sure. We then jumped back on the Interstate for about 15 miles until we got off and headed North on Pre-1937 66. We decided to take this option since we were planning to go to Santa Fe and Los Alamos.

The first stretch of this was on US 84 and wasn't that bad until we were stopped by Road Work. At first, it seemed that the crew was more concerned about talking to people than directing traffic; however, it became apparent that the stretch of road that they were paving was about 2 miles long and required an escort.

Near Romeroville, we got back on Frontage roads this time following along I-25. We drove past Tecolote and Bernal... before pulling off into San Jose and looking at their plaza curch that was built in 1826 and a closed-off thru-truss bridge from the 1920s. Except knowing that 66 once went through here and that the Pecos River was close by, we weren't too sure what the attraction of having a town here was.

Back on the Frontage road, we went through Sands, Ilfield, and Rowe. At Rowe, we headed north to Pecos, driving past their National Historic Park, and then headed west to Glorieta; site of a Civil War battle in 1862. The Glorieta Pass is the highest point on 66 (pre-1937 route) so it should be all down-hill from here!

We then headed into Santa Fe from the south (Old Las Vegas Highway / Old Pecos Trail / Old Santa Fe Trail). Because of the one-way streets, we went around the plaza area and then, after missing a turn out of town... we headed North to Los Alamos and to Ilana's father's house.

After spending some time at his house, we (along with Ilana's father & step-mother, sister and her boyfriend) headed north to Espanola to a great New Mexican restaurant for dinner.

We plan on staying in the Los Alamos/Santa Fe area for at least one more night; possibly two. Today we are going around Bandelier National Monument. Monday we will probably spend a great portion of the day in Santa Fe... and this is where we will go off-schedule. Which is fine... since we had 3 "Cushion Days" already factored in.

Ilana and Jeff

BFE Texas

(Posting from the Breakfast Buffet at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo)

After a good night’s rest at the Whitten Inn, we had breakfast at a regional chain – Jimmy’s Egg; where the food and service was good. It reminded us of another series of restaurants in the Atlanta area – J. Christopher’s.

After that, we headed back to the Oklahoma City Memorial to go through their museum. You start out by learning more about the Murrah Federal Building, its construction, and a little about the person it is named after. Along the wall, there is a timeline of the early morning of April 19, 1995. Just before you go through a set of doors, there is a zoomed-in photo of a security camera picture from a nearby building that shows a Ryder truck going by a couple of minutes before 9am that day.

The room that you next enter depicts the hearing room of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board; which had convened a meeting at 9am and, because it was a public hearing, was being tape recorded. The Water Resources building was directly next to the Murrah Federal Building. You hear the meeting being called to order, someone introducing themselves and what the proceedings are about, and then… It is a powerful message – which carries you throughout the rest of the exhibits; which continue the timeline and also have displays of some of the damage that the blast caused, artifacts from the rubble (some of which specifically identified to a person (and whether they survived or not), and other stories that made up that day.

The museum is housed in one of the building that sustained damage that day… one of the last displays that you see is the damages remains of a men’s bathroom that was specifically taped and then sealed off. Simply put – the museum was very moving and is a must-see.

If this was a normal day, we would of gotten lunch and tried to do something “fun” to offset the sadness. However, we had miles to go before we could sleep … so we jumped back in the car and headed west out of OKC. For the record, OKC is the 3rd town that we both agree we would like to spend a full day in (the other two so far are Chicago and Saint Louis).

We drove through Warr Acres, right past where we had dinner the previous night, and then through the towns of Yukon (home of Yukon’s Best Flour) and El Reno. At this point, we took an option to drive up pre-’33 66 through Calumet and Geary and then back south to meet up with post-’33 66 before going over the Pony Bridge (1933 – 38 pony or small trusses) that crosses the South Canadian River. The bridge seemed to go on forever... and we would of liked to have taken a picture there, however, we had traffic on our bumper and there didn’t seem to be a place to safely pull over.

We then drove through Hydro and Weatherford; stopping for a drive-thru lunch at McDonald’s. This was our first “fast-food” meal that we have had during this trip – since we tried to eat at other local roadside establishments instead. We knew that we still had miles till our Hotel for the night, so we felt that doing this was necessary (and indeed, it did help).

At this point, we experienced the mind-numbing (but funny at the same time) experience of what the construction of I-40 did to Route 66 in the area. From Weatherford to east of Sayre (about 50 highway miles), we crossed the interstate 10 times! We were not sure if this was because the road twisted and turned that much, if the frontage roads that we were driving on ended up ahead (whether by design or because it was on private property), or a combination of the two.

Our next stop was Clinton, where we visited the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. It takes about an hour to see everything here, and the museum is quite well done. It offers some great information about how 66 was formed, why the migrants followed it to California, and how the road was used until the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Afterwards, we drove to Elk City, which was our third museum stop of the day – The National Route 66 Museum. We were a little disappointed with our visit here. Although seeing the artifacts from the route was interesting, there was little content to go along with them. If you have to choose between the OK and the National museums, we would recommend seeing the Oklahoma 66 museum.

After our stop in Elk City, we made the decision to press on to Groom, TX for the night. We drove through Sayre (where we mailed the third postcard!) and Erick, which was the hometown of Roger Miller (King of the Road) and Sheb Wooley (Purple People Eater). Next, we were in Texas!

By now, the landscape had drastically changed. While eastern and central Oklahoma had been hilly and lush with trees, the panhandle of Texas is flat, flat, and more flat! There is really only brush, and not many trees at all. Considering we are both native east coasters, we are quite taken with the scenery!

We drove through Shamrock and McLean, which was the last town on the route to be bypassed by I-40, and into Alanreed. There was a dirt option that we could have followed here, but it was raining and we lack a four wheel drive vehicle. Finally we arrived in Groom.

We have to stay that Groom has certainly been our most rustic stay on the trip so far. The town is tiny, and its only claims to fame our its leaning water tower and giant 190 foot cross. We ate dinner at the town’s seemingly only restaurant – Dairy Queen, and retired for the night with some TV. We are definitely eager to get back on the road this morning. On to Santa Fe!

Ooooklahoma ...

... where it pretty much looks the same as the last state. ;)

I think that, with the images of the Dust Bowl and the story The Grapes of Wrath (neither of us have read/seen this), we both expect OK to have some barrenness to it. We may see this today, but at least in the Eastern part of the state, it was very green with lots of trees; though not as many as we saw in the Ozarks of Missouri.

After a great breakfast at the Little Brick Inn (part of your stay there), we headed south of the town and out of Kansas. Kansas has the shortest segment of 66 with 13 miles... so we made sure to take an older part that now goes around a McDonalds and WalMart. At this point, we also noticed that the south part of town was definitely busier than "Downtown" Baxter Springs.

We traveled through a couple of smaller towns until reaching the town of Miami (pronounced My-Am-A). At this point, we went off the main route and drove 2 sections of 9-foot 66, nicknamed "The Sidewalk Highway". This section was paved in 1922 and served as 66 until 1937. Very unique and very cool to see (and feel with the bumps in the road). As evident with the farms along the way, this road is still in use today.

We backtracked a bit to get to the Buffalo Ranch; however, the Buffalo were a bit shy this day and we left a little disappointed. We then found the Afton Post Office (just off the Route) and mailed the 2nd postcard of the trip to Ilana's mom (Hi Toni!).

The next town we drove through was Vinita. There were some great relics of former businesses along the route, but we were NOT disappointed we missed the world's largest calf-fry festival, held in September. Next, we headed into Foyil, and we took an option that drove us past the Andy Payne Statue. Andy Payne was the 1928 winner of the "Bunion Derby", which was a footrace that went from New York City to Los Angeles and included all of Route 66.

Our next stop was Claremore, which is home to the Will Rogers Memorial and Museum. Both of us had a vague idea of who Rogers was, but we left the museum with a much deeper understanding of the man, and what he was able to accomplish in his lifetime. We had no idea he was such a humanitarian and we also spent much longer at the museum than we had imagined we would. The museum is run entirely on donations, and was built on land that Rogers had bought for his retirement. It is well worth a stop here!

After this, we headed towards Tulsa. We drove over the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System, which is a 445 mile waterway that links Tulsa to the Gulf of Mexico. This makes it the country's inland-most port. We also stopped to visit the Blue Whale - a restored concrete whale that used to boast a swimming hole as well.

In Tulsa, we had an incredible lunch with our friend Robn (not a typo!). He recommended a great barbeque place called Elmer's. While it is about 30 blocks off of the route (on Peoria), we had a scenic drive, and the food was well worth the detour. The atmosphere was fun, and the barbeque was great. Thanks again Robn for coming out to meet us!

After lunch we drove through several small towns. In Depew, we took a windy option through Downtown, and enjoyed the old buildings there. We also passed through Stroud, and took a quick look at the Rock Cafe. Our drive continued through Luther, and into Arcadia - where we took an option to drive on 1920's 66. It was here that we passed by the house of Route 66 author and historian Jim Ross, who has a new home built to resemble a classic cottage-style service station.

Finally, to end our driving for the day, we headed through Edmond, and into Oklahoma City, where we checked in to the very nice Whitten Inn, which is directly off the route. For dinner, we headed to 39th Street, and visited Ann's Chicken Fry House. They are famous for their chicken-fried steaks, so of course we had to try them. Yum! There is also a fun 50's atmosphere to the restaurant, and we had a blast. We also drove to the Oklahoma City Memorial, to pay our respects there. The Memorial is breathtaking, and we will be returning today to visit the museum there.

Today should have us continuing through Oklahoma and on to Texas. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Ilana and Jeff

Jack Hanna has got nothing on us..

Thanks for all of the comments that you have been leaving (whether here, TRL, or emails). We really appreciate it. We know that we aren't doing anything new - but it is nice to see people that are following along with us.

After breakfast at Zeno's (where we met the biker from Atlanta, GA again - he was about a day behind his buddies due to getting his bike repaired), we hit 66 again. Today was one of the long driving days that we had scheduled... mainly due to # of miles since we didn't really have anything along the way scheduled as a "must see".

Our first attempted side trip was to see John's Modern Cabins and Vernelle's Motel. However, because the dead end access road was also blocked off, we did not feel comfortable to park the car and walk down to where they were. It is also possible that we had the wrong access road picked out, but I do think we were correct.

In any rate, we got back on the Route and continued to Hooker Cut (once one of the deepest road cut in the state) and then, soon after, Devil's Elbow; named for a tight turn in the Big Piney River.

Continuing on, after taking an older option of 66, we entered the town of Lebanon. Here we took a picture of the Munger Moss hotel sign (in business since 1946). We decided not to stop in to the gift shop or the 66 museum in town... mainly because, since this was our first long miles day, we wanted to be sure that the schedule we had planned out made sense. In the end, it did - and we will want to go back to Lebanon next time we are in the area. After all, they do also have the largest barrel factory in the world!

At this point, the route break away from hugging I-44 for almost 2o (interstate) miles. Around the same time, we started to notice more and more wildlife along the road. Mainly, this was in the form of turtles; either sunning themselves on the shoulder, crossing the road, or dead in the middle of the road (none by our hands, BTW). We also saw a deer, several turkey vultures and, quite surprisingly, armadillos ... dead ones, but still we figured that they would be further west.

From here, we made our way into the city of Springfield. We did two options through the city - the first being the 1936 bypass route. Along this route, we were able to see many remnants of businesses from the route's heyday. We then backtracked a few miles up I-44 and took the earlier city option through Springfield. It was here that we stopped for lunch at a classic style Steak N Shake.

After Springfield, the route diverged from I-44 for quite a long time. It was the most picturesque scenery we have driven through so far. Neither of us have visited the Ozarks before, and we were quite taken with the beauty of the area. We drove through a few tiny towns and into Carthage, home of the 66 Drive-In. At this point we should mention that prior to our trip, Ilana's mom bought us a 5 DVD set, produced by Hampton Inns, about traveling on Route 66. In the set were several postcards, designed by Jerry McLanahan, and Ilana's mom requested that we mail her these postcards as we passed the locations on our trip. The 66 Drive-In was the first postcard, so we spent a good while trying to find a mail drop-box in the town!

Our mission completed, we headed on into Joplin, and did an earlier route option through the city, and then crossed the state line into Kansas. Directly across the state line is the town of Galena. We wanted to stop at the Galena Museum but they were already closed for the day. Instead, we headed toward our stop for the night - Baxter Springs and the Little Brick Inn. We did take a detour to see the Rainbow Bridge, which is the last remaining "Marsh Arch" bridge in Kansas.

The Little Brick Inn is charming, but a little short on amenities. There is no phone, no temperature controls, but we did manage to find some wi-fi! Also the noise from the traffic outside seems to be amplified in our room. But, dinner at the Cafe on the Route (part of the Inn) was fantastic and cheap, and we are looking forward to breakfast in a bit.

Westward to Oklahoma!

Ilana and Jeff

This Custard is Bananas: B-A-N-A-N-A-S

yes... I think I just heard the groans of people reading that title; however a) it will make sense soon and b) blame Ilana.

One thing that we found a bit funny is that, when people learn that we are doing driving Route 66, the next question is usually "How far are you going?" So far, to a person, the look on their faces when we say "Los Angeles" is that of surprise and then, in some cases, a bit of envy. I think that is because most people will do 66 in sections; Chicago->Saint Louis or maybe to Oklahoma City. For us though, we want our first 66 experience to be a complete one; all 2,400+ miles. Then, if we decide to, we'll come back and ride the sections of the route that we want to re-see (we are already thinking about Chicago->Saint Louis with at least one full day in each city).

Onto the day's activities...

We slept in a little bit and went into Edwardsville for breakfast. After thinking that the place was closed, we found the Sunrise Cafe. As a side note, the map that the hotel provides is a bit off.

Breakfast was very good at the Sunrise; which has an atmosphere that is more geared for the townspeople than visitors. Didn't affect our service one bit.

As for the Comfort Inn, it was adequate. The coffee maker in the room did have some mold in it; luckily we did not get any coffee from there. The biggest problem was that the heavy curtain in the room was designed not to close all the way. Since the window faced out onto the parking lot and the lights there... this meant to be a bit annoying overnight.

We hit the route and headed to our 1st stop of the day; the Illinois side of the Chain of Rocks Bridge. The Bridge was one of the ways 66 crossed the Mississippi (In and around Saint Louis there were several alignments of the Route). One of the features about the bridge is that it has a 22-degree bend in roughly the middle. This is so that the bridge did not interfere with the navigation on the river. However, this also made the bridge a bit difficult for cars to drive on.

The Bridge is now a walking/biking trail run by Trailnet, Inc. They (or groups like them) are planning on several trails in and around the area of Choteau Island.

After that, we got back to the main Route and crossed the Mississippi on the I-270 bridge into Missouri (goodbye Illinois!) and Saint Louis. After getting a bit lost, we made it to I-70 and headed to the Gateway Arch.

Seeing the pictures of the Arch is one thing; but to get up close and touch it is something completely different. It is a beautiful structure along the Riverfront and is part of the Jefferson Expansion National Monument. We went underneath the arch to the Visitor Center and purchased tickets for the tram up to the observation deck of the Arch; roughly 600 feet high.

While I knew that there was a tram... I did not expect the cars to be "Pod-shaped", barely able to sit 5 people. I was worried about how Ilana would handle it (because she is quite claustrophobic)... but she did quite well. We had a good laugh when the recording mentioned that the tram system was built using the best technology availabe at the time of the 1960s. My guess is that it hadn't changed much since then.

The view at the top is, as you probably would expect, wonderful. You got to see both the river side and then the city of Saint Louis itself. We got some good pictures of the Old Courthouse and of new Busch Stadium. Coming back down from the top in the tram wasn't seemingly as bad as going up, but the heat was pretty stifling in there!

After the arch, we decided to skip lunch and headed straight for dessert - Ted Drewes frozen custard. Ilana had really been looking forward to this stop, and it didn't disappoint. Jeff had a chocolate concrete, and Ilana had a chocolate banana concrete. It was delicious and makes us wish they would open a franchise in Atlanta.

Once we had stuffed ourselves full of custard, we started to hit some stormy weather. It continued to storm and rain all the way to our hotel for the night in Rolla, but we didn't let that stop our fun! We continued driving southwest until we hit the town of Stanton - famous for Meremac Caverns. We knew we wanted to stop there from the first time we saw a painted barn, and were excited to see the formations and enjoy the cheese factor of big tourist stop. The rain must have kept a lot of people away, because our tour group only consisted of about seven people. The guide was personable and fun, and we had some wonderful photo opportunities. This is definitely a must-stop place for those driving 66.

After the caverns, we continued driving through several small towns - the most notable was Cuba, MO. It was here that we were able to snap a photo of the Wagon Wheel Motel and we enjoyed seeing the various murals around the town. Finally, we arrived at our stop for the night - Zeno's Motel and Steakhouse. We checked in and then enjoyed a nice dinner at the Steakhouse. The room is very nice, clean, and quiet - despite Jeff's worries about us facing the highway.

Today - we finish driving through Missouri and end the day in Kansas. See you tomorrow!

Ilana and Jeff

Follow The Red Brick Road

Before we get started, we realized that we forgot to thank the Chicago peeps for Saturday night. SueAnn, Eric, Kevin : Thank you so very much for meeting up with us to kick off this trip. It was great seeing all of you and we extend an offer to you (and the Springfield peeps as well) to come visit Atlanta.

Now... onto the blog. :)

The Route 66 Hotel & Conference Center was not a bad place to stay on Sunday night. Definitely a drop down from the Hotel Burham, but still good for the $. Our only complaint was that the service at their restaurant was slow... supposedly due to a brand new waffle maker.

In any rate, after breakfast and checking out, we went to the Lincoln Museum. We can sum up this place in only one word ... WOW! For only $7.50 per adult, we got to learn everything that there was about Abraham Lincoln and his family; his early childhood years, the law practice in Springfield, his eventual rise to Presidency and ultimately his death.

There are 2 theaters in the museum - Lincoln's Eyes and Ghosts in the Library. Both were very good; Eyes is a little "Disney-like"... but Ghosts was something that I had never seen before. There was also an area for special exhibits; right now, it is on Mary Todd Lincoln. Again, very well done... talking about her life which eventually lead to her being committed by her remaining son, Robert.

From the Museum, we drove a couple of miles to Lincoln's Tomb. A very beautiful structure. Not only is Abe Lincoln's casket inside, but also a mausoleum for the rest of the Lincoln family as well as models of sculptures of Abe and a placard on where the actual is displayed.

The only thing that disturbed this visit were rude people. Despite a sign at the entrance stating that out of respect of the family, please be quiet... that didn't stop people from talking in their normal voice inside.

After the Tomb, we drove to Cozy Dog Drive-In for lunch. This place is considered to be one of the first inventors of the corn dog; so naturally, we had to have a couple. Verdict ... not bad. Definitely not gourmet, but good road food.

With that, Jeff took over the driving for this leg of trip; Springfield-Stauton-Springfield-Edwardsville. Yep - you are reading that correctly; we did a bit of a loop yesterday. The first part was along the original routing of 66 (1926-1930); mainly on Illinois 4. This included 1.4 miles of brick road that you see a picture of at the top of this entry.

When we got into Staunton, we cut across the city to I-55 and headed north for almost 50 miles to the outskirts of Springfield... where we got gas for the first time this trip. We had bled the tank dry, so while the $50 fillup was not surprising, it was still a bit of a shock.

We then headed back south along the Post-1930 Route 66 back to Staunton; which follows I-55 (but is only on it for a couple of miles). It was interesting to see the difference between the two routings. Where IL-4 goes through several small towns, the post-1930 route skirts along the outskirts; kind of how the Interstate system follows today.

South of Staunton, we went through the town of Hamel and then Edwardsville; home of one of the campuses for Southern Illinois University. We stayed at the Comfort Inn just off the Route; at the top of a hill in which you can make out the Mississippi River and Saint Louis.

As always - check out our photos in our online gallery and please leave any comments.

Ilana & Jeff

Morning in Springfield

Yesterday was our first day on 66 and, for the most part, we really really enjoyed it!

The day started out with breakfast at Lou Mitchell's; which is a famous restaurant in Chicago along 66 (West Jackson; the Eastbound route). This was also our first experience with Chicago's subway system and it worked out great. We both had gotten 1-day Visitor Passes for their transit system ahead of time and it was definitely $ well spent.

After a bit of a medical delay (Migranes Suck! - J), we got to Budget and got our car. Ilana drove this first leg with me navigating. This worked out fairly well - with only 2 missed areas along the way. In addition, having the GPS helps when you are trying to find a particular road to turn on.

After getting out of Chicago and going through Romeoville, we stopped in Joliet to visit their Museum. It was interesting to hear about the city, how it was formed, and how it grew with the different transportation options that were developed, (and the prison - yay! - I). The Route 66 portion was small (just in the Lobby) but also interesting as well. One warning - you'll get a song stuck in your head on how wonderful the town is. We also got to see the outside of the Rialto, which was a beautiful theater. Unfortunately, it was not open for tours.

Jeff has to get in the shower now, so Ilana is now going to continue recounting our adventures yesterday. From Joliet, we drove through the little town of Wilmington and stopped to visit the first of the Route's "giant brothers" statues - this one is the Gemini Giant, and also had lunch at the Launching Pad Drive In. It was here that we met our first fellow Route travelers - two older gentlemen on motorcycles from (of all places) Atlanta, GA. We got quite a laugh out of that one!

After Wilmington, we drove through the small towns of Godley, Gardner, Dwight, and Odell. Odell has a great, classic Standard Oil Station from 1932, that is in the process of being restored. The owners had it open yesterday and were quite willing to give us a tour! After this, we went through Pontiac, Chenoa, and Lexington, where we stopped to walk on old portion of the road now called "Memory Lane."

Our next stop was Funks Grove, which is home to Funks Grove Maple Sirip (yes, it is spelled correctly!) which was a blast! We learned how they tap their maple syrup, got to sample some, and picked up some souvenir goodies. Then it was on to downtown Atlanta (IL, not GA!) with another of the "giant" statues - this time Paul Bunyan holding a hot dog. We passed a few more towns, and it was on to Springfield. We checked in to the Route 66 Motel and Convention Center, and figured that total time from Chicago to Springfield was about 8 hours! Wow!

We had a lovely dinner with some local friends - Angie, Sean, and Tom. The dinner was delightful, and a great way to end the day. Now we are off to tour the Lincoln Museum and continue through Illinois. For now, please look at our pictures in the public gallery; link is located at the upper-left of this page. We will try to add pics to the blog later today. See you soon!

Ilana and Jeff

Howdy Chicago!

We are currently resting a slightly busy (but not complete) day; which started with waking up at 5am. Such it is... when you need to get ready, drive 45 minutes (if you are lucky, which we were) to the airport, park, check bags in, get to and through security, get to the gate in time to sit and wait to board. :)

Benefit of this this morning was that we were able to upgrade our ticket to Business Class with a small donation to AirTran. While it is not a long flight from Atlanta - having a nicer seat does help (especially when you are upgrading from an award ticket).

We took a shuttle to the Hotel; which we were then informed that we had to wait for our room to be ready. No problem - we had lunch and then toured the Field Museum.


The Museum is HUGE ... and, while it can be done in a day... it would be a long day (especially when it closes at 5 every day) with plenty of breaks for your feet.

At the moment, we are waiting in our hotel room for friends to go to dinner in about 2 hours.










The picture on the right is our view. If you very carefully, you will see that we have a lake view. Obviously, we paid a premium for this room! :)

Tomorrow... the road awaits!

- I&J

PS - All My Ducks are Dead ! (TiVo peeps will get this one)

Less than 12 hours to go...

... and we are still not packed yet. :D

Not a big deal, since we had to run some errands before hand (board the dog, wash clothes, clean up around the place). Still - it just means that we will be rushing a little bit for the rest of this evening and that leaves open the possibility of missing something.

However, at this point, all systems are still go. Boarding Passes are printed... all tech gadgets are in working order. And, of course, we are ready (mentally) as well.

One of the questions that I had said I would answer is "Why?". Well, the simple reason is; because it is there. Slightly longer reason - For me, Route 66 was one of those road trips that I have been wanting to do for several years; ever since watching a special on the History Channel. Once I found out that Ilana had wanted to do 66 as well, everything started to fall into place.

Well, I need to get clothes out of the dryer...

- Jeff

Yikes! We leave on Saturday!

Well, here it is - Thursday morning.

Currently the dog is at the groomer's, and while I should be taking advantage of the dog free time by vacuuming without "help", I am instead posting to our blog.

I feel so ready and not ready at the same time. I am certainly ready to be out on the road, seeing friends, and visiting new places, but I don't feel at all prepared. Laundry needs to be done, the kitchen needs to be cleaned, and the carpets certainly aren't going to vacuum themselves! But instead, I just want to share my feelings with everyone out there.

I have never had so much anticipation for a trip as I do this one. I get to spend two solid weeks with the love of my life, taking a trip that neither of us has taken. While I'm sure our photos and comments won't be the same as actually being there, thanks for coming along for the ride! We are so glad you are joining us, and we can't wait to get started!

Ilana

First Post...

So - here it is. The beginning of our Road Trip Blog.

Nothing exciting I realize, but it is, after all, just the start. Actually, we are less than 4 days from the start; 5 if you are actually counting the Road Trip part.

Over the next couple of days, we hope to give you a preview of Who we are, What we are doing, Where we are going, When we are doing this, and above all... Why we are doing this.

Some of my (Jeff) cow-orkers feel that driving for 2,400+ miles is not so much of a "vacation". We may feel the same way at the end of all of this... but for now, I believe that seeing part of the US that many people don't see (as they drive right by on the Interstate at 70+ MPH) will be a great vacation and will spark us to do more Road Trips in the future. It may also spark an interest in blogging for us (whether individually or one for both of us).