It’s all winding down, isn’t it? Today was quite a long day, but mostly it was a riding day. Sure, I saw a few cool things. And yeah, I rode along the Lincoln Highway, Yellowstone Trail and Route 66. But since it was a riding day, I didn’t really get to play around with that too much.

In Wisconsin, I tried to take Great River Road, but it was blocked due to construction. I picked it up later, but it was after it moved away from the Mississippi. A little later, I rode by another wacky grotto. I stopped and got some pictures. I love weird stuff like this.

This grotto had an unsettling patriotism thing going on. I’m not really sure why. I’m not at all sure what patriotism has to do with God. Actually, I am sure. It has nothing to do with God. But when you mix the two, nothing good ever comes of it. Ever. I’ve never really found much good in or use for patriotism, mixed with other stuff or taken straight.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I obviously love this country (small “c”). I love the land and the people. I adore it. But the government, the borders, the insane foreign policy, the republican and democrats and all that horrible nonsense - I have no place for it.

And when I see patriotism mixed with religion, it just bugs me. Religion and spirituality are supposed to uplift us and fill us with love of God, not love of country. Love of God is obviously higher than love of country, yet so many churches and religious institutions focus on patriotism instead of actually teaching something that could help us. It’s a shame.

Jesus had tons of wonderful teachings. None of them had anything to do with patriotism.

Bah, I had it all thought out in my head. It’s what I do when I’m riding. I’ve got a lot of time to think and stuff almost always sounds better with the rush of wind.

As I crossed over into Illinois, I found myself in Galena. General Grant lived here before and after the war. I visited his house. There was a monument to his wife… that was sort of weird.

But I couldn’t stay long. I had to make time. I don’t like traveling this way, but I’m good at it. I have this weird level of endurance for travel. I spent 11 hours on the bike today. That’s been pretty normal on this return trip. I didn’t do as many miles today as I have been doing, but that’s because of trying to get through the Chicago/Joliet area.

Being back in Joliet (third time this year) was nice. Sort of nice. Well, it could have been nice. It was nice going through it on the Lincoln Highway. Slow, but nice. Again, west to east - not such a great thing!

And after that, it was Route 30 to Ft. Wayne and then US 33 to Decatur, Indiana. And that’s mostly just like an interstate. Fast, but not a whole lot of fun.

Tomorrow I’ll be taking US 33 to Columbus. I used to live in Columbus, but I don’t think I’ll be visiting. And then I shall I-70 to Wheeling, where I also used to live. I used to travel between Columbus and Wheeling (New Vrndavana, actually) quite often.

While on I-70, I’ll have the opportunity to take old sections of the National Road. We’ll see if I take it.

Here are my pics!

Miles today: 470
Miles total: 10,409 (woo!)

Ok, I should have camped last night. No excuses. But there was a Denny’s and a Panera Bread within walking distance from my hotel. Anyway, I didn’t.

I also didn’t explore Springfield like I thought I might. I woke up and decided that a nice drive through the country would suit me better. The skies somewhat indicated rain sometime today, so there was a slight hint of urgency in my decision. I was worried about time again.

But I was able to put that all aside and just let whatever happens happen. Alright, not really. I concluded that if it was before 3pm by the time I got to the KOA near Edwardsville, IL, I would head through St. Louis.

And with that in my weird little head, I hung on for the ride.

Leaving Springfield during morning rush hour was no real problem. It’s like it’s not even a city. Fancy that! And after several miles of parking lots and stripmalls, I hung a few rights and lefts and was on the 1926 alignment of Route 66. There are two through this area. It’s said that most folks like the 1930’s alignment. I’ve done that one twice, it is indeed a good thing. On it you’ve got Our Lady of the Highway monument and Mt. Olive with Mother Jone’s gravesite.

Though it’s a fine alignment, my problem with it is that it’s right next to the interstate for the entire time. It’s basically a frontage road and while I’m very glad the Department of Transportation allowed it to remain, I was looking for a more rural flavor.

As I started, heading through Chatham, Auburn and Thayer, I was thinking to myself¹ that the towns south of Springfield are pretty well shot. And it’s true, there’s not much to the three I just mentioned.

Route 66 follows what is now IL 4, though sometimes it wanders off. The coolest example of this is when it wanders off at Snell Road, just south of Chatham. There, for a couple of miles, it is brick. That’s right, brick. Old, red bricks. And it’s not just a straight stretch. Oh no. It curves and rises and falls with the land, just like any concrete alignment of 66 would. But it’s brick. And it totally made my day.

But when I rode in to Virden, my opinion changed a little. The name “Virden” was familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out why. I chalked it up to the fact that I’ve studied Route 66² for years and probably just remember it from that.

I pulled into a parking space in the town square. I love town squares. Every town should have one. Virden’s was pretty big and there was a park in it. Also, the streets were so huge that they made them parking lots. It was weird, but a good touch.

I ate a breakfast of Clif Bars and water, took a few pics and decided to check out the rather large monument. I could only see the back of it, but it read “Battle of Virden Monument.” I know the Civil War pretty well and couldn’t remember any battles in Illinois. French & Indian War wasn’t this far west. So what gives?

I circled to the front and saw the very amazing relief done in bronze (I think). It depicted the entire Battle of Virden. It all came back to me. The Battle of Virden, 1898 was between the workers (miners, in this case) and the mining company who refused to pay a higher wage. This was one year after the Lattimer Massacre in Pennsylvania. This is why Mother Jones is buried in Mt. Olive - among the poor fellows who gave their lives for workers rights during the Battle of Virden.

I should have asked around to see if I could find the actual site, but I didn’t. Not wanting to take up more time than I already was, I mounted up and rode on down the road.

I was wrong about southern Illinois towns. These places are what makes Route 66 amazing.

Even so, Girard didn’t hold much for my interest. While sticking to Route 66, towards the south side of town, I passed a park that still had all of its old playground equipment. Its old school slide was attached to an old school swingset, next to an old school merry-go-round and near the old monkey bars. No plastic or wood here. Just Made in the USA steel. Sure, you’ll need a tetnis shot if you even touch it, but that’s what being a kid is all about!

Between the towns of Girard and Nilwood Route 66 reverts back to its old concrete. Thank God. I love driving (and now riding) on the old concrete. It’s rutted and broken, but has this 1930’s look of gettin’ somewheres. Perhaps headin’ out California-way. Frontage roads along the interstate, even if they are Route 66, don’t have this feel.

Nilwood. Oh dear Nilwood. There’s not much that can be said for such a place as this. But it won my heart nevertheless. It’s got an old, abandoned two story school built in 1927, a post office, rail road tracks and a very very very creepy blue building that’s sort of sunken into the ground. There are stairs that lead down to a door that a sign claims opens automatically upon payment. There is no explanation offered as to what you are paying for. You are just supposed to know. Also, the “curtains” in one of the windows is a child’s bed sheet with 101 Dalmatians on it. Creepy? Oh I say yes!

However, just south of Nilwood are the famous Route 66 turkey tracks. When the original concrete was being laid, a turkey came out of field, did a little dance and left his happy footprints forever upon our Mother Road.

For years they went unmarked, but now they are highlighted in a white square with Route 66 shields surrounding them. Who dares say that the 1926 alignment through Illinois isn’t worth it?!

Carlinville was a blur, but I believe I was just hear a few weeks ago with Sarah and Becky. We were looking for the Sears houses. While there are many of them, I again didn’t find the whole section devoted to them. Maybe next time. There will be a next time.

The next town down the line is Gillespi. I was dizzy with excitement! Gillespi is nice enough. No town square that I saw, but a nice enough downtown. By nice I don’t mean thriving, really. But… aesthetically pleasing.

I believe it is Gillespi that has converted what appears to be an old firehouse into a movie theater. It’s strange to see such a change. Normally, towns convert old theaters into other things (or just tear them down), but Gillespi has converted something into a movie theater. And it still plays movies! This week they’re showing Drillbit Taylor. Soon they will be showing the new Narnia movie.

The stretch between Gillespie and Hamel includes Benld. Again, I can’t remember which town had what. I wish that I could figure out a way to keep track of such things. I did see a train between Benld and Hamil. And Hamil’s got a pretty nifty rails-to-trails along Route 66.

From Hamil, it’s a descent into the Mississippi River Valley. It was merely 12 noon and so I figured that I would could take in the Chain of Rocks Bridge and make it through St. Louis today!

Route 66 between Edwardsville and Mitchell is weird and straight and seems to go on forever. It crosses a few highways, twists around some rail road yard and then dead ends at the Chain of Rocks Bridge. There are old motels and a drive in theater along the way to keep you company.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge got a new parking lot since I was last there in 2006. The other parking lot smelled like vomit. Seriously. It was horrible. I like the new one and now it’s not all vomit-scented.

The bridge itself was pretty well unchanged from before. I had a nice mid-day stroll across the Mississippi and probably took too many pictures of it. I should take breaks like this everyday.

The bridge is only open to foot traffic now, and it claims to be the longest foot bridge in the universe (or maybe just America). So from there, to get to the newly reopened McKinley Bridge, I had to backtrack a bit (worth it), head south a bit and then I effortlessly crossed into Missouri.

I took an old alignment through St. Louis, keeping the mood of the day in the 1920’s. St. Louis is a nice town. Again, aesthetically. I rode through the city and took MO 100, Manchester Road, out of town, stopping at a Panera Bread for a snack and some internets.

My destination was the KOA on the west end of town, right along Old Route 66 (though a newer alignment than the one I was currently on).

That is where I am now. At the KOA. Tonight is laundry night and I think it might rain. Tomorrow I’ll have pics of my tent site and of the campground. I think you can sleep in a caboose. I was going to ask, but … well, I have no idea why I didn’t. I should have.

I’m camping. I’m next to Route 66. And in the time I’ve been writing this, five freight trains have passed by. I’m in a good place.

That’s all for now. Time to fold some clothes.

Here are my pics from today.

Miles today: 164
Miles total: 1356

I’m not doing the temps anymore, sorry.

1. That means talking to myself, ok? [↩]
2. Though if there were some sort of exam, I’d fail it. [↩]

First, let me say that this is going to be a long post. I saw a lot today.

Ok, so, like I said this morning, I didn’t have very far to go. Only 150 miles or so, right? Right. RIIIIGHT. If anyone can stretch “only” 150 miles out over 12 hours, it’s me. And I really did.

I was hoping to sleep in a bit, but woke up at 6am. I milled about the hotel room and finally applied Cat Crap to my face field. Cat Crap is an anti-fogger. No idea why they call it that, but it works.

My first mission evolved last night. I was looking at a map of Joliet and came across Mound Street. I figured that since it’s called Mound Street, there must be a mound. Probably an Indian burial mound. And after a bit of research, I found out that I was wrong on both counts.

There was a mound, but it’s not there anymore. I was shocked. Why would they remove a mound? Simple - because they needed some stuff that the mound was sitting on. It was turned into a quarry. But, according to the info that’s available, the mound was a naturally occurring mound. That’s right. In this very very flat river basin, there was this big lump with a flat top. Just… naturally and stuff.

Naturally occurring. Sure. I wonder if the quarrying company provided that info.

Anyway, while there was no mound, there was supposedly a historical marker. I rode around Mound Street, but saw no marker. Thanks! The pic I have is a stock pic.

And moving on…
There’s a stretch of 66 that has been sort of forgotten, even though it was 66 from the late 30’s till it was replace by I-55. The route through Joliet became Alt 66, though it’s much more well known today.

After a quick bite to eat at Panera Bread, I headed up Route 30 to Plainfield. I arrived during a town-crisis. All of the traffic lights had lost their power. The cops were no where to be seen. They left us to work it out for ourselves. And we pretty well did. I followed Lincoln Highway as it converged for a block with Route 66. My two favorite roads together at last!

I think it was just the traffic lights that were out. If all the town’s power was out, I would have seen neighbors outside talking to each other. People only speak when there’s a natural disaster of some kind.

This alignment was neat, but hardly fun. North of town is where all the cops were. They directed traffic around the strip malls. There were tons of strip malls. Miles of them, in fact. And with all the cops preoccupied with directing traffic, this was the golden opportunity for a small riot. You can’t have too big a riot because then the National Guard would be called in. Just a small one. And some looting. I’m rather disappointed in the people of Plainfield for not taking advantage of such a golden opportunity. Shame!

I had to go through Joliet again to get back to the alignment that I was following. There was one last thing I wanted to see there. I’ve been through Joliet three times (a bunch of times if you count last night) and have yet to see the Rialto Theater. Other people in the car with me have seen it. But I have not. Until today.

And all there is to say about it is wow.

But enough of the busy Chicago area. I wanted to get out onto what to me is the real Route 66. Give me an open stretch of road, already!

I had to wait a bit for that, but the four lane south of Joliet is pretty desolate after a bit. Just wide open spaces with signs urging developers to buy them up.

And finally, just north of Elwood, is the Chicago Road. It was probably a really early road into Chicago. It later became 66, but probably didn’t last long until it was bypassed by the four lane. But that didn’t matter. It was my first stretch of really Route 66! Just me alone on a forgotten two lane. I stopped to take it all in. A kid on a four wheeler flew by me and waved. This was great.

Elwood is a small town of little consequence. They all are, really. And even though they’re close to the interstate, nobody really visits. Elwood had a small fire last night. It burned down a tavern. A few townsfolk were still milling about. Again, people talk to each other during disasters. It’s finally something we have in common.

The Rittenhouse Guide¹ doesn’t even mention Elwood by name. Just “Gas Station. Another Gas Station with a cafe and a few cabins.”

Having passed the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery a few times, I thought it only right that I stop. This isn’t where he’s buried. That’s Springfield. But this is where many Illinois vets from WW2 and Vietnam (and probably others, I didn’t see others though) are buried. I rode around the cemetery, trying to avoid being swept up in a couple passing funerals.

As I didn’t have any pressing business here, I putted on to what many consider the “first” Route 66 icon², The Gemini Giant of Willington, IL! This is my third time visiting him and it never gets old.

Remember how I said that the Plainfield alignment was replaced by I-55 and took itself away from what we now consider Historic 66? Here is where it joins up. In Braidwood. Rittenhouse describes it as having piles of coal slag on either side of the road. Certainly they weren’t a big as Shamokin’s pile, but it’s surprising that the piles are gone. Unlike Shamokin’s.

The Joliet alignment and Plainfield alignment don’t really meet up. Joliet’s, called Alt 66 is on the east side of the tracks while Plainfield’s is on the west. It’s a pretty nifty thing to see, I think. Hard to photograph though.

Dwight, the next town, is “quiet and peaceful.” Not much is in it or around it for miles. It, like most of the towns around here, is divided by the railroad. Amtrak still has service to almost all these places, Dwight included. There is a car dealership called Rub Ford³ which still has brand new 2004 Mustangs. Want one?

Odell and Pontiac provided some great photo opportunities. But going through my pictures, one town looks just like the others. It’s only through maps and some almost educated guessing that I can label one picture as being from Odell and another from Pontiac - or any of twenty or more such towns.

One thing that does separate Pontiac from any other Route 66 is its “swinging bridges.” I spied the sign and zoomed off in search of untold treasures. And to my delight, there were three suspension bridges just for walking. I’m not really sure of the story of these things, but it’s pretty cool.

The towns were getting farther apart now. Chicago was far behind me. Rittenhouse mentions Ocoya, but there doesn’t seem to be anything there now. The towns were also getting smaller and the signs of clinging to life were obvious. Here, the life is Route 66. Either embrace it and stand a small chance of survival or… well, there is no “or.”

Sometimes the towns don’t need to provide the entertainment. Between Pontiac and Lexington I found five train cars on their side. They were almost neatly arranged, their wheels in a pile next to a county road. It was hard to figure out what happened here, but I assumed a derailment. This may have been mid-clean up. (Edit: some research and yes, it was a derailment. Look.)

Just a few miles farther, Lexington turned their old alignment into a “Memory Lane” of old billboards for businesses in Lexington that were no more.Towanda did much the same. It’s nice in a sort of sad way. but that is how Route 66 can be.

Out of nowhere arises the twin cities of Normal and Bloomington. They’re basically one town and not very interesting as far as Route 66 goes. I took not one picture there. It did, however, rain like crazy in Normal. I was soaked. It didn’t rain at all in Bloomington though. And by the time I got through the cities, I was mostly dry.

By this point, I had proved to myself that my thoughts of having too much time were insane. If anything, I didn’t have enough time! More realistically, I got off to a late start, but still. I had to pick up the pace, at least just a little.

This meant buzzing through towns rather than exploring. I guess that is ok.

I entered Shirley⁴ and then Funks Grove, where they make “Sirip.” Rittenhouse describes these several towns, including Mclean and Atlanta, as all having “no tourist facilities,” but having a cafe. Each of them. It must have been nice when every small town had a cafe and a gas station.

Atlanta, long one of my favorite Route 66 in Illinois stops, had to be hurried too. It wasn’t a big deal as I’ve explored it twice before. I took a few pics, including one with Ruby and Paul Bunyon and scurried on.

One thing I will call a sacrifice for time today was the town of Lincoln. This was a great size. Not too small and definitely not too big. But I had to just pass through it. Route 66 doesn’t claim its downtown and neither did I. Next time.

With Springfield, my home for tonight, so close at hand, I found my way through the city with quite a bit of ease. I will see more of it tomorrow.

I was pretty well decided upon staying at the KOA Kampground. However, I couldn’t find it. The campground that I went to wasn’t KOA and was only for RVs. So I had to find somewhere else that would take my money.

That is where the Peachtree Inn comes into play. And here I am. On a very floral bed typing out my memories of today before I forget them. Denny’s is next door. I admit to indulging in “seasoned fries.” And now is sleep.

Miles traveled today: 239
Miles traveled today: 1192

High temp: 83
Low temp: 63

Here are the pics of today!

Map explaining where I was today.⁵

1. Jack Rittenhouse wrote a guide to Route 66 in 1946. It’s been reprinted and, while it’s no longer anywhere near accurate, it’s great to see what the Road was like way back when. [↩]
2. By “first” I mean geographically the first going East to West. [↩]
3. That sounds pretty perverse to me. [↩]
4. yeah yeah, that’s what she said [↩]
5. Sort of. Cole requested a map like one that I did before, but I tried and couldn’t come up with anything. Here’s a Google Map that sort of has the route. It’s not anywhere near exact, but gives you a rough idea. For a larger overview, there’s the crude map on the main page. [↩]

For the curious among us (myself included), I stayed in Plymouth, Indiana last night. I was unsure of the town due to the 412 miles, cold, rain, evil and getting lost. Turns out it was Plymouth, a town on Lincoln Highway. I should have just stayed on the Lincoln Highway all day yesterday, but I didn’t.

In a way, I guess it’s a good thing. Today I took Lincoln Highway from Plymouth to Valparaiso, Indiana. I woke to a cool, but wildly sunny and cloudless morning. Because I knew that I didn’t have too far to travel today, I took my time.

I even took in a small breakfast of this amazing trail mix that Chris hooked me up with and a Clif Bar. An amazing breakfast, isn’t it?

By this time, a very ambitious member of the cleaning staff tried to break my door down, so I loaded up Ruby and rode a block down the road to Krogers. I walked more aimlessly than not around the super market. I was looking for juice or… something. I have no idea. I was hungry and just wanted … something.

I found nothing to my liking and left with empty hands.

A bit farther down, I found the Lincoln Highway, hung a right and found myself speeding down back roads - some busy, some nearly forgotten.

I first stumbled upon a ruin of an esteemed diner simply called “EAT.” It’s illegal to not stop at EAT. I pulled over and took a few pics. How could I not? What a brilliant idea - to name your restaurant “EAT.” I should have named the bookstore “READ.” There should be a gas station named “PUMP.” These things are important. Ahh, the nights we’d linger over brandy at EAT. And so passed the “EAT” phase of my life.¹

That thrilled me.

So anyway, up next was Hamlet, the town that, when the wind is southerly, knows a hawk from a handsaw.² Hamlet was an old railroad town. It’s still thriving, somehow, and got me jazzed up because they had a short line engine (The Wisconsin & South) just sitting there next to a grain elevator. Who is as excited as me?! Thanks Hamlet!

Lincoln Highway, at this point, followed the tracks. I was hoping for a train, but nothing doing for this fellow here.

As I mentioned before, Lincoln Highway, in this part of the county, is what would late become US Route 30. And when trying to follow the old Highway, you find yourself entering and exiting a four-lane Route 30. Much of the old road is gone, so it’s really difficult to tell what exactly the alignment was. I followed some dead ends and some roads I was hoping were Lincoln Highway. And who knows, maybe some where.

Next to Hamlet is Hanna. Hanna was much like Hamlet. Hanna was co-founded by a delightful chap named “Nimrod West.” Poor guy. But nice town with a GREAT railroad intersection. I’ve been wanting to see one of these for a long time. Thankfully, I got my chance!

I took Lincoln Highway to Valpraiso and discovered that I was now in the central time zone. I don’t know where it changed, you think they’d mark that better than they do. But no. I’m now an hour behind most everyone reading this.

A right I took on Indiana 49, passing US 6, I-80, I-94 and US 20 to US 12. Before me was the gates to the Indiana Dunes Park. I was told by someone to check this out and I really wanted to. But it was $10 to get in and if I’m going to pay that much, I’d want to spend a bit more time there. I’ve seen some pictures of it and it looks really great.

I took US 12 and then US 20 and then US 12 again into Gary, Indiana. Gary is pretty beat up. I’m not sure if it was ever not beat up.

Chicago was coming up and I was a bit nervous about riding in it. I easily found my way to Lakeshore Drive, zipping and zapping around turns. The traffic was almost nonexistent. I’ve driven this twice before and it was pretty busy. But on a Sunday morning, no problem!

My tummy was grumblin’, so I decided to find the Chicago Diner³ . I thought I knew where it was. I took Lake Shore to Foster and then Foster for several miles and … hey… nothing at all looks familiar! You guessed it, I was lost in Chicago. I rode around 30 or 40 miles through uptown and midtown looking for something familiar. I couldn’t remember the name of the street, the section of town or really anything. I knew the general location, but wasn’t really sure where I was.

I was all over. I wish I could remember where, exactly. I didn’t panic or anything. I was hungry and wanted to eat, but traffic was light and it was sort of fun. Beautiful day for such dealings.

But I did finally find it. I rode not three blocks from it a couple of hours earlier. That’s how it works.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to get the last seat in the diner. The place was literally packed. I bot a Dagwood and a vanilla shake. Delicious as usual, folks.

I’m glad I went. It’s not like I’ll be able to get vegan vittles so easy as today. Mostly, I’ll be reduced to Subway.

Well, enough putting it off, it’s time to start Route 66. I found my way (without getting lost) to Michigan Street. And there it was. “Historic Route 66 - Beginning.” I was going to try to take a pic of Ruby and the sign, but traffic was now pretty heavy. Nothing doing. So I waved as I rode by.

Route 66 through Chicago isn’t all that special. I guess there are a few things, but nothing stands out. The Mother Road graces the towns of Cicero, Lyons, McCook, Romeoville and finally, Joliet. Mostly, with the exception of Joliet, the towns run into each other. It’s all part of Chicago’s sprawl.

I saw a few of the sights to see and then after a few miles, I was in Joliet.

Joliet must have been a pretty big place during the early 1900’s. You’ve got three main east to west US highways all passing through this one town.

I was pretty confused about what was where in Joliet, so I rode around a bit and found a Circuit City so I could by a recharger for my phone. They had nothing. I went to the AT&T store at “the mall.” Same story. So then I went to Radio Shack and got a new phone. I had to re-up with AT&T, but whatever, dudes⁴.

Joliet was all starting to make some sense to me, so I found my hotel room and and decided to do some more exploring. I went to the Route 66 park (it was ok) and tried to see if I could find the Collins Street Prison, where part of the Blues Brothers movie was filmed (this part). After a bit of wandering, I found it. Huge place. It’s one of those castle-style prisons. Neat too.

And since it was now nearly dark, I headed back to the hotel and am ready to start Route 66 in earnest tomorrow. Woo!

Miles traveled today: 226
Miles traveled total: 953

High temp: 73
Low temp: 48

I forgot nothing today. But I *did* find my hat! Yay!

Here are my pics from today.

1. If you would like to know why I like this, go here. [↩]
2. Please, someone get this! [↩]
3. I’m a vegan - I don’t eat meat, eggs or dairy. Finding *good* road food is a tough one for me. Usually, it’s just Subway or something boring like that. So when I find a good, vegan place to eat, I’m THERE! [↩]
4. It was cheaper, you see, to get a free phone vs. a $30 charger for an old, craptastic phone [↩]

We did 66 from Joliet, IL to St. Louis. Fun, but we got finished with it a bit earlier than I thought we would. So we checked out the Arch and a couple of sculpture parks. Fun! Like yesterday, here are some pics.

Right here.

And here are the photos by Smartz.

We arrived in Chicago in effing record time. Our departure was at 430am. I slept from about midnight to 330am. Goodsleeperic.

The drive itself was rather uneventful, as would be any drive through Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. It was I-80 all the way! God, this was so exciting.

I did fall asleep at the wheel once. I love it when I do that. It kept me awake though. Until about right now. I’m in a hotel room in Joliet, Il. Where is Joliet, you ask? It’s a bit south of Chicago. The Blues Brothers had some affiliation with Joliet prison, if I remember correctly.

So basically, since I’ll be doing Route 66 in a few weeks, I’ll spare you the play-by-play. Instead, I offer you the pictures I took today. Hey, that rhymes! I should SO be a poet!

Here are the pics from today!

And here are those from Smartz.