My Route 66 Adventure - Day 3 Friday, August 29, 2014 - Day 3 of the Route 66 Adventure - Braidwood, IL to Carlinville, IL. (184.7 miles today – 967.6 miles trip total). Started out today at mileage 22,380.3 (trip miles were now at 784 due to last night’s slight additional mileage back to the Polk-A-Dot Drive In for dinner). Air temperature is 80°. The local time is 10:43 due to a one-hour time zone change. I am now in the Central Time Zone. I am now leaving Braidwood, Illinois and heading south on Illinois Route 53. I have just received news from my brother-in-law Barry DeMaris that my father-in-law Sherman DeMariss health is failing rapidly. I dont know when the right time will be to share that news with my son, as he is very close to his grandfather. This section of Illinois Highway 53 runs exactly parallel to the Amtrak Route. I have heard several Amtrak trains go by in the last several hours. South of Joliet, IL, Union Pacific Railroad runs the freight trains. The Amtrak coaches all seem to be the eastern-style single-level coach cars (although I did see the bi-level Amtrak Texas Eagle race by later in the day – I waived to it as I have ridden it in the past). I am really happy to have gained an extra hour in the view of the time zone change last night. I took a fair amount of time this morning to update my Facebook page and to update some programs on my computer, my cell phone, and my iPad. I am now running parallel to the modern Interstate slab-way on old Route 66, now Illinois Route 53. This country is flat as a board. Time 11:10. Stopped in Dwight Illinois at the Ambler-Becker Texaco station. Mileage is 22,397.3 (trip miles 801). This station was the longest-operating Route 66 gas station. It was built in 1933 in a “house with a canopy” style that Standard Oil of Ohio developed to create a comfortable, homey feel for customers. I especially enjoyed seeing the Model T Ford fire truck parked inside on one of the lifts. It reminded me of my first car, a 1922 Model T Coupe. Both had the three pedals on the floor, magnetos, choke pulls, and hand cranks. Mileage 22,399.0 - Time 11:31. I am in an interesting section of the Historic Route 66. I have just left the Ambler-Becker Texaco station. I am traveling down Illinois Route 53, the old Route 66. The Amtrak route is to my left. The modern interstate lies to my right, and to my immediate right is an old section of Route 66 which appears to date from the time of the original highway. All four routes are running parallel to each other. Mileage 22,406.3 - Time 12:11. I just had a lovely visit to the restored Standard Oil gasoline station in Odell, IL. It was built in 1932 in the “house with a canopy with added bays” Standard Oil of Ohio design first used in 1916. The lady behind the counter used to go to school by going through a tunnel that was created for children to safely pass under the then-busy Route 66. I got her to tell me the story on video. I also bought a large collection of souvenirs. This trip is fascinating so far. If I continue at this so rate, stopping at every interesting place, I probably will not even get to the Kansas border in the next two weeks. I may have to pick up the pace. However, it has been truly fascinating. I am reminded of a story my Uncle Bill Kain told me. He met my father in Chicago in 1929 and helped my father bring the family car, a Chrysler 70, back to York, Pennsylvania. Uncle Bill did most of the driving, and he was quite impressed that there were stretches of road where he could do 60 miles an hour or 1 mile per minute. That was big stuff back in 1929. Now I am doing 60 miles an hour on old Route 66. Time 12:27 - Mileage 22,415.9. Arrived in Pontiac, Illinois. I will be visiting various museums and the Route 66 Visitor Center here. Pontiac is a great place to visit. The parking was free, and the museums were fascinating. The War Museum contained manikins in the personal uniforms donated by over a hundred local veterans. The Pontiac Oakland Museum dedicated to the Pontiac and Oakland automobiles was fantastic with some beautiful automobiles. I had the best bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich in my life at Lydia’s Cup café. By the time I left the Pontiac, Illinois museums it was approximately 2:40 p.m. As I drive along, I noticed that the road is constructed in the old style of standard-length sections of concrete butted together. It gives a rhythmic “bump-bump-bump” sound as I drive along. Also, since the road is only one lane in each direction with a broken yellow line down the middle, I need to practice my passing of slow-pokes driving technique. Going through Bloomington-Normal Illinois was very confusing. At the train depot by the Dixie Truck Stop they said it is the Union Pacific Railroad that handles freight south of Joliet. Mileage 22,524:1 - Time 5:29 p.m. I seem to have gotten lost somewhere west of Springfield Illinois, the state capital. I am following Illinois Route 4 also known as the Veterans Parkway. One of my maps suggested that this was an early alignment of Route 66 in use from 1926 to 1930. However, I am not seeing any Historic Route 66 signs. This Illinois Route 4 will rejoin the definite Route 66 at Staunton Illinois. Time 5:41 p.m. It turns out I was correct and am in fact taking the western early alignment of Route 66. Hopefully this will take me to the famous 1.4 mile stretch of brick road dating from the original Route 66 between Chatham and Auburn, IL. Time: 5:55 p.m. - Distance 22,536:6. I am proceeding south on the original Route 66 alignment used from 1926 two 1930. I have just finished the amazing brick road stretch. My mistake turned out to be beneficial and allowed me to follow the section of the road that I actually wanted to follow. One disadvantage of taking the older sections of this road is that sometimes it is very bumpy. I hope I am not doing damage to the suspension of my car or causing any welds to fracture. I am very proud of my new Ford C-Max Hybrid, and I hope that this journey over old roads will not damage it. I am passing through the town of Virden, IL at mileage 22,541.8. It seems that the local football team, the Panthers, have fantastic local support. There is a booster sign on nearly every vertical surface of this town. The town of Virden has a classic town square. It looks like something out of the 19th century. The time of sunset in this time zone and location will be about 7:30 p.m. I will have to soon start looking for a place to spend the night as I do not think it will make sense to drive at night and miss some of the scenery. It appears as though the Panthers that Virden so admirably supports are from the North Mac High School. The mileage is 22,557.9. I cannot help but remark again how absolutely flat this countryside is. Time is 7:03 p.m. Mileage 22,563.9. Checked in to the Carlin Villa Motel at 18,891 Route 4, Carlinville, IL. My room is not as nice as last night but it will do. Cost was $55.00 plus tax. After checking in, I went to Angus Bailey’s Restaurant at 510 East Side Center Square in Carlinville. Had lobster bisque and filet steak. Then I went to the local WalMart Super Store for some supplies. Now I am back in my motel room recording the day’s events. Summary: my total trip mileage is 967.6 miles, and my miles today were 184.7.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 04:26:09 +0000
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