Friday, June 29, 2007
We Made It!
It was sort of anti-climactic as we fought Chicago traffic to Jackson and Michigan avenues about 2:30 this afternoon. (This is the original end of Route 66, before Lake Shore Drive existed.) We found a broken Route 66 sign, and thousands of people heading to the Taste of Chicago – a yearly event in Grant Park where you can pig out on food from local restaurants. It used to be put on by local restaurants at Navy Pier until the city got involved, and now it’s a very pricey overdone major event. After taking a quick picture of the broken sign while waiting for the signal to change, we headed south about 15 miles, to stay for the night. That only took us TWO HOURS!! Poor Harley! I think the terrible downtown roads and overheating in this last traffic jam has him very tired. I promised him new pistons and polished heads if he would just get us home.
Of all the years of traveling both with our RV and on Harley, I have come to dislike several states across the country. Utah has led the list, with Oregon and Florida second and third, BUT… I have a new first place, Illinois! There is something about this state that (as Jessie James from West Coast Choppers would say) IS JUST WRONG. I have never seen so many brand new cars with duct tape holding them together and smashed fenders!! It’s like nobody cares. I wish I could meet Mayor Daley. I could place one of his potholes were it would do the most good!!!!!! I’m sure the road to his house is very nice. Most of the abandoned 70-year-old Route 66 across the U.S. was in better condition than the roads in Chicago. Even the toll road that cost $2.60 to go 20 miles was in bad shape. (I wonder where that money is going??) Well, enough of my ranting… I guess I shouldn’t post this to the website until we leave the state. Besides, Cathy said I should be nice, because this is where she grew up.
Outside Chicago, however, we did have a fun stop – Joliet Route 66 Raceway (Chicago Speedway). The place was empty. We stopped and talked to the guard. Cathy smiled, and he let us in to take pictures. A few weeks ago, John Force, Kenny Bernstein, and the rest of the big-time drag racers were going 300+ miles per hour where we were taking pictures!!
We did find some wonderful Route 66 buildings in Southern Illinois. No there isn’t a north and south, but there should be. We found one stretch of abandoned 66 in Towanda that has been made into a walkway with benches, flowers, and information about Route 66 for every state. It went on for several miles. We stopped in the city of Odell, where we found a restored Route 66 gas station. Some of the early equipment they had on display I remembered using myself at my first job at a gas station. I can’t believe I’m that old!
We also rode past the Riviera Restaurant in Gardner, said to be the hangout of such unlikely patrons as Gene Kelly, Tom Mix, and Al Capone. Further down the road, we passed the Launching Pad drive-in in Wilmington, with its gigantic fiberglass astronaut, the Gemini Giant. This is one of the few surviving pieces of highway art of its type… there used to be “giants” all along the Mother Road, advertising restaurants and other services for motorists.
While we were looking over all the great stuff at the service station in Odell, another couple drove up on a Harley. We started chatting, and found out that they are from England. They flew from Heathrow to LAX, where they rented a Harley and drove the route like us to Chicago. They will turn in the motorcycle and fly from O’Hare back to England.
It was great talking to these people, and all the others we have met on the trip. We all had the same desire in common – to experience Route 66. We enjoyed talking about all the same things: the heat through the desert; drying out clothes with a hair dryer after getting soaked in the rain; and all the sights, sounds, and smells we came across while trying to religiously follow this road. Some will not understand this, and others will follow after us and be glad they did. We certainly are glad we made the journey.
I already have thoughts of shipping Harley to Italy next summer, and driving through Tuscany. If we’re still walking and talking… Maybe??
