Lulu Guides & then further down The Road!

            Monday, 9 July.  With Lulu as my fearless guide we set off to explore Rt.  66.  After first picking up some maps at AAA we headed down 66 [IL 53] thru Romeoville stopping for some photos at Montana Charlie’s.  –  The next stop was the State Police Office.  I needed to know which district it covered.  I am doing the Scavenger Hunt in the E-Z Guide.   –  Lulu suggested a short detour to the Lockport Prison.  An imposing structure now empty.  –  Then on to Joliet where we used some pixels on murals, the Rialto Theater and old buildings, taking all 3 alignments thru the city.  –  At Elwood we found some old 66 with 9-foot wide lanes.  –  We had a late lunch at the Launching Pad.  The “Giant” was most imposing.  We ran into a couple from Switzerland doing 66 on their bike.  –  In thunder & lightning & pouring rain I returned Lulu home and then drove to Dwight for the night.
            Tuesday, 10 July.  I met some Dutch Roadies at the Super 8 in Dwight.  The 3 kids were taking their dad on a drive down 66 – a life long dream.  I told them, they would return!  –  Then on to Wilmington where I picked up the trek.  I stopped in Braidwool at the Polk-A-Dot Drive-in.  Elevensies was an ice cream swirl.   I headed down 66/53 towards Gardner stopping to check out the Riviera Roadhouse & the trolley in their backyard.  In Gardner I used my “Get Out Of Jail Free Card” to just visit the 2-cell jail.  The whole building was about 10 or 12 on a side.  –  In front of the jail was a placard about a chap there who helped the US/Allies in WW2 attack the Heavy Water Plant in Norway.  –  I then headed up 129 checking out the old Lucenta gas station to Plainville on the old alignment.
            Wednesday, 11 July.  Dwight has a bunch of neat places to photograph: Ambler Texaco, Federsons Pizza Garage & Route 66 Tire & Auto.  The old 66 Restaurant is pretty good, but no half & half for coffee.  I stopped at “Not Your Mother’s Coffee” for an iced coffee.  I highly recommend the place.  –  Down the road to Odell.  The 1932 Standard Station is really nice & you can get “Miller” tires there..  I took a distant shot of the restored Meramec Caverns sign just up the road from an old grain elevator.  –  I drove down the road at a leisurely pace.  I have found that driving on 66, where traffic is very light, at about 40 to 45 mph is an amazingly relaxing way to drive, assuming one has the time to do so. –  I spotted the “Hwy 4” marker on the Division St. bridge en route to the Route 66 Hall of Fame Museum.  This is a very nice museum.  I spent a couple hours there.  I ran into some Roadies from Belgium.  They had heard about me from the chap at the Standard Station.  I had mentioned, I was taking 3 months to drive The Road.  Gee, I’m a Legend In My Own Mind!”   –  In Chenoa I tracked down the abandoned section of 66 for photos.  – Today’s drive ended at Lexington.  I did get some photos of “Memory Lane.”  It is nicely done.