Hi all. Just thought I would post a note that my wife Kathy and I and Ol Blue(our 63 SDV) have completed our 4th trip on Rt. 66. 

Just as I said when we reached Tucumcari NM - "Ol Blue doesn't need to go any further west", when we reached Pontiac Illinois - "Ol Blue doesn't need to go any further east". 

May 6th, around noon, we left NE Kansas and headed for the Mother Road. Initial plan was to go to Lake Shore Dr. in Chicago where Rt 66 starts. But, no one we talked to said anything favorable about driving thru the Chicago traffic. So, for the safety of the car and us, we started in Pontiac, Il. 

We like to cruise the 2 lane highways so I opted to take US24 which runs through our small town of Rossville,Ks. It would take us just south of where we wanted to start. US24 was a very nice road through Missouri and Illinois. But, this type of traveling is not for the IMPATIENT! You go through all the small towns, follow farm equipment, and even encounter  1 lane bridges, one with a stop light, one without. We hit the Mississippi River at the border of Mo. / Il.. Hannibal Mo. - boyhood home of Mark Twain - is a very nice river town with lots of stuff to visit, as is Quincy, Il.. Hannibal was the 1st stop at 312 miles. Ol  Blue performed great, sometimes with the air on, sometimes with the back windows open.  

Day 2 found us in Pontiac to begin "America's Main Street". Pontiac promotes Route 66 very well. We stopped  at the Rt 66 Museum and the War Musuem which were very nice. Also, met  a couple from Ontario and one from Wisconsin that were touring the Route like us. 

Day 3 we landed in Springfield Il., home of Abe Lincoln. Stopped at his home, the museum and library. Strangely enough, ran into the same two couples at the Rt 66 Motel that evening and enjoyed a couple beers and jawin with them. 

Day 4 we hit St. Louis. After dealing with bumper to bumper traffic here, glad we didn't hit Chicago. Stopped at the Chain of Rocks Bridge. This old bridge, now closed to traffic, has a 22 degree bend in it going over the Mississippi River. It is a hiking and biking trail now, but they did open it for the recent Cadillac/LaSalle tour and allowed them to drive across it. 

Day 5 found us at  Rolla, Mo.. We headed south on the last leg to Lebanon, Mo. This is where we headed home on Trip 3. Spent a little time seeing a few sites and headed back home to Rossville.

Along the way there are sites, too numerous to mention here that we stopped at. Although Rt. 66 follows Interstates, we seldom drove the 4 lane, always opting for the actual Route. Following Rt. 66 can be challenging at times, but I'm blessed with a great navigator(Kathy) and a good sport for accompanying me in a 55 year old car on my crazy quests. 

As a side note, I absolutely love driving my old rig. Nope, its not a show car, it leaks a little oil, has some rust bubbles in the paint, etc. but its never let us down on these long trips. With all the side trips, U-turns, and Oh Craps, we traveled almost 1500 miles in Ol Blue this trip. As Russ's T-shirt says - "Fins are in, its a car, drive it"! 

Is this the last trip, probably not. Thinking about completing the southern half of the Great River Road. Just a short jaunt from Dubuque Ia, to New Oleans La. along the Mississippi River.

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excellent story.

Sounds like a fun trip and love the picture with the Route 66 sign in the background!

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