The Great American Road Trip III; Day 1

Monday was the start of the coast-to-coast, Route 66 road trip.  This is one of many murals painted
on the buildings in downtown Pontiac, IL.  (click to enlarge)

This will be the third time my lifelong friends and I have taken The Great American Road Trip.  The first was a Route 66 trip starting in April 2013, the second was following the entire route of the Lewis and Clark expedition and today we redo Route 66 with the goal of seeing those things we missed the first time.

There is good news and bad news.  As I previously mentioned, on this road trip I was supposed to be joined by three life long friends.  Three guys with whom I grew up on the same block in a small town in western Pennsylvania.  However, one of the guys called last week and he has 'Long Covid.'  He is suffering from recurring bouts of fatigue, lethargy, dizziness, breathlessness, etc.  He felt he just didn't have the strength to do the trip.  The three of us are saddened by his illness but we are proceeding on the trip, which started yesterday morning.  The good news is we are on our way.

We started with a gourmet breakfast at one of the guys' homes in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Then we drove west toward Chicago.  Traffic and construction were frustrating.  We decided to skip Chicago due to the heavy traffic and congestion as well as we started in Chicago on the last Route 66 road trip so we aren't missing anything.  We just didn't want the hassle. We picked up Route 66 just south of Joliet, Illinois.

An exhibit from the Route 66 Museum in Pontiac, IL How many of you remember these products?
(click to enlarge)

Bob Waldmire, a legend on Route 66, constructed and lived in this bus. (click to enlarge)

These are flat building facades painted to look three dimensional.  There are several of these
in Pontiac, IL along Route 66 (click to enlarge)

We had a great day.  The highlight was Pontiac, Illinois and the Route 66 Museum, the murals painted on the buildings around town and the way the Pontiac government has really done a nice job in decorating the city with a Route 66 theme.

We also had an excellent dinner at Lucca's Grill in Bloomington, Illinois.  Lucca Grill was the first pizza place in the Midwest, according to our guidebook.  In any case, we had an excellent meal with a really good server.  Highly recommended.

We ended the day in Springfield, Illinois.  Tomorrow, we will visit the historical places President Lincoln lived as well as his tomb and library before continuing west.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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