Fall 2025 Road Trip; Off To A Good Start!

A small scene from the old Wagon Wheel Motel and Service Station in Cuba, Missouri
Fujifilm X100VI. (Click to enlarge)

We’re off. Exactly where is to be determined but we plan on loosely following Route 66, most likely joining it somewhere in central Illinois. I know it starts in Chicago, but none of the three of us (I’m traveling with two lifelong friends) particularly want to drive into downtown Chicago on a weekday morning. Also, this is the third time two of us have driven Route 66 (our other companion has only driven it once before) and we’ve previously started in downtown Chicago by having breakfast at the famous Lou Mitchell’s restaurant.

Before I go farther, I need to let you photographers know that I didn’t quite take the gear I planned to take and wrote about in my last post.  You can read that post here.  Choosing gear to take on this kind of trip has always been difficult and, in this case, I made a last minute ‘command decision’ to add two lenses to my kit and leave behind the tabletop tripod.  The two lenses I added are the OM 8-25mm f/4 PRO and the OM 40-150 f/4 PRO.  I added those two lenses mainly because they may be of use when we are on our return trip east and travel through the northern Rocky Mountains and potentially Glacier National Park.  I’m expecting my Fujifilm X100VI and the OM-3 to fully serve my anticipated needs on this trip (with the occasional use of my iPhone 14 as well).

Before heading toward Chicagoland, we stopped in our hometown in western Pennsylvania (we grew up on the same block) and visited some relatives.  We also walked the street on which we grew up.  Of course, it has changed dramatically but it was all very familiar.  Everything has changed but everything was the same, if you know what I mean.  One nice surprise for me was that I knocked on the door of the house in which I was raised.  I lived in that house from the time I was 2 years old until I went away to college.  My dad sold the house in 1973 and I had not seen the inside of it since.  Wow!  What a treat to be able to ‘tour’ a home that meant so much to me as a child as well as holds so many memories.  In general, everything appeared a bit smaller, which one would expect, but it was my old home.  Memories came flooding back as I walked through each room.  Serendipity for sure.

After leaving our hometown, the three of us decided to, indeed, skip Chicago so we picked up Route 66 somewhere in the middle of Illinois. I don’t remember the exact place.  I guess I wasn’t paying close attention.

(NOTE: If you are ever tempted to drive I-70 west out of Columbus, Ohio and across Indiana, DON’T!  It has to be the worst interstate highway in the U.S.  No exaggeration.)  You have been warned.

On this day we followed Route 66 through Illinois, into Missouri stopping for the night in Springfield.  Along the way, we stopped in St, Louis at Ted Drewe’s famous frozen custard establishment (since 1929) and enjoyed one of the exquisite dishes of that cold, refreshing treat on a usually warm autumn day.  It was worth the stop.

Ted Drewe’s famous custard stand on Route 66 since 1929.
Fujifilm X100VI. (Click to enlarge)

After a harrowing experience at a hotel with n o lights nor cars in the parking lot (I’ll write about that place separately) we spent the night at the Best Western Rail Haven Motel in Springfield and that was a treat.  It is a throwback to the1950s and 1960s old motor inns.  It was clean, comfortable, inexpensive and the staff could not be friendlier.  The cool thing was that outside of every room was a covered sidewalk on which you could sit in the evening, take in the sights and enjoy a beverage of your choice—just like you could 50-60 years ago.

Best Western Rail Haven Motel in Springfield, Missouri.  A very cool place!
(click to enlarge)

An iPhone image of travelers enjoying the nightair on the ‘porch’ of the Best Western Rail
Haven Motel in Springfield, MO.  This not very high quality photo was made with my iPhone
14 Pro Max (click to enlarge)

NOTE:  If these images in this post look a little funky, soft or 'off' or not up to my normal high standards, I had to copy and paste them into the blog as I'm currently encountering a glitch with Blogger and it won't let me directly import images.  Evidently, it is a 'cookie' thing that I’m trying to solve.  I'm working on it.

We had a great night’s sleep at the Rail Haven Motel and, after a hearty breakfast and some good coffee, we continued our Route 66 journey west.

Next: Continuing west along Route 66 from Springfield, Missouri into Kansas and Oklahoma.

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

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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