Day 5 Illinois Journey

Day 5 finds me in St. Clair, MO, just outside St. Louis. It is a nice little town, has a very small town feel in the area where I am staying. Kids walking along the railroad tracks on the way home from school, wide front porches on most homes, a Main Street with local businesses open, and people standing on the boardwalks outside chatting - mostly about the satellite that is falling! "Do we treat it like a tornado? Should we go to the cellar? I'm not doing anything unless it hits me on the head!" are some of the comments I heard. I went to the little cafe in town called Lewis Cafe. Built in 1937, it has been owned and run by three generations of the same family the whole time. They raise their own Angus cattle for their beef, and butcher it themselves as needed, so the meat is always fresh. Very old-style, with stools at the counter and booths against the wall. I got a salad, hamburger and piece of pie for $9! It was excellent! Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me when I went, or I would have snapped some pictures. I want to go back down Main Street in the morning, so I'll get a shot of Lewis Cafe.

Yesterday I said that this morning I would drive over the rainbow bridge outside of Baxter Springs, and I did. It was really cool to think of the traffic going over it one direction at a time, and the other direction having to sit there and wait their turn.

Pretty cool, eh?

I drove quite a bit of Route 66 today, wanting to stop at two places especially, but couldn't find them! Trying to drive this road by yourself is very difficult as it turns out. You definitely need a navigator! For example, at one point this morning I was trying to drive while reading this: "Stay with Rangeline (which becomes Madison), through the light at McArthur, turn right immediately onto 4th, go left at Jefferson, then right on Broadway (at school). At Webb, jog left, then right to stay with Broadway, which curves and merges with Main. Continue into Carterville, turn left on Pine, bear right at the cemetery, then after 2 1/2 miles (now on Leggett Rd.) turn right to cross over..." You get the point. ARGH! I need someone to be reading this to me as I drive. So, on the way back, I will find 4 Women on the Route and the Eisler Bros store in Riverton, Kansas. I finally made it to Joplin - though I'm really not quite sure what road I was on - and then found I-44, and went the rest of the way on that. As I came into Joplin, I was braced to see the devastation left from the tornado, but I guess I was on the wrong side. There was, however, a large relief center set up in a vacant parking lot. It was put together using circus-style tents, and some of the flaps were open so that you could see thousands of crates stacked up in one tent (I'm assuming with food and other supplies) and, in another, rows and rows of cots with blankets and pillows on them. There were large signs on the sides of the tents saying "Disaster Relief". How horrible to be in the position to need that type of help, but on the flip side thank goodness they are there.

Very nice day, all in all. This has been a fun trek, but I will be glad to arrive in Lincoln, IL tomorrow and stay in one place for a while. "Til then, Happy Fall, Y'All!!

Day 4 Illinois Journey

Hello from Baxter Springs, Kansas! This morning I was in Oklahoma City in pouring rain, and tonight I am in Baxter Springs with a lovely cool, clear evening sky. How marvelous! The drive here was relatively easy, especially once it stopped raining. The countryside was full of trees, farms and fields of cows and horses. The sky was beautiful as well, with changing clouds, and the sun peeking out every now and then. Lots of fun silters - that's sun rays filtering through the clouds, for those of you who don't know Caz-speak!

I drove more of Route 66 today, and found some lovely two lane country roads winding through fields, and found the rainbow bridge outside of Baxter Springs:

Isn't it lovely? I missed the turn to go the direction that lets you drive over it, so Just had to drive past and get photos. Tomorrow I will turn at the right point and drive over it!

I am staying at a little bed and breakfast in Baxter Springs - The Little Brick Inn - which is situated above the restaurant Cafe on the Route. The building that they are in used to be the bank, and it was once robbed by Jesse James. Imagine that! The Cafe has been on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and is really good! I had dinner there this evening, and I get breakfast in the morning. Can hardly wait!

 Nothing else earth shattering. Very nice, quiet day. I drove around this charming little community, stopped in at the museum where they have a wonderful collection of Civil War stuff - uniforms, weapons, documents - it was amazing. There also is a log cabin out in the back, and a tank from WW II.  An interesting mix, sort of like the community! I also went to the Route 66 information center, across the street from the Inn, and signed my name on their wall. They have thousands of names on their wall, some from Europe but most from the US - all people who wanted to "travel the Route".  Now my name is added for posterity!

Well - that's it for tonight. Tomorrow it is on to St. Clair, MO, the last stop before Illinois. Getting closer!

Day 3 of Illinois Journey

Today I drove along some of the old Route 66 from Amarillo eastward!

Sad to say, it was nothing special! after about an hour of ruts in the road, dead gas stations and stores, I gave up and went back to I-40! I know there are more interesting parts yet to come, and will hop on and off tomorrow on the way to Kansas. I have three or four places earmarked to check out.

The change from Texas to Oklahoma was almost as dramatic as from New Mexico to Texas. This amazes me - the geology of the land does not know where one state stops and the next begins! However, there really is a difference. Oklahoma has rich, red earth, which contrasts with the green of fields and trees. There are a lot of farms, houses and small ranches on the road, which is new. The area has small hills to break up the landscape - gone is the flat go-on-for-ever land!

I stopped at a rest stop for a stretch break after about 2 hours, then headed on the way - total trip took about 4 1/2 hours. Much better today! Today's motel is nothing special - a nice, clean room, but without any personality, so no pictures of it. There are, however, some incredible homes in the area:

Of course I had to drive around and drool!!

The Webinar on Illinois that I spoke about yesterday was actually really good. Packed with information - so much that I couldn't take notes, or I missed what the guy was saying. They are emailing out a PDF and copy of the video to everyone tomorrow, so I'll have all of the resources that were mentioned. Most of it was a review for me, as far as internet sources and county/state repositories and information. However the section on Illinois history was great, as was the review of the different regions, and where most of the population came from for each region. There also were a few new internet sources I didn't know about, so I am eager to get the PDF and explore!

So that's it for tonight. I am off to watch some TV, then sleep! Tomorrow - Baxter Springs, Kansas!

Day 2 of Illinois Journey

Hello from Amarillo, Texas! Today's drive was long - partly due to sheer mileage (~430 miles), but irritatingly added to by ROAD WORK! My daughter and I have a running joke that wherever we decide to go, someone has decided road work is needed. Well...there were no less than 10 spots where the speed limit was down to 45, and traffic was down to one lane. There are many, many trucks traveling on I-40, so this made it even more terrible! Oh well - 8 hours after leaving Gallup, I arrived in Amarillo in one piece, so I guess I can't complain! Driving through New Mexico was a straight trip through miles of empty land. At one point I looked in the rear view mirror, and thought I could see the road go straight back to Gallup - and this was probably 3 hours into the trip. There weren't even ranges of cattle or horses. The minute I crossed into Texas, however, the landscape changed. Gone was the desert-like scrub, cactus and trees, and in came the plowed fields, ranges of cattle and horses, and huge ranch-lands with big iron gates at the entrance showing the name of the ranch. Those were pretty cool!

I am staying at The Big Texan Motel, across the parking lot from The Big Texan Steak Ranch. Yes, they are combined. The motel rooms are very rustic and have those swinging saloon-type doors going into the dressing/bath area. Very solid, rough wood furniture, which is surprisingly comfortable! I did not go across to the steak house to eat - too tired and not hungry enough to do a steak justice! I ordered a hamburger to go and went back to the room.

The Motel:

My room:

Very nice space!
(Photos added Wed. 9/21)

Tomorrow's jaunt is through Texas and into Oklahoma, stopping in Oklahoma City. It's about 250 miles, so shouldn't bee too hard of a drive. I plan to leave early anyway, as I haven't been able to see much Route 66 yet, and there is a lot to travel on from here on out. I also need to be settled in Oklahoma City by 4:30, as I have a Webinar at 5pm - "Illinois Genealogy Crash Course" through the Family Tree Magazine website. I hope it offers some tips that I have not thought of!

So that's the update for today. For those who are reading this in the SF Bay Area, my thoughts and prayers go out to the two families facing crises this week. Please know that you are in my thoughts every day.

Tomorrow's post will be from Oklahoma City, OK (O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A OKLAHOMA!)

Day 1 of Illinois Journey

Nothing much to report tonight. Very uneventful, beautiful drive from Goodyear AZ to Gallup NM. There is not much drivable Route 66 for this section. I took some pictures of the Wigwam Hotel, but they are pretty bad. I'll get another shot on my way back and post them! I listened to some Frank, Sammy and Dean to start the trip off in honor of my dad (his favorites!), then switched to Nat King Cole for the Route 66 song once I hit I-40! That got me jazzed! Then I went to my current audio book, and listened to that the rest of the way. Like I said - fairly uneventful!

Tomorrow - on to Amarillo, Texas. I am staying at The Big Texan Motel. They also have a steak house connected to them, and both are recommended by the Historical Route 66 Federation, so I figured they were safe! Hopefully I'll have pictures to post tomorrow.

Drew - I couldn't find a postcard tonight, but I promise I'll find one tomorrow and send it off. Goodnight!

Addendum Wed. 9/21
The first picture of the Wigwam Motel wasn't too horrible, so here it is:

I still want some better photos on the trip back!


This is where I stayed Monday night

Off to Illinois

I have not been very diligent about updating the blog, but I promise to be better from here on out. Tomorrow I leave on my long-awaited and long-anticipated trip to Illinois! I am all packed, with everything lined up by the garage to be loaded in the morning. You would think I was going for a year, rather than a little over three weeks! Two suitcases, two crates filled with binders, books and files, a camera bag, my techie backpack (you know, the laptop, i Pad, Nook and all of their cords and such!) and, of course, a bag of munchies for the 6 day drive to get there. Oh yes, and my two cases of CD's in case I get tired of books on tape and XM radio. I have maps and books on Route 66, with places picked out to stop and investigate. I'll try to add a little blurb every day to let everyone know where I am and what I saw.

As for genealogy news, I have visited two cemeteries and taken tombstone rubbings from my parents' marker and my grandfather's head stone. (I posted pictures on the cemeteries page, if you're interested) I have found quite a few of the Illinois ancestors listed in cemetery listings online, so I actually know where to go to find them. Every time I came across a name it was very exciting for me. You have to remember that I never knew any of these people, and never even knew about them until very recently. Every time I see a name, or a picture of a headstone, I think "They really are real! These people really did exist and they are my family!". So, pardon my enthusiasm, but I am eager to go "meet" my grandparents, and great grandparents, and begin to put together an idea of the life they lead.

One of the other exciting finds that I made was that on both my mother's side - Mom's mother's mother's line - and my dad's side - Dad's father's mother's mother's line - there is a link to the Revolutionary War. We have "certified patriots" on both sides of the family who fought in the war. To find that I come from not one, but two families who sacrificed their lives and families to create this country awes me. I don't know what words to use to describe my feelings, other than awed. It doesn't really change who I am, but gives me more depth, maybe. I am proud to be able to say I am connected to people who were present at the birth of our nation.

Well, that is it for tonight. There have been other findings in the past month, but I will catch up on those at a later date. I am off to finish the last few things, then sleep, then up early to hit the road. Next post will be from Gallup, New Mexico!

New Page added

Check out the new page on cemeteries! It will be updated as I visit new places, and will undoubtedly go through many overhauls before I am "happy" with it.