Day 1 on Rt. 66

Arrived in Chicago at 8:00 this morning.  There was a special event going on called Taste of Chicago.  Because of that, t uraffic downtown was very heavy.  I found the beginning of 66 without too much problem.  I remembered that it starts across the street from the Art Institute, not related to the school that Joel went to.  I circled around the block twice trying to get a photo of the beginning sign, but couldn't find a spot to park, so continued on. This is the sign that I followed--Illinois did a great job of marking the route.

 

The old road is uneventful until way outside of Chicago.  Lots of references to Al Capone in my sources.  The road wound through Chicago and to outlying areas.  In Joliet, I saw the old prison, now closed and quite haunting.

I met two women in an info center who are also traveling 66 with 2 children.  I ended up seeing them several times throughout the day at different sights.  Like traveling with the same person up and down the grocery aisles.

I had lunch at the Launching Pad Diner, with the Gemini Giant in the yard--one of the "muffler" men that were popular years ago.

Then  to another diner.  I just took a photo of the characters standing outside the Polka Dot Diner...

It's late, and time for bed.  I'll put up more photos tomorrow.  I will be in St. Louis with friends tomorrow night.









On the way to Chicago

Julie and I had a lazy morning on Tuesday, followed by an afternoon in East Aurora, NY, having lunch at Tantalus and wandering up and down the main street with its trendy shops, spending lots of time in Vidler's.  It is billed as the largest five and dime in the United States, with two floors and four attached buildings of fun stuff.

Wednesday, I set out at 7:30 for Chicago.  I could see signs of reaching the midwest;  irrigation sprinklers,  the large farms,  road trains--two or three semi trailers connected together.  After more than 500 miles, I pulled in to a motel at Chesterton, Indiana.  I noticed a sign for some dunes and decided to check them out.  They are along a beach on Lake Michigan.  Some photos below:

Shows one of the dunes--you can see a guy running up the hill.

Looking out at Lake Michigan

Good watch dog!!

A few photos from yesterday's Erie Canal visit.

This map shows part of the Erie Canal.  We were in Lockport.

The sign showing the locks numbers--the final two on the canal.

Showing how our boat was lowered by the lockmaster who controls the water flow, and the gates opening once the water level is even.  You can see by the dark line at the top how high the water was to begin with.  It took only about 4-5 minutes for us to get to this point!

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

To quickly catch up... We attended Ging's (Brian's aunt)service and burial on Saturday, followed by a typical Sullivan gathering with lots of food, talk, and good feeling about being together. We walked to the beach so that I could dip my feet into the Atlantic, and when I reach Calif., I'll do the same on that coast.

I left Sunday morning to drive to Julie's. It was a quiet drive with few stops. At one rest stop/service area, all the parking was in a parking garage! In another one, there was a farmer's market. Different. It took 7 1/2 hours to get to Alden, and I was greeted with food and love.

Today has been a great day with Julie. We spent a lazy morning talking and catching up, then went to Lockport to go on a boat ride on the Erie Canal. It connects the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean at sea level with the Niagara River and the Great Lakes at 570 feet above sea level. The 363 mile Canal was dug by hand between 1817 and 1825. Lockport is where Locks # 34 and 35 are: they are opened and closed as boats go by, allowing water to rise or lower so that boats can continue through. We passed under an upside-down railroad bridge and the widest bridge in the U.S.. I do have photos that I'll try and post tomorrow.

I'm in Buffalo

This is Day 3 of my trip.

Friday's drive to Long Island was rainy, sometimes slow because of traffic, but otherwise uneventful. We left Topsham at 3:00 and arrived in Stewart Manor at 9:30. This is the first time using my GPS on a trip that I didn't have directions for, and "Sheila", an Australian female voice, did a great job of getting us there.

You can't really use a GPS for Rt. 66, because it's not an official road, having been decomissioned as a federal hwy many years ago. I've read about ways to trick it--you can put in the current name of a particular part of Rt 66.

More later...