Route 66 Road Trip! Follow Along!

I was posting this on another forum I'm when I realized that you guys might enjoy this thread too.

After years of talking about it, I finally decided to do it. The wife, son, and myself are going to road trip down Route 66. We'll be starting in Chicago, and heading toward the Sana Monica Pier. We'll be taking my 2013 Core Challenger. I have the next four weeks off, and have no real itinerary for the trip. We plan on driving until we come across something we want to see and stopping when we are tired. I thought it would be cool to post pics of the trip. I'll be posting this across a couple auto forums I'm on, so if you don't quite get what I'm talking about in a post, or referencing a picture, that's why.

Here's the Challenger, ready to go. Don't worry, the bra is only on it for the trip.


The trunk easily fit three large suitcases, a couple bags, and some loose sweatshirts. I think the wife over packed but she claims we need all this stuff.


We pulled out of Toledo and headed to Chicago. I'm not use to the traffic jams we encountered in downtown Chicago. I really don't know how you people that live in big cities put up with it. We decided to skip the sights in Chicago. While there is plenty to see there, it's an easy weekend trip from Toledo. We thought it would be best to come back another time and spend the weekend. We pushed on, just north of Chicago to Field's Chrysler to visit Pat.


In case you don't know who Pat@fieldsauto is, he's a vendor on a couple to the Jeep forums and the guy with all the inside info on new Wranglers. The Challenger was in need of an oil change for the trip, so I though since I was going to be in Chicago I'd stop by and have them do it. It was nice to finally put a face to name. I completely forgot to take a picture with him. I guess if you want to know what Pat looks like, you'll have to stop in and see him yourself.

Our next stop was Wilmington, Illinois and the Launch Pad Diner. I'm sure you've all seen pictures of the Gemini Giant. It's been associated with Route 66 for years. Unfortunately, the diner has been closed. Here, the son and I are posing for a picture. For scale, I'm 6'2".


Our next stop was Pontiac Illinois, home of the Route 66 museum. Sadly, we arrived there after the museum had closed for the day. We decided to spend the night in Pontiac so we could see the museum tomorrow. It was still light out, so we walked the streets of Pontiac taking pictures of the murals that it's downtown is also known for.

My favorite picture so far...

After the museum we'll be heading to St. Louis to visit some of the wife's relatives. I'll post more tomorrow night.

Next, we went upstairs to the War Veterans museum.  The museum is dedicated to all the soldiers that have served in the area.  10 years ago the soldiers began to donate their uniforms and memorabilia.  It's turned into an impressive, and somewhat eery, collection.  

We finished up our day in Pontiac at the Pontiac car museum.  This guy has an incredible collection of cars and Pontiac memorabilia.  I was told the collection of cars rotates so if you stop by he might have some new cars in.

Being in St. Louis, we had to visit the arch.  My son and I stood at the bottom singing the theme to Halo.  Pretty dorky, yes, but we we laughed.


We rode the trams to the top and spent some time looking out the windows at the top.



We also went to the St. Louis zoo.  I didn't take any pictures worth sharing.

Tomorrow were heading to Meramec Caverns.  I should have some interesting pictures to share from there.

I've been on sections of Rt 66. There is a lot to see if you take the time to slow down and look! Cool trip.

There is also a route 66 museum in Elk City, Oklahoma,(they do charge admission and close pretty early..) and one other in Texas but I can't remember the city. Might be Amarillo.  Don"t neglect  the inspiration for some of the Cars movie in Shamrock, TX, and the ultimate route 66 ghost town, Tucumcari, NM which has all sorts of photo ops and lots of murals even on the side streets.. Cheap hotel rooms in Tucumcari by the way.

I don't remember the car museum, Roc...where was it? I almost always stop in Tucumcari when I am off a load in the area.

Archerace
I live in Pontiac and if had meet up with you could have shown some other interesting things. As you came in from the north their is the OLD Log cabin restaurant that has a lot of old rt 66 things in it. The food is okay also. I only leave a few blocks from the restaurant and have coffee their every morning when not on vacation. Have a good rest of your trip

Pat T

I'm pretty sure the museum in Elk City is on the list.  We are defiantly stopping at the Cadillac Ranch.  We should be passing through Winslow.  I want a pic with the girl in the flatbed Ford.

my wife is in love with Pontiac.  She really likes downtown and wants to move there. :)

Skipping San Bernadino is duly noted. I'm a bit concerned with all of California.  I don't really care for big cities and especially their traffic.  The wife just told me that Goffs Schoolhouse is on our list.

We started out the day heading out of Ditmer Missouri, driving to the Missouri University of Science and Technology.  They have a replica of Stonehenge there.  Yea, it is as exciting as you think.  I took a picture from across the street and left.


Heading on down 44 we stopped at a diner/bar called Joe & Linda's Tater Patch.  There claim to fame is serving a potato, or tater, as a meal.  I decided to give the cheeseburger tater a try.  I have no idea who the diabolical genius is that thought of this, but it was amazing.  A huge tater, covered with a 1/4lb of ground beef, smothered in cheese sauce.  They then ring the plate with all the fixins that make up a cheeseburger.  To eat it, you cut it up into small pieces an mix it all together.   Don't forget to mix in the sour cream and butter.


We stopped by a couple little stores today.  Whenever we stop, I always seem to find something there that I haven't seen since I was little.  It's kind of cool how coming across somthing you haven't seen in years brings back forgotten memories.  At one store it was an old pack of pipe filters. My father use to smoke a pipe and I remember seeing that same box as a kid in the 70's.  At the other it was an old military flashlight. I remember all the kids had them hanging on their bikes back in the day.  I had forgotten all about that yellow banna seat bike.

The first was the Totem Pole Trading Post.  They've been in business on Route 66 since 1933.

The second was the Old Riverton Store

Next I wanted to check out Vintage Iron in Miami Oklahoma.  Unfortunately they are closed on Sunday.  It's probably for the best.  They have a really nice FL shovel head sitting in the showroom. Had I sat on it, I'd have wanted to take it home.  But, the trip wasn't a complete bust.  Further down main street sits the inspiration for the character Tow Mater from the movie cars.


It's funny we should find Mater.  I didn't mention it then, but if you scroll back to the pictures of the route 66 museum in Pontiac you'll notice a VW van.  That van was owned by Bob Waldmeir.  Bob spent his life cruising up and down route 66, living the hippie lifestyle in that van. (he also had a mustang and a bus)  The VW was the inspiration for the character Fillmore, the hippie VW van also in the movie Cars.

Our last stop was Totem Pole Park in Chelsea Oklahoma.  It's a park. With totem poles. yup. Totem Pole park. If you're driving by, stop and take a look at the totem poles. They've been there since 1948.



We made it to Claremore Oklahoma.

Edited by archerace - 21 July 2014 at 5:26am