Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Route 66 Adventure: Pontiac to Litchfield Illinois


We did an earlier trip through this same area.  To see that go here...
http://svobodakc.blogspot.com/2013/04/chicago-and-illinois-route-66.html
I got some panoramas of our camp ground..
I saw a sign for the campground on the way up to Chicago on the interstate and somehow remembered it.  I was hoping to make it here on the way back down on route 66 as a good stopping point as I wanted to go into Pontiac to see see Bob Waldmires bus.
Twenty dollars for water and electric....
Chillaxin at our camp...






Giving the doggies a chance to exercise on the 4H grounds before the long trip ahead....













 Pontiac, Illinois
I love how well Pontiac embraces its small town roots and the highway...

Bob Waldmires mural which he designed but was never able to finish...
http://www.visitpontiac.org/2263/The-Bob-Waldmire-Experience
Bob's 1966 Chevrolet Bus.  I am so happy to get to finally tour it.  I never got to meet Bob.  Have eaten at the Cozy Dog in Springfield and have met his brother as well as visited Hackberry General store.  I am happy to see Bob's home away from home, and was very interested in the innovations he built into his bus, many of which are becoming the standard way of doing things in RV design today.






Our tour guide was very helpful and informative...

Pontiac does route 66 up right!







"Throwing the doggies under the bus" to keep them cool.  It was a hot day.












We fuel up and are on our way....

On our previous trip through Illinois, we took the older alignment of route 66 through Illinois.  This time, we took the alignment which often parallels the interstate...


I worked at WAND ABC 17 in Decatur Illinois in 1997 to 1998.  I did explore route 66 back then and spent some time in various towns including Normal Illinois.  We decided to take a little trip down memory lane here and visit downtown Normal and the coffee shop I used to go to when I came into Normal...
Some old 66 landmarks, which I think just recently have been renovated and opened in Normal...

We stopped and had cawfee, then strolled some stores downtown...


Cawfee....

Doggies not allowed😞

There are some great theatre marquees in central Illinois...
hounding them for their pix...
There are some great examples of streamline modern to be found...
record store cat is watching you....😼
rrrrrealllly watching you.....
I do remember there is something of a lively music scene coming out of the college towns in central Illinois.

Again, memory lane.... I remember visiting this store whenever I came here and having good conversations with the owner about the band videos I shot and local music....




Normal and Bloomington Illinois are like twin cities.  Leaving Normal you pass through Bloomington to the south.  Normal is the college town, and Bloomington is more of a business center.



We got to pace a train on old 66 south of Bloomington Normal....
Again, we pass by the Dixie Truckers Home.  We stayed in the motel across the street from here in 2013...
http://svobodakc.blogspot.com/2013/04/closure-route-66-in-central-illinois.html
Lincoln Illinois
This time we just did a brief drive through.  Lincoln is another town that I explored when I lived in the area in the late 90's...


Springfield Illinois
We felt behind the 8 ball in time.  I didn't want to stay in Springfield another night.  We walked around the old capitol grounds on this quiet Sunday.  We then headed to Litchfield where we found a camp ground.











The last time we were here, we visited the Lincoln sites rather extensively...
http://svobodakc.blogspot.com/2013/04/closure-route-66-in-central-illinois.html









Route 66 splits between the old alignment and the newer alignment.  In 2013, we took the older alignment which does take more time to follow.  This time we took the eastern newer alignment...
We were thinking of getting a cozy dog, but it was closed on this Sunday evening...

We went to Litchfield and I stopped to get some pix of some well known route 66 icons...
I wish Jimmy could drive...





We found a campground to stay at for the night.  There is no Wal😊Mart for us tonight....


Twenty dollars a night for Electric and Water...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Litchfield-Lake-Lou-Yaeger-Campground/116429921714291
Just a few minutes east of town....

And, again, Suyen is feeling house proud...











June 4, 2009 at 8.06am PDT
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