KIT™ Day 3

Our first stop today was the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. The bridge opened in 1929 with  $0.05 toll, and closed in 1969.  The bridge is one mile long and 24 feet wide, with a 22 degrees bend mid-span.  This is the first time that either of us had walked over the Mississippi river, the name of which is based on native american words Big (misi) and Water (sipi).  Also shown in the pictures are water intake towers from 1894 and 1915.  It was amazing that while traversing the bridge, we must have disturbed a couple of Osprey, they were dive bombing us.  All in all, a very unique experience.

By the time we were done with our two mile hike, we headed into St. Louis over the McKinley bridge, a recently restored road bridge.  No pictures of the bridge since there are no safe places to pull over.  We then followed the directions to Ted Drewes, a frozen custard maker extradoirdanaire, making custard since 1929 and since 1941 from this location.  I had a Heath Bar Concrete, and they demonstrated their signature move  to hold it upside down to show how thick it is (no small feat on such a war day :o)

Next stop was in Eureka Mo, site of Times Beach.  The land orginally went on sale in 1925 at $67.50, with $10 down and $2.50 per month.  The Route 66 State Park welcome center is just outside of Times Beach (across the Meramec River), it had previously been several restaruants, but was closed down in 1982.  Why 1982? Well this is the infamous Times Beach of the dioxin contamination.  You see, in 1972, Time Beach hired Russel Bliss to "oil" the roads to keep the dust down since they were not yet paved.  Unfortunately, the oil was waste oil and was contaminated with dioxin.  In 1982, this had just recently been discovered and there was a huge flood.  All homes were condemned, and in 1996 the soil was incernerated and the land was turned over to the Park Service.  They did an awesome job on the museum/welcome center.

Some other interesting stops:

Red Cedar Inn Restaruant, Pacific MO, for sale.






3rd Rail Bar and Grill, it is vacation after all.

Next stop was Meramec Caverns.  We had seen the signs many times going down to visit my folks, but this trip we said we would stop, and we were not disappointed.  It is a must see attraction, very well done and amazing.  The picture shown here took 75 million years to develop...

Biggest Rocking Chair in the world :o)

A cool sign.

John's Modern Cabins (our third time here).  It is sad to see how decrepit they have become.  Sometimes there is nothing that can be done to save an icon...




We ended up in Lebanon, MO; but we did not quite make the progress we had hoped today (as you can see, it was a busy day).  


So tomorrow we will backtrack about 40 miles and then head to Springfield MO.  After we backtrack, we have about 95 miles to go and figure with stops and such that it will be at least five hours.  That is just the way we roll on this trip.

Sunday Silliness - Meetings :o)

KIT™ Day 2

What a GREAT day today was. It was all Illinois, all day (we are in Mitchell tonight, 10-20 miles outside of St. Louis).

We started out by heading to Funk's Grove, where we saw a train depot, a general store, and a church all circa 1864.  It was fascinating to see how two local families built a community.

Then it was on to the Sugar Shack, where it was interesting to learn of how sirup was discovered by accident.  I learned the sirup is the cooked down pure form, and it only becomes syrup after sugar and such is added.

Next up was Atlanta, where we say the local library, an octagon shape, with a clock tower out front (manual wind with an eight day run time).   Paul Bunyon with the hot dog, another Giant, was also at this location.  It was recently restored and looked great.

The highlight of the day had to be our adventure in Lincoln.  First was driving over some original brick road, leading to where the original road was routed between two cemeteries.  Here the road went down between two embankments.  It was very cool, with original concrete including curbs were visible.  As we made our way down, there was some original bricks visible again.  Further in, we came to the Ghost Bridge, where the original pilings were still visible.  It was a pretty good hike.  Then the big score of the day occurred --- an original brick was recovered.  We had tried to dig one up, but it was cemented in place, so I initially recovered a half brick and we were happy.  But while at the Ghost Bridge, we came across some discarded metal, and taking that back, I was able to dig up a dual brick section and break them apart, resulting in a piece of the road coming home with us.  It was very cool!!!  We then back-tracked a bit and had a wonderful lunch at Fat Boy's BBQ.  The owner was a hoot and we had a great time talking to him (I had to get a T-Shirt).

Then it was a sad stop, where the Pig Hip Restaurant used to be in Broadwell.  The place was operated from 1937 - 1991 by Mr. Ernest L. Edwards, Jr. and family.  It burned down after that, and recently Ernie passed away.  Alas, his house is empty and not being cared for.  You can see the flag at half mast...

We headed into Springfield and I was able to get this shot of the capital building.  We were very disappointed that the Cozy Drive In was closed for the holiday weekend.  Guess they need a break just like the rest of us.

The next stop was the Sugar Creek Covered Bridge, originally constructed in 1880 and wonderfully restored and maintained.

After the Covered Bridge, we back-tracked a bit and headed to another spur between Chatham and Auburn, where we were able to drive a 1.4 mile stretch of brick that had been laid over the original Portland Cement in 1932.  This stretch and its two bridges are part of the national registry.  

We then took multiple side trips on original concrete sections of the Mother Road, all 16 feet in width, with many "S" curves.  It was interesting that these types of curves resulted in many accidents back in the day, giving the route the moniker "Bloody 66".

A day on Route 66 would not be complete without a restored gas station, and that is what we found in Mt. Olive in the Soulsby Shell Station, built in 1926 and run continuously as a Shell station through 1991.

As dusk was starting to make an appearance, we made it to the Luna Cafe, the only bar on the Route that has maintained the same name.  Built in 1927, it is iconic, and a local favorite.  When I checked in on FourSquare the message was "your first Dive Bar".  We had a beer and then searched for a place to stay.  




I think tomorrow might require fewer pictures :o)

Kicking It Trip [KIT™] Day 1

It was a sweet start to our Kicking It Trip [KIT™].  Our rental is a Chrysler 300, Year 2012 with 6815 miles. It has Satellite radio, a backup camera, and other bells and whistles.  It is a sweet ride.






We headed out at about 1030, and headed to Chicago for the start of the trip, it was a gorgeous day and it was fun to drive down Lake Shore Drive.


We then wound our way through the city and eventually ended up at Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket in Willowbrook for lunch.  The Chicken Basket started as a gas station, then a Blue Bird Bus Stop, and had ice skaters on the roof to attract travelers. In 1963, the Rhea's purchased it and it has been a must stop on the Route since.

Then it was off to Willmington IL where I encountered my first Giant, the Gemini.

Next we headed to Dwight to see the Ambler Texaco, build in 1932.

Our next stop was in Odell with the Standard Oil Station also built in 1932 with the service bays added in 1937.

By this time, it was time for a bio-break and an amber beverage, which we were able to satisfy at the Old Log Cabin in Pontiac Illinios, build in 1926 and redone recently.

I think my favorite thing today was the searcing for the original road, and how things have changed and grown, but remnants of the original mother road still exist. We saw and will see many more of this.

Going to get our Kicks!

Tonight I will pick up our rental car, and then the trip we have been fixing to get ready to take for the past ten years will be a reality.  Tomorrow we head to Chicago, to the start of the mother road, and from there we will follow Route 66 to its end point in Santa Monica, CA.

We are only planning about 150 miles per day, and have already made reservations at a couple of iconic motels along the route.  We will be doing lots of little side trips to see as much of the original road as we can.  Lots of neon, mom & pop stores, attractions, people, places, and things.

We will end our vacation with seeing my Aunt and Cousins in Yucaipa, the honor of watching Andy receive his PhD at CalTech, and a weekend with Kim & Steve in LA.  We are hoping that Heather, Jen, Ray, and Liam will come up and join us for a day as well.

My phone is a moble hot spot, so we will be able to post and let you share the trip.  We will be doing some posts here, and I am sure lots of mobile uploads to FaceBook, so if you are not already my friend, then let me know and we can get hooked up there.   Back to regular programming on June 19th.  Until then, we will be kicking it up and I hope you will join us for the ride.

Life - Live It!

" Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed. “

- Corita Kent

Blueseed Startups

When startup Blueseed floated the idea to create a seaborne startup community in international waters off the coast of northern California, we were intrigued. We weren’t the only ones. A new report released by the company says it has 133 tech startups on board to move their operations offshore when the ship launches next year.

The idea here is to create a startup-only environment in international waters--a place that requires no visa to visit or work--that will draw the best technology minds and ideas from around the world. Daily ferries will move people between Blueseed’s floating base and venture-capital-rich Silicon Valley, just a dozen miles away. That means Blueseed could accept daily commuters, but that startups are also able to permanently set up shop in the floating city, housing employees there as well.

The startup-centric culture seems to be a big draw, and upstart technology ventures are lining up to shell out the roughly $1,600 per month it costs for a single occupancy living space (this includes workspace as well). More well-endowed residents can get a top-tier single occupancy cabin for twice that. Blueseed’s floating startup city is slated for launch by third quarter of 2013.

Only You Can Control It!

"The last of the human freedoms:

to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

- Viktor Frankl

Sunday Silliness - Mediocrity :o)