Day 17 End - Day 1/2 On & Off the Road!

So our Eastbound tour ended in Chicago with a bang when they met up with the Westbound tour, fresh but nervously anticipating their trip down the mother road. That was soon sorted when they all got together for a final / first night dinner! That let the cat out of the bag and their expectations were lifted!

Maybe the dinner of the two parties was a bit like the gangster mobs they'd both seen on their Untouchable Tour - a kind of mutual meeting of territorial groups. Make no mistake, had someone not turned up from the new group, there were plenty of the old guard prepared to take their spot for the return tour. To aide this quickly found bond of things Route 66 we all breakfasted together at Lou Mitchells as it had been closed for a movie shoot the day before.

So the new guys and gals gathered in a concrete jungle in Chicago as their is no 'symbolic' way to

exit the CBD. Just a sign to say the 'begins' and

we were fighting the peak hour traffic to get

out of town.

The Joliet Museum was ok... perhaps not the level of R66 we know is out there but it was a taste of things to come and a chance to catch our breath.

Exiting the big smoke had been pretty smooth and we pulled into the Polka Dot Drive Inn at Braidwood for lunch ...

... before Phil and Deb Becker shared their story as they had for the others only a few days ago. We shared our very own Petrolhead magazine with Phil who himself has been on the cover of the fabled US Hot Rod magazine Good Guys.

It was a surprise to this group that Pontiac was a place and not just a car but the diverse collection carrying the same name as a city, and proudly supporting the road was certainly appreciated by more than one.

A glance at the inside of Bob Waldmire's old mobile home gave an idea of what life was like on the road for this artist-cum-hippy who plied only this road for most of his life, drawing, painting and generally being the greatest ambassador you could ever have for it's preservation.

At Lexington there was a drive down memory lane, not always open but it was today and we slipped off for our first drive on a 1926 surface, complete with grass growing through the concrete and a smattering of signs from across the countryside.

A drive by of David Davis Mansion in Bloomington meant we had arrived at our first night's accommodation.