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Comment via blog
Day 1
The Pontiac Dash
Day 2
Let the Conferring Begin
Day 3
Conferring Continues
Day 4
Back on the Road
Day 5
Change of Plans
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Even plans that are not among the best laid can go awry and that certainly
applies to my vague agenda. A positive COVID test meant no milkshake or
farther travel for me but being vaccinated means no hospital either.
With the conference officially over, I set off driving some of those miles
of possibility on westbound 66. Big signs and local beer filled much of
the day.
More learning at the conference and a chance to experience a little more
of Pontiac.
Today we got to learn about Pontiac, Route 66, and other stuff. And we ended
the day laughing.
The page title does not refer to the instrument panel of a defunct General
Motors automobile but to my hurried drive to the Route 66 Miles of
Possibility conference in Pontiac, Illinois.
After the disruption caused by COVID-19, it was really nice attending
national conferences for the Lincoln and Jefferson Highways this year.
Sadly, none of the other historic highways I take an interest in have
an equivalent. Historic Route 66, despite being the most famous road in
the nation, has no national organization. This might, of course, be
because it's the most famous road in the nation. There is no shortage of
folks who want to be chiefs and would rather be the chief of some segment
than play a lesser role in a national group. It's also the case that most
Route 66 related events are festivals. I have nothing against festivals
but they are, by definition, more party than anything else.
Miles of
Possibility is an exception. Not to the national aspect but to the
festival aspect. It is very definitely a one state affair but it really is
a conference with presentations and opportunities to learn something.
Illinois, the state that MoP takes place in, is the most eastern of the
eight Route 66 states which makes it the closest to me. In the first
prelude to the journal for my 2008 trip to the Route 66 Festival in
Litchfield, IL, I noted that the event was almost directly west of my home
and a mere 285 miles distant. As close as that is, it isn't the closest
point on Route 66 to my home. That point is in the town of Wilmington, IL.
It is about 245 crow-miles from my home. At 255 miles from my door, the
site of the 2022 MoP conference isn't much farther away. I ended that 2008
prelude by saying, "It can't get much closer." This time I
really mean it.
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