Day 1
Surprised at the CoR
Day 2
Tomb, Trailer, Tatt
Day 3
Some Illinois PP-OO
Day 4
Back Home in Ohio
October 1, 2007
I did all of Indiana in a day (impressive pace, eh?). But I still didn't
get inside the Lew Wallace Museum and I've added Anderson to the list of
Indiana towns I need to visit again. A brief visit with my parents at the
side of the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway ended the trip.
September 30, 2007
Pat Bremer joined me as I left Springfield and we hooked up with Rick
Martin in Illiopolis. Pat headed home from near Monticello and Rick and I
continued on to Danville. The day was pretty much gone by then and he
headed home while I found a bed on the east side of town.
September 29, 2007
I had my first (almost) horseshoe and visited Lincoln's Tomb in the
morning then spent the afternoon prowling the streets of downtown
Springfield looking at cars. There was a repeat of last year's gathering
at the Alamo but one of the roadies had something else to do.
September 28, 2007
Great weather for the whole day. I was "ambushed" at the bridge by someone
who positively wasn't going to be there and had a great drive up
Sixty-Six. The evening street cruise was a whole new experience and a
major amount of fun.
Prelude
I've naturally been thinking about this year's Route 66 Festival in
Springfield ever since I departed last year's Route 66 Festival in
Springfield and recently committed with a motel reservation. Things will
once again start with a short drive into Missouri for the sole purpose of
driving out of Missouri on the Chain of Rocks Bridge. I'm a sucker for
that bridge and it was reading of other's plans to meet there that prodded
me to book that motel room. Cruising to Springfield will be something of a
repeat, although I'm hoping that my reverse gear doesn't magically
disappear as it did last year, as will some of the activities in
Springfield. I'll look over lots of cars, check out entertainers and
vendors, and connect with old and new friends, but I'll do something
completely new, too. This year I'm planning on participating in, and not
just watching, the Friday night street cruise. It was rained out the first
time I was there and last year I just watched the few cruisers that made
it as far south as the Route 66 Hotel & Conference Center. This year
I'm taking the next step and cruising myself. Should be a blast.
Another difference will be the route home. It will look much the same on a map - neither Springfield nor Cincinnati has moved - but the details will be different. Over the last year or so, I've become aware of the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway. I even traced a bit of it in eastern Ohio on my recent Labor Day outing. During the heyday of named auto trails, it never had the name recognition of the Lincoln Highway or the National Old Trails Road and things haven't changed a bit in that regard. But it does have the distinction of going through Springfield, IL, and Greenville, OH. Greenville is the seat of my birth county and the PP-OO passed right by my parents current home. This year I plan to take a couple of days getting home from the festival and see if I can retrace some of that old highway. And say "Hi" to Mom & Pop, too.