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Route 66 Hotel

Posted on 23/05/2013 by MrsFoggMay 23, 2013

So this is the well known Route 66 Hotel. It is a landmark for two reasons. First, it was the very first ever Holiday Inn and secondly, when it ceased to be a Holiday Inn when Route 66 declined it became the Route 66 Hotel and the new owners turned it into a bit of a museum.

Memorabilia of Route 66, old licence plates, bits of cars, old Harley bikes and much more clutter line the hotel corridors. It’s quirky but tired and def past its best. Still, clean sheets, soft towels and a comfy bed for around £50 is a good deal for us hardened biker types ( tee hee).

I’ll not mention the dinner tho…..in Yersterdays Restaurant on site. Very apt name though.

Springfield Doh!

Posted on 23/05/2013 by MrFoggMay 23, 2013

Here we are at Springfield Illinois, 185 miles from Joliet after traversing one of the longest stretches of Route66. The last 30mile stretch was on the I55 covering 30 miles of wind buffeting riding.

On the way we passed through Atlanta home of one of the 3 Giants around the area, before eventually stopping at the Route66 Hotel and Conference Centre full of 66 memorabilia

Tomorrow Cuba Missouri

Pontiac

Posted on 22/05/2013 by MrsFoggMay 23, 2013

Still squelching from our drubbing as we passed directly under the storm front that’s sat on Illinois and Oklahoma we arrived in Pontiac,IL.

Wonderful Route 66 town it has the feel of an old style mom and pop kind of place.

Even better, as we arrived the skies cleared and wonderful hot sun has broken up the dark clouds.

We found a small cafe called Lydia’s Cup (odd name) and are now sat here with as much clothing removed as we legally can be in the sun to dry our bits( quite literally drying our bits)

We have proves quite the novelty so far. English nutters who drive through the rain and who leave shoes outside the cafe!!

We’ve even met a local shop owner who on finding we are English has gone off to find the major to introduce us to.

I love small town America

Drying out from here.

Joliet and Wilmington

Posted on 22/05/2013 by MrFoggMay 22, 2013

What a varied day, up and put to the Route66 Welcome centre on US 53, where we met John (shown in the picture with us), this was the guy who guided Billy Connolly on his Route66 tour, So out on the 66 to Wilmington to see the Giant and that’s when it went down hill outside Gardner where the heavens open to an almighty 20 mile bath. When we stopped at Dwight I was able to tip 2 cups of water out of each boot and poor Mrs Fogg found water in places that she hasn’t seen for years!

So eventually it started to dry as we stopped at the Odell petrol station on 66.

And then onto Pontiac…..

The Rain it Raineth

Posted on 22/05/2013 by MrFoggMay 22, 2013

Awoken this morning to yucky tipping it down weather, not nice to ride in but only 160 or so miles to cover.

A wonderful restful night at the Hampton Inn, Joliet with free WiFi and breakfast and swimming pool, well worth a visit to this chain elsewhere in the US.

So today is a poodle to Springfield, home of Spider Pig, Doh!

Glorious Sunset

Posted on 22/05/2013 by MrsFoggMay 22, 2013

It’s early evening in Joliet. We are fed and watered and resting back in our room ready for an early start.

Despite threats of more storms the view from our window is of a wonderful sunset. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Chicago to Joliet

Posted on 21/05/2013 by MrFoggMay 21, 2013

A bit of a false start, up at 7am for a mile hike to get a healthy breakfast. All packed and sat waiting for the transfer who got the wrong hotel then sat asking us for directions cos he couldn’t get his GPS to work while driving at 50mph. At least we made it to Eagle Riders and that was fairly painless to hire the bike, which wouldn’t start because “we left the ignition on!”, ok you go test it and sure enough they found the alternator was faulty, so profuse apologies as they wheeled out a brand new Electra Glide with 250miles on the clock, and free Route66 caps and tshirts for the inconvenience.

And they’re off on a new bike that neutral is a little fiddle to find, still I only managed to drop it once when Mrs Fogg was off it fortunately and it took two of us to right it.

Made it to Joliet and the Hampton Inn, with a pool and we have done a few little stretches of Route66 so far.

First trek on Route66 from here.

Let Travel Commence

Posted on 21/05/2013 by MrFoggMay 21, 2013

And today we head out to collect the Harley for what will surely be an interesting 2 weeks, not least of all with the Tornados ravaging the area that we are due to drive.

Last night saw a thunderstorm hit Chicago for about 1.5 hours, but nothing like the devastation in Oklahoma.

Have no fear I will be riding with my common sense sat in the pillion seat just to keep me in check.

So by 9pm UK time we will have covered our first 40 miles of Route66 to Joliet, “it’s dark, we got half a tank of gas, sunglasses, waterproofs and 2,100 miles to drive, let’s hit it”.

The journey starts from here.

Pizza and Graffiti

Posted on 21/05/2013 by MrFoggMay 21, 2013

Another fun packed evening up the John Hancock tower to the observation deck for 360 degree views of Chicago, topped off with a trip to Ginos on Superior, where the funky bit is you get a permanent marker and leave your mark, so we did, Foggy’s on Tour!

And the last picture, well we did find the phone box on Wabash and Lake, but no sign of Mr Anderson.

Cloud Gate Fun

Posted on 20/05/2013 by MrsFoggMay 21, 2013

So this is the Cloud Gate. Part of Millenium Park it is a fantastic and fun place to be. The sculpture is amazing. You can see the city reflected in the large pebble, walk underneath and look at yourself and the city reflected back at you.

The park has a number of other sculptures and a fab arena, plus great big water towers that spray water out you can stand in and paddle. The guide says its aimed at pre teens but we did not see many of these- just adults playing in the water!

A fun city.

History warning: Millenium Park by the way used to be a cemetery but was already in the process of being cleared of bodies when the great fire struck in 1871. Those fleeing from the flames were saved by jumping in the empty holes that had been dug.