Amarillo Armadillo

 

I'm sitting in Albuquerque, New Mexico reflecting on the past couple of days.  I'm sad to report that the snow seems to have followed me West all the way from Salem.  I cannot seem to shake the hold it has on me.  Is it really too much to ask to get a little sunshine?  Maybe a day with temperatures over 60*?  I mean, come on!  This is getting a little ridiculous!  I hardly even recognize this city that was so full of color and beauty last time I visited.  Winter is the same everywhere.  Grey and dull and dreary.  I can only hope as we drive even farther that we will cross a line somewhere and we will be catapulted over into a warmer climate. 

 

The snow has forced us onward even sooner than we expected.  Danielle and I left Amarillo on Thursday.  Yesterday around 3 pm.  We had to escape the storm that was brewing before it hit and trapped us there for another 2 or 3 days! As we drove, mostly on the interstate because the roads were better treated and safer for us, we had some tense moments.  The snow was already beginning and the clouds were low and threatening.  We stopped in Adrian, TX because we HAD to!  No trip on Route 66 is complete without stopping at the official mid-point between Chicago and Santa Monica.  Everything was closed, though, and so it seemed more of a ghost town than even the "official" ghost town which was listed as our next stop. 

 

At the border of Texas and New Mexico there is a little town called Glenrio.  Its a sad little place, definitely abandoned in a time long ago forgotten.  It was a fun photo op.  From there, we continued on down the road which turned into an unpaved early segment of 66.  I was really excited to drive one of these segments because it moved along totally independently and away from I-40 so that we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.  If we had broken down out there, who knows when the next car would have come along to offer help.  I doubt AAA would have ventured out there either!

 

Tucumcari was our stop for dinner.  This was a larger destination than the previous towns had been but still pretty small.  Tucumcari was the first stop over the border in NM.  We enjoyed our food and then pushed on to Santa Rosa, our stopping place for the night.

 

 



Now let me back-track a little.  Our day touring in Amarillo was really a lot of fun! There was beautiful scenery, deep blue skies, and warm temperatures... at least until the afternoon.  We got lunch (Tex Mex) at Ruby Tequilas with Chrysler, Amy, Noel-Paul, and Debbie and we enjoyed good conversation and some good food.  This included jalapenos covered in cheese! I was suspicious of them despite Chrysler having promised that they weren't spicy without the seeds.  I took the tiniest nibble just in case he was wrong, or joking.  He wasn't! I ate the whole thing without dying! I learned that I like jalapeno! Crazy, right?


After lunch, we toured the church where Noel-Paul works (and we toured the church where Debbie works the next day).  Then we drove off in search of 6th street where the famous Nat is located.  The Nat used to be a Natatorium with a swimming pool but they filled it in to make a ballroom and now an antique shop.  We walked up and down the historic street, got gelato from Cowboy Gelato, and then drove to Cadillac Ranch.  The first picture on this blog is of the car where I left my own mark to commemorate my visit and prove that I was there.

We were going to drive to Palo Duro Canyon but it was closed by the time we were heading in that direction so we turned around and went in search of dinner instead.  We ended up eating at the Big Texan steakhouse.  It's been "feeding folks since 1950"! This is the home of the 72 oz. "free" steak.  Well, it is if you can eat it, along with all the fixin's in 1 hour.  I didn't even try.  Sorry to disappoint but I was full after about 8 oz of the steak I ordered!



We are now 2 hours behind the East coast.  We plan to stay the weekend in Albuquerque, fill our time with many adventures, and then head West yet again.  These states are BIG.  That must mean there's more room in which to hide adventure! ;)

Making Time on the Road

Yesterday was a motivated day on the road.  By that I mean we decided to avoid getting lost in small towns between Oklahoma City and Amarillo by staying on I-40 for the most part.  Don't worry, we made sure we weren't missing anything big in those tiny towns before we by-passed them.  The weather cleared out for us nicely after the blizzard from Tuesday (I actually had to think hard about that one for a while and I'm still not sure I have the right day lol).  We started off from Oklahoma City and visited the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum as our first stop.  It was definitely the highlight of our day!  And it will be at the top of our list of favorite things to have seen during this trip.  Honestly, I never really knew many details about the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building until I walked through the museum.  The creators of the exhibits and the memorial did a really fantastic job.  I was impressed!  I also got a rare NPS Passport stamp.  Who knew the park service co-runs this site?

After we left the museum we got on the highway and drove to Lucille's Diner.  It is a fully functioning replica of an actual diner on Historic Route 66.  There were only two like it in existence. Lucille is apparently the mother of the Mother Road.  

So then, fully fed, we got back on the highway and drove to Erick, OK (still in OK despite our Interstate jaunt) in search of a particular curiosity shop with tons of antiques and some eccentric owners.  Unfortunately, as we have been experiencing regularly because we are traveling in the winter, it was closed when we got there.  The outside was still really cool, though! And I enjoyed the sign out front that read, "Come see rednecks work and play in their natural environment!".  

The same thing happened to us at the Devil's Rope Museum.  Probably a good thing that was closed though, since Danielle pointed out that although Devil's Rope sounded really cool, it was actually just an entire museum devoted to barbed wire.  

After passing through our first "ghost town" and crossing the border into Texas, the sun set and we continued driving in the dark.  We were excited to see the first landmark here which was a spoof of the famous Cadillac Ranch.  Instead of Cadillac's there were about 5 VW Bugs buried nose deep in the dirt.  There were also some other car parts and abandoned buildings covered in graffiti.  It was really neat.

We finally got to our next stop, the Laur's house, south of Amarillo city center around 8:30.  Today Danielle and I got into some more adventures.  I'll be posting about those in a separate entry.

An Oklahoman Blizzard

 

 

It is hard to believe that we are almost to Texas.  We have crossed through 4 states and we still have 4 left to go.  That's a good thing!!  Although I have a confession: I want the trip to be over quickly.  And yet, at the same time, I never want it to end, ever! I'm not sure how that is possible.  This adventure is crazy and stressful and unexpected every single day.  But we are having adventures and making memories that I am sure will last a lifetime. 

 

Danielle and I left Tulsa this morning.  We had a blast while we were there! And the fun didn't end in when we left.  Our cousins came with us for most of our drive to Oklahoma City.  Unfortunately we all had to drive through a blizzard.  Here is a fact: People here do NOT know how to drive in the snow!! I must truly be a Massachusetts native at heart.  And I have a new appreciation for our rental car as well because of its all wheel drive capabilities.  Everybody on the road was driving at a snail's pace and it was making me absolutely CRAZY!  Is it too much to ask to at least go the speed limit?  Apparently so.  At one point, we were moving at 15 mph on a 70 mph highway!  Oh. My. Word.  We only got about 3 inches of snow but everything closed down early like we had gotten 2 feet. 

 

Anyway, I got ahead of myself again.  The best part of today was stopping at Pops.  This place was incredible.  Its a futuristic gas station/restaurant combo.  It's claim to fame is their 600+ flavors of soda!  I tried one called Pomegranate Ginger Ale.  It was great! I also tried fried okra... Also good :)

 

 

By the time we beat all the traffic and navigated to the museum we wanted to see in Oklahoma City, it had already closed.  We made a decision not to push our luck with the weather conditions and instead are staying over night here in the city.  Hopefully we can explore more tomorrow before we leave. 



Dinner tonight is Easy Mac.  Gotta' save money somehow, right? I like the random foods I'm trying on this trip.  But I'm hoping for a big steak in Texas!! And in New Mexico?  Fajitas and sopapillas (which I probably spelled wrong).  Of course food had to play a big role in this trip.  If you know me, that's an obvious conclusion. 

Vacation from our Vacation

My apologies, folks.  I've been so distracted during the last few posts that they haven't quite been up to my normal standards.  I know I can't watch TV and write or do homework or anything else requiring much focus but I tried to do that anyway.  Fortunately, there's a sports game on right now so I can focus on my blog without too much trouble.  I forgot to mention in my last post two things: In Missouri we also visited a second national park.  It was called George Washington Carver National Monument.  We had a nice time there.  We saw the film, I got my stamps, and I learned a lot about a man I previously had no knowledge about.  Also, I forgot to say that we stopped at what seems to be a very popular and well-known local landmark.  Its called the Blue Whale in Catoosa, OK.  It looks like a cool place to be in the summer when the water slides and other swimming activities are more pleasant and warm but it was still neat to explore and take pictures of on our way to Tulsa.  

I also promised some more history on the statue from my last post.  The Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza shows a horse and cart and a model T Ford vehicle.  This represents the meeting of the East with the West and of the modern world with the historical one.  

So.  Now we can move on to the current news.  Yesterday I slept late after having been up until 3 AM on my ride along the previous night.  When I got up my cousins and I went to go get breakfast at a place called the Corner Cafe.  It has a lot of Route 66 memorabilia and a monument in the parking lot for the Meadow Gold company.  Apparently it was located down the street for almost 70 years until it was relocated to its current position.  From the little bit of the plaque that I read, the company produced dairy products and sold them to the local area.  Mostly, I just liked the sign... 

After we ate breakfast, we drove around downtown Tulsa and explored some more Route 66 sights.  It was funny because the family Danielle and I are staying with had never noticed as many 66 signs and murals before we came as they did when we were driving around purposely looking for them.  It was fun for all of us! In the afternoon Danielle and I attended Church on the Move with my friends Phillip and Sarah from my Thailand mission trip all the way back in 2009! It was great to see them again.  The best part was after the service when Danielle decided to get baptized!!  It was a total surprise but a great one at that.  I was happy to be there so I could video tape the big day.

After dark (and the best part of the day in my opinion) we got to go up in the police helicopter!! I've never been up in a helicopter before.  People had warned me multiple times that I might get motion sick, especially if we got a call and had to fly in circles for an hour.  That made me nervous but excitement quickly won out.  Our pilots were great! When we first got up in the air there was a traffic stop going on and we thought the guy was going to run from the police but he didn't.  That was unfortunate because it would have been really fun to help with the man hunt afterwards.  We stayed in the air for almost two hours.  By the time we got home it was midnight.

Today we slept even later.  When we woke up there was snow on the ground!! Surprise! The temperature dropped almost 30 degrees between yesterday and today :(  We spent the morning with french toast and a movie.  When we ventured out this evening, we got a great tour of the office building where our cousin Nick works.  We also did another loop through downtown to take tourist-y pictures.  

We have been incredibly lucky to stay the weekend here in Oklahoma.  Last week was stressful and exhausting with all the driving and never knowing where we would stay the night.  That's why I titled this post as I did.  Saturday and Sunday have been a vacation from our vacation.  Tomorrow we head back out on the road.  We will stop somewhere between Oklahoma City and the OK/TX border.  In a couple of days we will be in Amarillo and with our next group of family.  

I feel lucky to know people in so many random places!

A 3 State Day

On Friday we traveled in 3 states: Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  After we left Carthage, MO we drove for a little bit and made it into Kansas.  We only went through a small corner of it but we made 2 stops.  The first was at Cars on the Route service station.  We took some pictures and then moved on because it was closed.  The next stop wasn't really a stop.  It was called Rainbow Bridge and it was mostly a drive-by.  I was disappointed that it wasn't actually painted like a rainbow.  Shortly after that we crossed into Oklahoma.  Afton Station gave us two nice visuals for how far we have traveled and how far we have left to travel. I can't believe we have almost 400 miles to go until we get to Amarillo! I guess things really spread out once we get past Oklahoma City.  

I learned something new: I like pickles on burgers and hotdogs.  I never used to order them on anything but on this trip whenever we order a "classic" food item (i.e. a burger from Waylan's Ku Ku) they tend to come with pickles.  I didn't want to mess up the taste by removing ingredients and I discovered that I happen to like it the way they make it.  I got onion petals too.  It was a great meal!

By night fall we had made it to Tulsa.  We are still here, actually! We have been having a great time. We went to our cousin's basketball game and then went out to eat afterward.  After that my day wasn't done.  I got to go on a ride-along with the Tulsa police! It was pretty slow because of the weather but we still got some cool calls and I had fun learning about how a different department works :)

(Above is a statue in Tulsa of Cyrus Avery.  I'll have to get back to you later with the exact history here but its a cool statue of a horse drawn carriage and a classic car.)

Playing Catch-Up

I have a few days to catch up on here...  We survived the motel in Cuba, MO and every since then we have been really busy.  The Wagon Wheel Motel was COLD.  Danielle and I had to sleep in sweatshirts and long underwear and insulate the front door with coats and clothes so the air wouldn't leak in.  The renovations were nice but I believe we were the only 2 staying there that night and it felt very isolated.  Kind of creepy.  Anyway, when we got up and moving the next day, we drove for a few miles looking for the worlds biggest rocking chair in Fanning!  This thing was HUGE.  You can tell its almost taller than the tree next to it.  There were signs on it saying not to climb.  I didn't.  I obeyed.  But it was so hard to walk away from that temptation! 

Our goal on Thursday was to drive as far as we could because we didn't make it very far on Wednesday.  Thursday we made it to Carthage, MO.  Home of Precious Moments.  You know, like those little porcelain dolls? They look sort of like a cross between babies and angels.

Before we made it there though, we toured another cave.  Cave #2 on our trip so far! Did I mention I love caves??? Well this one was way cooler than any I have experienced before.  They loaded us into a trailer attached to a Jeep and DROVE us through the cave like we were on a hay ride!!! Our tour guide was great! She gave us a really good history of the cave in an interesting way.  I believe it is the only cave in the country that gives riding tours.  Pretty cool, huh? 

Right at the end of the day, before we stopped driving for the night, Danielle and I visited Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.  I got my Passport stamps and we talked to some of the rangers there (who were very friendly and informative even though we arrived 15 minutes before closing).  They also warned us about the weather coming and suggested we get to a hotel early that night.  

P.S. - The signs in Missouri are blue. :) They're my favorite so far.  Every other state has been brown. 

Gateway to the West

While Danielle sleeps beside me, snoring up a storm so that I cannot sleep, I will entertain you all with another tale from our recent travels....

Today we did not go very far but it was one of my favorite days yet!  We began in St. Louis at the Gateway National Expansion Memorial AKA the St. Louis Arch.  Some of my friends from college work there now.  Both of them are away from the park for the time being but they still got me up inside it for free! Danielle and I were lucky enough to make the acquaintance of a ranger named Jeff who was wonderfully helpful.  He let us go up in the arch and then gave us the pictures of our journey when we came back down. The elevator ride was a little frightening and while we were at the top we could feel the wind shaking the building but it was worth every second!

After we left St. Louis we traveled down the road a little further and found Ted Drewes Frozen Custards.  Yes, it seemed a little cold for ice cream to us, too.  But we got some anyway because their Concrete is a Route 66 classic.  I got Lemon Crumb.  Yum!

Another short drive and a few small towns later, we came to Stanton, MO.  Home of Meramec Caverns.  When we pulled in the lot we thought the place was already closed.  Turns out, it was about to close in a couple of minutes but we caught them just before they did!!  Danielle and I got a private tour through the caverns.  It was very extensive and extremely interesting!  I love caves.  It had been too long since the last time I was in one!  Our tour guide was fantastic.  This was the cave Jesse James used as a hiding place and as a way to escape from the law at one point in history.  Pretty interesting stuff!

It was getting dark when we left the cave.  So we decided to call it a night in Cuba.  We found a place to stay at the Wagon Wheel Motel which is the oldest continuously operating motel along the whole of Route 66!  They have upgraded it and it is actually a really nice place.  We walked next door for dinner to eat at the Missouri Hicks BBQ Restaurant.  I ordered the sampler platter since I've never really gotten BBQ before.  It was SO good! True BBQ.  Apparently MO is known for their BBQ. And so, with a full stomach and a great need for sleep, I sign off for the night.  New adventures await around the corner.

The End of Illinois

People are friendly here.  Route 66 is known for its history but part of the charm, it is said, is the people that you meet along the way.  I’ve already had the opportunity to talk with some of the locals in the places through which we have traveled and I’ve always been pleasantly surprised by their genuine willingness to help. 

Yesterday morning when Danielle and I woke up in Lincoln, we first made our way to the telephone booth on top of the roof of City Hall! When we got to the building where we thought it was, we walked inside and asked the security guards if they knew about it.  As soon as I said, “Excuse me”, a gentleman walked around the corner with his coat on and said, “Oh! I know where that is! Come, let me show you.”  And he proceeded to walk outside and point across the street.  And there it was, in all its humble glory! He told us the history of it and how there’s a fight going on right now about whether to take it down or leave it up because of safety concerns.  Then, he led us back inside, around security, and pointed out some of the beautiful features of the building that we could take pictures of. 

Then, in Springfield, IL, I met a couple of women inside a local Walgreens who helped give me directions.  Now, that sounds simple, but believe me, they went above and beyond what they had to do!  They ripped the city map out of the phone book and drew arrows on it so I would know where to go.  They also gave recommendations and advice for about 6 different places in the city and where the best and safest place to park would be.

Our last encounter was in St. Louis, MO where we settled down for the night.  The hotel we picked did not offer continental breakfast.  Luckily, we had the foresight to pack breakfast items in the car.  However, we still did not have milk for our cereal.  We went down to the front lobby holding all our cereal, poptarts, bowls, and silverware, in order to look for some milk to buy.  The man at the front desk saw us and we explained we were looking for milk.  After thinking for a minute, he grabbed a room key, swiped it through the computer for us, and said, “Go to room 897 and grab yourself some milk there”.  That’s it.  No explanation.  No nothing.  Well, needless to say, Danielle and I were totally creeped out but we went there anyway.  When we arrived we discovered it was the executive suite lounge!! But the key he gave us didn’t work.  So after a trip back down to the lobby, and back up to the executive suite, we finally made it inside and found…. SOYMILK!!!  Vanilla Soymilk.  My favorite!

Moral of the story, God does provide for His children. (That's not sarcastic)

We saw some really cool things in Illinois.  We visited Lincoln Home NHS (the only National Park currently in this state).  I bought a cool postcard as a souvenir from the Cozy Dog Drive-In where we had lunch.  We saw some more abandoned gas stations and road stops decorated abundantly with road signs and historic memorabilia.  But despite everything that Illinois had to offer, we are grateful to finally be in another state.  Hopefully MO will be a little less flat and gray.   

                                                               Cozy Dog ----->

The Little Brown Signs are my Heroes

Last night Danielle and I made it to a little town in Illinois called Lincoln.  Yesterday was harder than any one single day that has come before it.  Let me just say that navigation is MUCH harder than expected!  Don't get me wrong, the road is very well marked.  The problem was finding the right roads to turn on in order to follow the signs.  It got even harder after dark.  It became somewhat comical to me just how happy seeing one of those little brown signs made me!  The signs are only about 1 foot square and brown with white markings indicating the state and what direction to go next. It was like a treasure hunt trying to find the next one.  If I didn't see anything after more than a couple miles my heart would sink and I would begin to think we had made a wrong turn somewhere.  I'm getting stressed all over again just thinking about it!





But never fear, we had some good fun along the way.  Just after leaving Chicago Danielle and I stopped at Henry's giant hot dog stand.  It proclaims itself as "a meal in itself" however, it wasn't quite so filling so I got a milkshake to go along with it.  Back on the road again we had high hopes of seeing a lot more sights but quickly learned that the ones right along the road without too many detours are the ones we have to focus on.  They're the most fun, anyway! The first one was the Launching Pad Drive-In (not a theater as we had expected but a historical restaurant; closed at this time).  There we saw our first Route 66 Giant.  It's called the Gemini Giant and a picture is below.

 

Next, we passed the Polka Dot Drive-In.  We took some pictures there and moved on.  In Dwight we came to a historical gas station! I found a button to push with a speaker box above it and was literally blown back a step or two by the sheer volume of the voice that greeted Danielle and I (the only two at the station; also closed)! We learned about the history of the station and the town and then resumed our journey.  Along the way we also saw a neon sign announcing that we had entered Lexington and Burma-Shave signs which were a series of one or two word signs spaced apart every few feet along the road to spell out a sentence in advertisement of a product.  It was very distracting while driving but the signs were cute and they made us laugh.

Probably the scariest/strangest/funniest part of the drive was while driving through Bloomington.  We were following the directions in our guide book and all of a sudden we came to a light where the book said to go straight but the road only went left or right! I drove straight anyway, into a parking lot.  We pulled over, perplexed by the situation.  After a little while I decided to drive through the parking lot and continue following the road on the other side.  It looked right..... right? And it WAS!!!! We were amazed that we had just driven through an unmarked parking lot in order to find our way back onto Route 66.  Strange how that one worked out....

When we got to the hotel Danielle and I were so tired that we weren't thinking straight.  We got to our room at the Hampton Inn and collapsed.  And now, after a good night sleep, some time in the hot tub, and a magnificent breakfast, we are on our way again.  Hopefully to St. Louis but I'm learning that plans made aren't always plans kept.

Frozen Tourism

I am currently sitting in the lounge area of a hostel in Chicago! (Although, by the time you read this I will have moved on because the free internet isn’t working and I had to write my post in a Word document before finding a place with real wifi in order to put it up online. K ) Anyway, this hostel experience has been quite exciting! I feel very European… but also very American at the same time.  It’s a strange mix of an identity crisis.  When we checked in we were given a key card like the ones you get at a hotel and we had to swipe it to get to the elevators and into our room.  The room had 10 beds and most of them were filled (girls only) by the end of our stay.  I ended up with the top bunk and Danielle got the bottom bunk.  The bathroom was right across the hall from us.  I was impressed with everything we got for the small price we paid!  Security is really good and the free sheets, towels, and breakfast were great as well.  Also, the staff was extremely nice and helpful.  I think we will look for hostels in other cities as well since our first experience was so positive.

Anyway, I’m getting a little ahead of myself.  Danielle and I packed up our rental car yesterday (Sunday) morning and happily left the -16* temps behind for a balmy 14* in Chicago! The roads were bad through Indiana and then into Illinois where it started snowing heavily.  Visibility was terrible for the last part of our drive but with Danielle’s help navigating we made it to Chicago and found our hostel. 

After we settled in we decided to bundle up and brave the snow and cold to go do the tourist thing around town.  With some advice from the front desk, recommendations from the Mindell's (our last stop in MI), and a good map, we set off in search of some classic local destinations.  Our first stop was Grant Park -  literally only 2 blocks from where we were staying!  Buckingham Fountain was not working but it and the surrounding park were gorgeous anyway covered in freshly fallen snow.  When we looked up from watching our feet so we wouldn't slip and fall, we were rewarded with a view of Lake Michigan that was quite beautiful despite the weather.  From there we went in search of the Cloud Gate sculpture (also known as the Chicago Bean).  That, also, was covered in snow! But we took some good pictures and ventured underneath which provided some shelter from the wind and a surprising optical illusion that we enjoyed trying to figure out.  By then we were frozen… literally! Starbucks was nearby and offered a brief reprieve from the cold while we planned our next move.

For a while we debated between the John Hancock tower and the Skydeck Chicago/Sears tower.  Skydeck won out mostly because of the shorter walk but we definitely made the right choice!  The view at the top was spectacular at night with all the city lights turned on!  I enjoyed learning the history of the tower.  The height was a little daunting, though.  It is 103 stories tall.  Taller than most everything else in the world except, maybe, the new Freedom Tower in NYC! 

After our climb to the top of the city we were quite hungry! So Danielle and I walked to Gino’s East for some deep dish pizza.  It was totally worth it!  That pizza was some of the best I've ever had.  Last night I also had the honor of buying Danielle her first cocktail!  I had been meaning to do so ever since she turned 21 but it never worked out until now.  What a special way to celebrate our visit to the official Eastern terminus of Route 66!!  Today we leave the city and begin our trek west.  We don’t know where we will stop next…….

Pure Michigan

Well, we decided to wait.  Thursday was a nice day for trip prep but probably not for driving 10 hours.  So, after packing up the car, we left Pennsylvania yesterday morning instead and were rewarded with bright blue skies and sunshine during the whole drive.  There was a little snow during the last hour or so in Michigan, though, and it has continued to snow off and on every since. Hopefully tomorrow will be good weather!

Above is a picture of us before we left.  My trusty Chevy Cobalt took us a long way yesterday! The drive always seemed a lot shorter and easier when Dad did it during all those family vacations but having done it myself now, I have a new respect for him.  D and I had to alternate driving every couple hours at rest stops.  Although it was really quite scary for me to relinquish control of the steering wheel, if she had not been there I would have been in trouble.  We only hit a few minor "bumps" along the way.  Overall, it was a good first leg of the journey.  Our reward at the end was arriving at our Aunt and Uncle's beautiful house.  We spent the evening relaxing, talking, and going out for pizza with them and our cousins.

This morning we had to wake up kind of early, unfortunately.  But it was for a good reason.  We picked up our rental car today!!!!!  This is the part I was probably most excited about since we left.  We did not end up with a Subaru as I had hoped from the beginning, but I think what we picked out is way better.

Behold, our very own Dodge Journey!  Don't you LOVE the name?  Its very appropriate for our road trip.  And its such a pretty blue color. Inside we have climate control, plenty of avenues for music, and all wheel drive so we won't struggle with any terrain we come across.  I just noticed the low ground clearance, though.  Hopefully that won't matter! 

Today we plan to experience some Detroit classics:  a bumpy cake and a Koney Island hot dog!

Then we will stay one more night here in MI in preparation for our next adventure: Chicago, IL!

Departure

When will it be???????

D and I are debating right now what day we will leave.  We will be battling winter weather throughout our whole trip, I believe, but that's the nature of traveling in February.  Tomorrow's weather forecast between here and Michigan is calling for snow and wind.  Not very much accumulation, but still enough to be annoying.  Friday's forecast is clear.  No snow.  Less wind. However, it will push back our itinerary by a day.  Either way the rental car can still be picked up on Saturday (Valentine's Day!).  My sister and I are beyond eager to begin our adventure.... any opinions on which day we should leave?

If you're a blog reader that likes pictures, never fear.  As soon as this shindig gets underway I will be posting plenty of interesting things to look at.  :)

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

I've never written my own blog before, so bear with me.  There may be a slight learning curve here....
The purpose of this blog is to document in detail the adventures I expect to encounter while traveling, both at home and abroad.  It seems appropriate to write down my experiences so that I can look back on them later, probably when I'm old and grey.  Reminiscing is always fun...

Ever since I went to Romania in '08 I have been bitten by the travel bug.  Seriously.  Its bad!  Every time I plan a trip I get butterflies in my stomach and I'm so excited I can't focus on anything else.  So here's to paid vacation time, my work furlough, and anything else that allows me to leave wherever I currently am and step into a magical new place.  Here's to freedom.  Here's to adventure!

My first trip will be on Historic Route 66!  This was decided back in August when I visited my friends in Albuquerque, NM.  Part of the route passes right through that city and I kept seeing signs for it during my explorations.  Actually, I believe it was my friend Matt's brother, Paul, who first suggested my next trip could be to drive Route 66!  Since then, the plan has grown and evolved into what it is today.  My sister, henceforth referred to as "D", and I will be leaving in just a few days to begin our journey.  Pennsylvania is home base for the two of us.  Our next stop is West Bloomfield, MI!

My trip actually started on Saturday night when I left Salem, MA where I live and work during most of the year.  So I am truly driving from East Coast to West Coast! I had to get out of Salem before another 2 feet of snow dropped on the ground and trapped me there! (That's been a regular occurrence as of late)  So I drove all night and got home to PA around 3:30 in the morning.  Its nice to see grass again ;)

The author of one of the books I've been using to plan the trip, Jim Hinckley, describes Route 66 as, "a living icon where myth and reality collide, offering a sensory kaleidoscope" with "endless opportunities for adventure.".  I sure hope he's right!  Thanks for following along with me as I drive and explore the Main Street of America.