June 25 – Waking up in Lincoln, IL

We enjoyed our first day on Route 66 on Saturday with stops at The Gemini Giant, the Standard Oil Station, and Bunyon with a Hot Dog. We got a good night’s sleep in Lincoln, Illinois, and are heading out to Gateway Arch National Arch and Meramac Caverns.

For now, we are on the road!

We stopped at the Rail Splitter Rest Area and found its retro decor fascinating – from the old telephone to the tiny tiles on the bathroom floor, everything seemed a step back in time. It took me straight back to my childhood in the early 1970s. I was feeling part-hippie, part-groovy.

I’ve been using my Merlin ID and eBird apps to do bird counts along the way. This is a house sparrow, and they were nesting in a pole outside the restrooms. I never thought I’d have the need to download the different bird packs for other regions of the United States, but here I am, loving it and seeing mostly the same birds I see at home . Later in the day, I did a bird count at the Gateway Arch National Park as well. My sister in law took the photo above.

At the Cozy Dog Drive-In in Springfield, Illinois, you can dance in the parking lot to the Route 66 song that plays on the kiosk. This is still run by the same family who made the first corn dog. We didn’t eat here, but we wanted to stop in and see the place.

The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle is a unique landmark. There was nowhere to park, so we snapped a photo from the road and kept right on driving.

We browsed the museum, and then we went up in the arch on the south tram. Views were amazing! We could see the stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals play baseball. Afterward, we took the Riverboat cruise to see St. Louis from the water on a paddleboat named the Tom Sawyer.

We were worn out by the time we left St. Louis, so we skipped Meramac Caverns and decided to visit Fantastic Caverns in the morning, after a “good night’s sleep” at The Wagon Wheel Motel – an iconic neon-lit motel “serving travelers since the 1930s.” Here, all my hopes and dreams of ever living in a tiny home were shattered. This country girl had a hard time sleeping with all the light coming in the window. I didn’t really think you could get a smaller shower than our 21 foot teardrop camper, but guess what?! We found one right here. Just enough room to turn around and rinse off.

But oh, the historic charm. The keys are kept on a wooden board, and you can buy a plastic replica room keyring with your number on it. So I did. That way, I will remember to be grateful for my comfortable bed, my shower, and room to stretch. I wouldn’t trade the experience of the Wagon Wheel for anything! Especially the tense moments when my brother-in-law and his wife forgot the doors were auto-locking and popped over to see us for a minute and locked their key in their room after hours when everyone had left the office. He had to break in. If you ever thought a country boy from Rural Georgia wouldn’t know how to use a credit card to get into a room, think again. We learned a thing or two last night!

Tomorrow, we’ll explore some caverns, see The Outsiders Museum, stop by The Blue Whale of Catoosa, and end our day in Tulsa, Oklahoma as we take turns driving along Route 66.