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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.

Today’s the day – – we are setting out on a journey halfway across America. Actually, more than half if you count the flight, too. June has already taken me across three states – Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Beginning today, I’ll add Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico to the list of travel destinations for this month.

We’re packed, we’re ready, and we’re looking forward to the adventures ahead. I’ll be doing something a little different as I blog this week. I’ll begin the day with a short entry, and I’ll add photos and updates along the way. If you’re keeping up with our trip, evening will be a good time to see the whole day’s travels.

We’re still wondering whether anyone in our group will go for the 72-ounce steak at The Big Texan, where if you eat it in one hour (along with a baked potato, salad, and a roll), it’s free!

We’re sitting at Gate B20, ready to depart at 11:25 for Chicago-Midway. I hope to have more pictures this evening.

We saw the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, Illinois and were sad that The Launching Pad restaurant was closed for renovations. As we looked through the windows, we could see that the tabletops were maps of the United States with Route 66 logos, and an old jukebox stood at the back. We chatted with a man filling up has gas tank across the street, a local, and learned he’d been born in Valdosta, Georgia. My sister-in-law mentioned that we were married to brothers, standing on the other side of the street, and when the man yelled, “Go Georgia Brothers,” my husband raised his arm and gave the fisted power-arm flex, not pausing in his conversation, THAT’S one picture I wish I’d captured yesterday!

We moved along to the Standard Oil Company in Odell, Illinois, where a theme started to emerge – – brothers on benches. BOB is our codeword for taking pictures of these two brothers along the route. When I was in San Antonio the year before last, I saw little inviting benches and chairs and seating areas here and there and began taking photos of them, even with no one seated there. When we saw that our husbands seemed magnetically drawn to several benches yesterday, we decided that these would be moments to preserve in photos along the way – – not just the landmarks, but these special family moments.

I have a widowed friend who has a “travel tree.” She keeps a pencil-style Christmas tree up year round and adds a small ornament to it from all of her travels. There’s a fluffy little sheep from Ireland, a set of bagpipes from Scotland, and a vast menu of other cultural relics that bring back vivid memories. There’s even a penguin from Antarctica. To stand with her by the tree is to hear story after splendid story about “the time that….”

The most interesting souvenir, she keeps hidden. She once reached into the middle of the tree and pulled out a small, flat square wrapped package on an ornament hook.

A condom.

“They had them on the hotel counters in China. So I took one and made it my souvenir.”

She shares stories – more than photos – of her past trips.

I’m not one of those who wants to leave my Christmas tree up all year long, but….I’m thinking that when I return from Route 66, I might just begin a travel tree as part of my travel tradition.

What are all of your best travel traditions?

My mother was a flight attendant at one point in her life, and she once told me that if I had any clothing that wouldn’t fit into my carry-on, I should layer myself up and wear things onto the plane, then take them off once boarded. I remembered that tip coming back from San Antonio, Texas a couple of years ago when I couldn’t figure out what to do with a couple of gift souvenirs. I swapped the clothes for the suitcase space and wore a few extra layers home. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I give a lot of thought to souvenirs. I want them to be packable, practical, and place-based. That’s why my preferred souvenirs are often bracelets – – I’ll actually wear them, they don’t compete for space on the return trip home, and they help me remember the place in some special way. I remember looking all over Texas for a bluebonnet bracelet – – the kind that has a real flower in an oval shaped setting, so I could bring home my very own Texas state flower. I couldn’t find one anywhere and ended up instead with an Alamo t-shirt, which I’d never planned to buy except for the unpredictable February weather that was hot one day and freezing the next.

In Europe, I bought scarves, which I’ve found useful particularly in movie theaters and restaurants where the air conditioning vents somehow always end up blowing right on my shoulders. They fold down to a thin layer in the carry-on.

But the best souvenirs to preserve the memories are photographs – – the moments captured in time that take us back to all the people and places we’ve loved. They fit right on a micro memory card and take up virtually no suitcase space!

What are your favorite souvenirs to buy as you travel?