Route 66 from the beginning! (Day 7)

Leaving Holland Michigan, we went around the lake through Indiana and then into Illinois. We were met early on with traffic. Luckily it didn't last very long.

 I missed the picture of Indiana but I was able to get this one for Illinois.

 In the distance, you can see Chicago's skyline.

 Here is Wrigley Field in Chicago.

 For any baseball fans out there.

We approached Chicago and then hit traffic. The city was full of traffic but we had to get to the beginning of Route 66.

 Tall, tall buildings everywhere.

 This is the el train tracks. For some reason, I love the el train. The tracks are full of steel and rivets. I like that.

 When route 66 was originally going this was the start of it. They have since made it a one way street and of course it's heading East. They moved the official start over a street but this is officially the start of Route 66.

 This is the starting sign of Route 66 movesover a street so at least it was traveling West.

This is right after we got on route 66.

 This river is dyed green every St. Patrick's day. It goes right through the city.

 We followed the signs out of Chicago and into some pretty rough neighborhoods. We eventually hooked into the freeway.

 Some murals along the way.

 The map of Route 66 painted on a wall.

We made a stop in Pontiac Illinois and visited a route 66 museum. It was full of all kinds of memorabilia of Route 66 stuff in Illinois.

 I found it funny that there was a VW bus in the museum. When I think of Route 66 I think of 50's and 60's American cars. I guess this bus was used by an artist who made pictures of scenes all up and down route 66. As you can tell, he was a hippy.

 These trucks were all over the town and they were all painted differently.

 This is the camper of the same artist that owned the VW bus. It was cool and an engineering marvel to boot.

 My Dad at the biggest route 66 mural we have seen yet.

This looks pretty realistic but it's all painted on the wall.

 More pictures of the bus. This building is in the back of the museum. It used to be the fire department, police department, jail and city hall all in one.

 I wish I could paint like this.

 We ran across this old car lot along the way. It was full of old cars so of course we had to stop.

We spent a few hours on the road and finally came to St. Louis! We hit it at rush hour so we didn't go up in the arch. I have been up there and if you go through St. Louis, it's worth doing.

 Busch Stadium for you baseball fans again.

Meremac Caverns are well advertised along the way. It was suppose to be one of Jesse James hideouts.

We ended the day in Rolla Missouri. It is a town that is on old route 66.

Tomorrow, we head out through the rest of Missouri, a little section of Kansas, Oklahoma and possibly into Texas. It will depend on how many stops we make along the way. See you tomorrow!