The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home

Route 66

As some of you know, there was a FJR owners rally in Eureka Springs, AR, called SFO.

When Susie and I were discussing attending SFO ’09, we decided to take the long way home. A couple of ideas were tossed around. We noticed that Eureka Springs is only about 150 miles from Tulsa, OK. Cool! Susie’s brother just happens to live in Tulsa!

Originally we were thinking we would head south out of Tulsa down to the Gulf, then head east-ish.

When I started looking at the map, though, I saw that Route 66 goes right through Tulsa. Hmmm…. I remembered having a conversation with a couple at a Harley Owner’s Group rally last year who had ridden Route 66. Hmm…. Started doing some research, and a plan was hatched like an amoeba splitting. Or something like that.

Thanks to the Zumo forums, I was able to get the entire route of Route 66, from Chicago to Santa Monica. Only thing was, the routes I downloaded were westbound and we’re going eastbound.

I discovered something about inverting routes in MapSource – sometimes, in order to hit a waypoint, the damn Zumo will take you in circles. Believe me when I say that’s ANNOYING AS HELL, but it’s doing exactly what it’s been told. So who’s the bigger idiot – the GPS or the GPS programmer?

So enough background. Let’s get this ride rolling!

At SFO, it rained. For 4 days straight. Historically, I haven’t really done much riding in the rain. Now I can say I’ve logged close to 1000 miles riding in rain. It doesn’t really bother me anymore.

We headed out of Eureka Springs and went south to grab the slab to Tulsa. On the way out of town, we took a quick spin through the older part of the town.



It’s a very neat little town.





We rode through the Ozarks, dodging rain.









Eventually we stopped at a choke & puke for some chili.



After about 1200 miles or so, mostly in the rain, the FJR was a dirty girl.



And we made it to our destination state! WOO-HOO!!



And we hopped on the turnpike to heard north to Tulsa. Let me just say that toll booths are a 24-carat PITA on a motorcycle while in full riding gear. Ugh.

Fuel stop.



Tulsa here we come!



After a brief interlude thanks to Dr. Zumo taking us onto the wrong street, we eventually make it to Casa de Ross.



After unloading the bike, and having a couple of wind-down beers, we did some sight-seeing, since this was my first trip to Tulsa.

Let me say that I like Ross. He’s a helluva good guy. He and I are the same age, and we’re both geeks, so he and I get along great!

Ross works at a local TV station. We got the Grand Tour. SCORE!!

After coming into the station via the Super Duper Ultra Top Secret entrance (OK, so it was the employee entrance, AKA the back door), we made it to the foyer. Time for a picture!



He took us onto the news set for show and tell.

BikerGeek, Susie and Ross, on set.



They did the HD transition, so their news broadcasts are in HD. He told us about all the work that goes into that transition – changes to the set to accommodate the wider broadcast formats, updating the backdrops on the set due to the fact that HD is, well, high definition, so blemishes that are not evident on non-HD broadcasts stick out like Bozo the Clown at the Vatican. For a geek like me, it was interesting stuff.

Around the corner from the news set, they have a kitchen set. Cool! Since Susie and I are food geeks (one of our goals is to eat at all of the Iron Chef’s restaurants; so far, we’ve gotten to restaurants owned by Bobby Flay, Morimoto, and Michael Symon), we HAD to have pictures.





In the same room, they had a HUGE green-screen. We decided to pose for a few pictures. We’ll be having some PhotoShop fun with these.

The cute couple.



GODZIRRA!! AAAHHHHH!!!!



Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a green wall!



And a picture of the tower.



After the station, we drove around a bit. Saw ‘The Hands’ at O.R.U. O.R.U. has a, uh, interesting campus.

We wound up having dinner at a place called The Brook. Ross had mentioned that their country fried steak was HUGE. By the time we got there, I was seriously jonesing for that country fried steak. He was NOT lying! Holy cow!!



After dinner, we were getting kinda tired, so we retired for the evening in the guest wing at Casa de Ross.

The official mascot at Casa de Ross is Groucho the Kitler. If you’re not familiar with Kitlers, look it up. We only had a brief Groucho sighting, though.



After a fitful rest, we got up the next day, Monday, ready for the beginning of our long way home, on Route 66. We don’t have any hotel reservations for the rest of the trip. We’re just gonna ride, see everything we can see, and stop whenever we decide to. Basically, we have No Plan for the next 5 days – we don’t need to be home until Friday. Sweet!!



Coming up, the Blue Whale, World’s Largest Totem Pole, and MORE!!

Great report!

My only request is that you 2 come back to AR when it's not so wet....

Thanks! :thumbsup:

Great report!

And ditto what Russ said!

Great report and pics. Sorry we did not meet your wife at SFO. She is certainly a lot better looking than you. I was walking in town (ES) on Sunday and I think I got a pic of you two riding back out of town. It will not be great as by the time I got the camera out you were well down the road. Watch for it on a future post of my report on SFO. I did enjoy riding and having lunch with you on Friday at SFO.

And so it begins… Our trek on Historic Route 66.

After leaving the Guest Wing of Casa de Ross, we hit the road and picked up Route 66 on the east side of Tulsa.

The first stop? Why the Blue Whale, of course! It’s an Official Route 66 Roadside Attraction!





BikerGeek on the Blue Whale.



Mrs. BikerGeek on the Blue Whale.





We took these next couple of pictures to kind of signify the beginning of our journey on the Mother Road.





My 7-year-old niece and 9-year-old nephew are intrigued as hell about the Blue Whale. I hope they make it there sometime. If any of you loyal readers have kids that age and have the opportunity, please take your kids there.

After the Blue Whale, it’s back on the road…



After seeing a sign, on a whim I decided that we should check out the Roy Rogers museum. It’s in Claremore, OK.



It’s kinda touristy, but what the hell. We’re tourists!



There’s even a statue in the museum!





Out back, there’s another statue!







I think this picture framed the statue nicely!



While we were at the museum, there were a TON of school-age kids there, running around and hottin’ and hollerin’. If you have ever been around a couple of bus loads of 6th graders, let me tell you they’re kinda LOUD! They were well-behaved enough for 6th graders, but dang they were loud and distracting.

Preparing for departure.



So after the Will Rogers museum, we hit the road once again and, since we are officially tourists, we stopped in to see Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park. Neat, eh?



There’s a very large totem pole there.



Veejer, BikerGeek and totem poles.











Here is the World’s Largest Totem Pole.



Factoids…



Standing in the base of the World’s Largest Totem Pole, looking up.



If you stop here, be sure to swing into the gift shop and buy something. Inside, there is also a nice display of an array of violins. If you’re into music, and can appreciate the skill needed to artfully make music on a violin, you’ll like it! Otherwise, stop in anyway, ya uncultured heathen!



After the totem poles, back on the road we go…







Now, in case you hadn’t heard, it POURED at SFO. For 4 days.

Eeesh.

There were still remnants in Oklahoma.



By this time, it’s about time to grab a bite to eat. To Mrs. BikerGeek’s chagrin at times, when I’m on the road, I tend to not eat very much. But I was ready to eat, and since we’re riding Route 66 and all, I didn’t want to go to a chain restaurant.

Wait – what’s that sign up there say?



Cool! How can you possibly go wrong with a sign that says…



So, on a whim, we stopped at Clanton’s.



If you are ever passing through Vinita, OK, PLEASE stop at Clanton’s. It is a Route 66 classic, and their burgers ROCK!

BikerGeek awaiting a kick-ass burger.



Mrs. BikerGeek and I are, um, well, geeks. Food geeks. We have gone to the Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland, OH, for the last couple of years. We’ve seen Alton Brown completely BOMB a live cooking demo, we’ve seen Michael Symon rock the house with his demo (and if you’re ever in Cleveland, go to one of his restaurants; we did, we met Chef Symon and he’s a little feller; I thought he was taller), and we saw Guy Fieri.

Guy Fieri is utterly hilarious to meet. He is the Real Deal, although he tames things down on TV. In person, look out…

What do we see hanging on the wall in Clanton’s?

Holy crap – Guy was here!



In 2007, Clanton’s was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives! WAY cool!

We had terrific food, and excellent service.

Clanton’s is on my list of One Of The Best Places To Go For Food. Me likey!



Clanton’s was a game-time decision, call it a whim, and damn did it work out well. Can’t wait to go back!

After our most excellent meal, we’re back on Historic Route 66.



Time for some pictures.













Build it and they will… You know…





We must not be in Kansas anymore. What happened to the Welcome To Kansas sign??





Wagons East!!



More coming very soon….

Route 66 is an AWESOME motorcycle road. If you ride a Gold Wing, maybe.







There are many, many ‘Route 66 this’ and ‘Route 66 that’ places along the Mother Road.





Dunno what the hell this is supposed to be. Art, perhaps? Hell if I know. It’s a, uh, thing.



Seeing all the Historic Route 66 signs along the way, I’d been wanting to get a good picture of us with the FJR with one of those signs. Springfield, MO, gave us an opportunity to do just that.





When we stopped for the pictures with the sign, we saw this building. We speculated what it was. Turns out it’s a mosque.



So we’re in Springfield, MO, been riding a while, and We Have No Plan. Why not find a hotel here and call it a day?

So that’s what we did.

We stayed at the Friendliest Hotel In Springfield…



Grabbed some grub…





And some libations to celebrate the day!



Next up – we finish our way across Missouri, and into Illinois.

Awesome! Gimme more!

I was on Route 66 from Amarillo to Santa Rosa, NM last summer on the way to NAFO. Santa Rosa has a bunch of old Vegas looking signs, drive-ins and motels that were pretty cool. Even though it was all way before my time, it was pretty neat to see.

I've enjoyed the hell out of this so far BG.

(I remember 66 when it was new!)

But seriously,....you've got me thinking that a leisurely trip along at least a part of 66 would be a very memorable experience. America as it was.

Anyhoo, really enjoying the photos and commentary. Thank you.

BG again, you are doing a great job of reporting. Route 66 is a fun ride and I DO REMEMBER when it was the road from Chicago to L.A. It has been a savior for some of the small towns in OK by restoring old buildings and drawing in the tourists. We have a lot of Europeans, especially Germans that ride Route 66 every year.

Route 66 – across Missouri and into Illinois.

The next morning, we awoke, packed up, had some breakfast at the hotel, and continued east.

HEY – a road with a turn?! WOO-HOO!!



And even a sweeper! Excellent!!



We rode through a lot of farm land.



After such a blah of a winter, it was nice seeing some green, lush scenery.



Yep – we’re on Route 66, alright.



We’d been futzing along for a little bit and saw this place.

I asked Mrs. BikerGeek, “Wanna stop in for the hell of it?”

Her: “Sure!



So we pulled in about 15 minutes before they opened. Eh, we Have No Plan, so that’s cool. Mrs. BikerGeek went next door to the World’s Largest Candy Store on a mission to get some Swedish fish. She got ‘em, and when the Mrs. is happy… Well, you know.

BikerGeek in front of the World’s Largest Gift Store.



Now you’d think that a place called the World’s Largest Gift Store should probably be named the World’s Largest Tchotchke Store or the World’s Largest Trash & Trinket Store. And you’re not far off, but they do have some cool Route 66 stuff for tourists, like us!

So as we were wondering around the store, looking at some cool stuff and some, um, well, junk, we come across this in the back corner of the store.



What the?!?!

Really?

Yes!



Now THIS is cool stuff!



We had NO idea that was there. Glad we stopped!!

So we had looked at some things that we would have liked to buy, but there’s no way we coulda carried much more on the FJR with us. We asked if they could ship stuff and they said no.

Crap.

Oh, well. Lost sales for them.

As we were checking out, one of the clerks mentioned, “You know – there is a post office about ½ a mile away.”

I said, “Really? ½ mile?? Be right back…”

I grabbed some more stuff, we got directions to the post office, and headed out. She was right – it was about ½ mile from the store. We had some other stuff that we had bought along the way the we decided to ship as well, so we headed into the post office.

We put our stuff down and said to the gal working there, “We are riding a motorcycle and don’t have room to carry this back to Ohio. We need to ship it. Can you help us?”

Help us she did. One flat-rate box, and one unfolded box (to act as wrapping around a couple of metal signs) later, and we’re good to go!

Big BigerGeek thumbs up to the gal working at the post office in Phillipsburg, MO!



115 miles away, and Meramec Caverns are advertising. Does that tell you that there is not much out here??



A good bit of the Route (as the locals call it; more on that later) runs parallel to the interstate.



There are lots of Route 66-named places along the way.



Mrs. BikerGeek had spotted a sign for a Route 66 museum. I guess they keep those signs on the interstate, because while we were on Route 66 in the area of the museum, there weren’t any signs. So, once we knew we’d missed it, we doubled-back one exit and went to the museum. Neither of us can remember what town this was in, but the museum is inside a library.







Clanton’s? HEY! WE were there!! Cool!



The sign out front. This place is maybe 2 blocks off the interstate. I want to say it was at exit 127, but don’t quote me on that.



Along with some of the newer stuff, there is still some cool older stuff. If we were looking for a spot to stay for the night, I woulda stayed here.



Riding parallel to the interstate.



Bridge! The decking on this bridge was not in very good shape.



There are quite a few churches along Route 66 as well.



Some homes look very nice and then there are places like this… As Jeff Foxworthy said, “If you cut your grass and find a car, you might be a redneck.”





Cuba, MO, has some really cool murals along Route 66.







More of Missouri to come….

Awesome post! Rt 66 would be a kick in the butt! Thanks for sharing.

Route 66 in Missouri, continued…

The GPS route I used sucked. No 2 ways about it – it sucked. It kept wanting to go around in circles, doing weird diversions, it just sucked, and I got frustrated. So we hopped on the slab for a little while so I could shut the damn GPS up. And we missed The World’s Biggest Rocking Chair.

Now this just happened to work out quite well for us.

Since we’d missed it, and Mrs. BikerGeek had been talking about it, we were only about 4 miles away, so off we went.

Now, listen up here:

If you’re riding a motorcycle and you go to visit the World’s Biggest Rocking Chair, BE VERY, VERY, VERY CAREFUL WHEN YOU PULL IN!

I came rolling into the parking lot at a good clip and …. HOLY **** …. THAT’S DEEP GRAVEL!!

The FJR started bucking and moving… No, I didn’t lose it, but the gravel parking area there is deceptively deep! Scared the bejeezus outta me!

This is the parking area at the World’s Largest Rocking Chair.



You can kinda see the rut the FJR left in the gravel. Damn that crap was deep. I’m not a gravel guy, so it was an experience.

The particulars.



When we pulled in, though, there was another sport-tourer there.

After I parked the bike, and we hopped off, a rider in a full ‘stitch came out and we started chit-chatting.

We met George. George is riding from Arizona to Connecticut, via Chicago and Detroit. His ST turned 130,000 miles, he’d lost a mirror cover at one point….

After our introductions, he peered over at Veejer and said, “FJR, huh? You on that FJRforum?”

I said, “Yup.”

George: “You know Warchild?”

BG: “I haven’t had the opportunity to meet him, no.”

G: “Taught him everything he knows. Really – I taught him EVERYthing.”

We went inside their gift shop (it’s a very cool gift shop, too!) and I bought a soft-sided cooler I can pack on the FJR, Mrs. BikerGeek got herself some more postcards (she collects them) and we started chatting with George again…

Have you ever just met someone and you can tell, you can just tell, that they are The Real Deal? That’s the best way I can describe meeting George.



If you ever see this character on this bike, be sure to say hi. He’s a damn good guy.



We had exchanged info and we’ve swapped pictures since we got home. He took these of us.

The Geeks, and while you can’t see the whole thing, you can see the legs of the World’s Largest Rocking Chair in the background.



The Geeks at a stoplight.



Damn nice meeting you, George. Ride safe, and we hope to bump in to you again out on the road!

Anyone ever been here? With that kind of name, it’s just GOTTA be yummy!



And we’re back on the road.



This has GOT to be the coolest town EVER!

If I were a betting man, I’d say that odot lives here.

Luckily, I know better, but maybe this will be where odot lives when he retires.

I just had to laugh.



We saw a lot of cattle farms along the Route.



Another what looks to be good place to eat. We didn’t stop, though.



Tee-pees. Paging odot – here’s your retirement home!





‘Nother bridge.



Water crossing, FJR-style.



So it’s time to fess up.

How do I know the locals call it, The Route?

Well, we were puttering along somewhere in Missouri and we came up to an intersection in the Middle Of Nowhere, MO. There were LEO’s at all four corners. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong (lately, anyway), I had nothing to worry about, so I pull up and stop.

A LEO walked up (kind of a dorky looking guy, too; and that’s coming from ME!), I opened my helmet and greeted him. The conversation went something like this:

LEO: How you doin’ today?

BG: Good, thanks. Yourself?

LEO: Fine. This is just a routine license check. Can I see your license?

BG: Sure thing, officer. My license is in the inside pocket of my jacket, so I need to take off my gloves and get into my jacket. Is that OK?

LEO: Sure, sure, go ahead. How long are y’all riding The Route?

BG: Well, we started in Tulsa yesterday and we’re going to go east to Chicago, then lollygag back home to Ohio.

At this point I had my ID out and handed it to him. He took it and walked to the back of the bike, came right back and handed me back my ID.

LEO: Here you go. Y’all be safe, OK?

BG: Thanks, officer. Will do. (LEO starts walking away.) You do the same!

LEO: (Stops, turns around.) Thanks. Appreciate that.

So that’s how I know the locals call it The Route. I think that was the most painless encounter I’ve ever had with a LEO, too.

Looking back, that stop happened in the vicinity of Ft. Leonard Wood. Dunno if that had anything to do with it or not.

Where were we…

Oh, yeah – water crossing, FJR-style. State line!



We were in the vicinity of St. Louis. I haven’t had many good experiences driving through St. Louis. Last time, on the way out to SFO, it was pouring. This time, it was getting towards rush hour and I did NOT want to be stuck in rush hour traffic, so we hit the slab around the city.



During our bypass of the city, these jokers were always close by.



The ride around the city was boooorrrrrrinnggggg…… So no pics. Not much to see, anyway.

We rode around the city and headed north on I-55. Since we Had No Plan, we didn’t know where we were going to stop for the night. Eventually we wound up in Litchfield, IL. We found a hotel, got ourselves checked in, unloaded the bike, and had the Dinner Discussion.

BG: You know, I saw this café on my GPS from the route I downloaded. I also saw signs for it on the interstate.

MrsBG: Well, there’s a steak place close by. Let’s go there.

BG: Since this café in the GPS came from the route, let’s check it out first. If it looks crappy we’ll go to the steak house.

MrsBG: OK.

And off we went…

To…

The Ariston Café.

OK, intrepid travelers, if you are EVER in the vicinity of Litchfield, IL, you have GOT to go to the Ariston Café.

Like the Blue Whale, the Ariston Café is an Official Route 66 Roadside Attraction.



The Ariston.



Across the street, “Gas For Less.” Inside joke.



By now, Mrs. BikerGeek and I are getting kinda, well, geeked. This sign outside the Ariston.



Upon entering, we simultaneously said, “Oh, yeah… How cool.”

The Airston has been around since the 1920’s, and in its current location since the 1930’s. It’s still family owned – the current owner greeted us and stopped by our table several times. 3 generations were in there that night – the youngest generation was having a tantrum. ;-) The décor is a mix of obviously old paneling and fixtures along with some modern stuff.

This was such a cool, nostalgic place, my only t-shirt purchased on the trip came from here.

We both had steaks. Sweet, juicy, tasty steaks….



FOOD PORN ALERT!

BikerGeek’s bleu cheese ribeye atop a shitake mushroom. Mmm…



Mrs. BikerGeek’s filet with caramelized onions and Swiss cheese.



The service was impeccable, the food … well, it was the Best Meal Of The Trip. Not only would I recommend this spot to others, I wouldn’t mind making another trip specifically to go there again. While it’s not for the budget-minded (at least not the steaks), sometimes You Get What You Pay For.

Can’t wait to go back.



And I must say this has been a terrific day, one that I wonder if will ever be repeated. Between meeting George and experiencing the Ariston… It’s on my list as One Of The Best Days. Ever.

Next up – the final leg of Route 66 up to Chicago.

BG - Awsome post and pix. You and the missus are living the dream. Enjoy.

Ride safe.

Awesome report; and great pics!~

So after an EXCELLENT dinner at the Ariston Café, and a good night’s sleep, we once again get up, pack up, eat some breakfast at the hotel, load up, and hit the road.

There was a Yamaha dealer on the way. No pics, but we stopped in just for grins. No FJRs on the floor, but they had a crapload of Gold Wings and a C14, but no FJR’s. Go figure. One kind of funny thing: the sales dude was working with a guy trying to figure out what cruiser he wanted to test ride.

As we were heading out, Sales Dude asked us, “Whatchya riding today?”

BG: “FJR1300,” pointing out the window at our ride.

SD, peering out the window at Veejer, parked majestically, covered in all her grit, grime, and road snot: “Cool, Wanna test ride anything?”

BG: “Nah. Got plenty of toys already.”

SD: “Ya sure you don’t wanna test one of the new automatic Hondas?”

He was referring to the DN-01.

BG: <snort> <snicker> “Uh, no, thanks. We’ve gotta roll. Have a nice day!”

SD: <snerp> “Kinda thought so. Ride safe!”

And we were on our way…





Now, [subtle foreshadowing] when you start seeing these things [/subtle foreshadowing], you know you’re in some flat lands.



Well, at least it’s not raining.





I bet this place has been around quite a while.



This place definitely has some memorabilia. I wish the dang truck wasn’t in the picture, but oh, well.





We had been riding along for a little while and were starting to feel like some lunch, so on a whim, we stopped here.



Not bad at all. I think we killed the average age of patrons of the place, though. There’s a retirement home or something like that directly adjacent, so there were lots of seasoned citizens patronizing the joint. Seasoned citizens are funny as hell!

Old gas station along The Route.



One comment Mrs. BikerGeek made: “It seems like every town out here has 2 things: a water tower, and either a silo or a grain elevator.”

Um, yep.



MOMENTOUS OCCAISON ALERT!

MOMENTOUS OCCAISON ALERT!

The FJR turned 60,000 miles.

You can kinda see the odometer.

Sorta.

Trust me.



Remember what Mrs. BikerGeek said earlier about every town out here?



Small town in Illinois.









As we were puttering along, all of a sudden Mrs. BikerGeek says, “Dang! We just missed a Paul Bunyan statue or something.”

D-OH! 5 minutes later, after a quick loop to re-trace our steps (with Dr. Garmin hollering at me the whole stinkin’ time), we come back by to get a pic of this.

Someone help me here. It’s not Paul Bunyan, but it a statue of a dude holding a, um, large hot dog.



Anyway.

So we continue.



More pics along the way.





For Mrs. BikerGeek’s family and friends.



Riding through the Illinois State University campus area, some dipshit college kid pulled right out in front of me. Moron. I hope you flunk out and dig ditches for a living. Twit.

Traffic in Normal, IL, SUCKED! Between the moronic twit college punk almost taking us out and pissing me off, bumper to bumper traffic, and really warm weather, somehow I lost the scent of Route 66.

Damn.

Hmmm….

Improvise, adapt, overcome. (As Clint Eastwood said.)

Eventually we got away from town a little bit, and I kinda improvised.

It worked. We eventually got back on Route 66. I RULE!!

Getting back on the Historic Route.



It’s a good thing that Illinois isn’t known for having well-cared-for roads, ‘cause Route 66 is NOT in very good condition. It beat the crap out of us.





Remember what Mrs. BikerGeek said earlier…



At this point, I was pretty much just following the Historic Route 66 signs. With the exception of the city of Normal, the state of Illinois does a really good job of marking The Route.

The signs told us to turn right, and that there is a historic service station.

Really?

Cool!



We pulled off to stretch a bit and take some pictures.

Just like The Blue Whale and the Ariston Café, it’s an Official Route 66 Roadside Attraction.



Yep, it’s an old-school service station. BikerGeek was kinda geeked.



Mrs. BikerGeek with Veejer.



Veejer in front of the service station.



Very cool, from a nostalgia perspective.



As we were taking our initial pictures, the gal working there walked out and pulled up her sign by the road and took it inside.

I asked if she was closing up.

Her: “Yes. We’re normally closed by now, but I had a tour bus so I’m just closing up now.”

BG: “Wow, really? Well, sorry for inconveniencing you. We’ll be quick.”

Her: “Oh, don’t worry about it. Take your time. If you like, you can go in here <points to the service bay portion of the service station> and take pictures as well.”

BG: “Cool! Thanks!”

Mrs. BikerGeek perused their offering of postcards (she collects them and all that) while I took the camera into the service bay.

Dunno if this would work on modern cars or not.



I wanna say this is a battery testing thinkamajob, but don’t hold me to it. I’m pretty sure it’s older than I am, though.



Mechanics tools, but they kinda look like some kind of dentists tools to me. In a way. Kinda. Sorta….





Enjoy a Coke and a smile! In bottles, no less! And I love that vintage radio on top.



So if you’re passing through Odell, IL, take a minute and stop by the old service station. Mrs. BikerGeek got some postcards from there, and I got some pictures.



This place was just up the road. I woulda stopped, but the dude in the Corvette was taking pictures of his small pecker maker-upper.

I mean, of his car. I didn’t want to interrupt.



Cool building!



To me, it was a shame seeing this place closed and for sale. I can only imagine the history this place has. I hope someone buys it, resurrects it, and keeps it around. It really makes me appreciate what the Ariston Café must have gone through to continue to operate all these years. Hell, all these decades!





More murals.



Heck – they even paint the Route 66 signs on the road in Illinois!



Construction. Ugh. Hopefully they’re going to improve the condition of the road.



Water crossing, FJR-style.



Musta been a long bridge.



I love the old-school Budweiser sign outside this joint. Kind of reminds me of a little place I used to go to in a former life. Blue-collar joint, those of us who worked nearby would stop in after work for a beer. Unfortunately, that place closed. I miss it.



Traffic through here was horrible. Heavy traffic, and it seemed like everyone was in a hurry. Unfortunately, it meant we missed a good opportunity to take a picture of the Launching Pad, with their space guy statue out front. All we got was this.



Oh, well. It happens, but we WERE there!!

Coming right up. Finishing the Route 66 portion of the trip, and meeting a LEO close-up…

We are rolling in to Joliet, IL, now. The skies were getting darker, the hour was getting later. Our route was going to take us right by Chicagoland Speedway. This isn’t my first time here. My first time here was for the inaugural Winston Cup race, it was my birthday, and my driver won! WOO-HOO!!





I think it woulda been cool to take Veejer onto the track, but there was a guard shack (just off-frame to the left of this picture), and BikerGeek has an aversion to getting arrested. So, we just parked here for some more pictures. The guard gave us a curious look, then went back to his crossword puzzle. Or PlayBoy. Or whatever.









The skies were really threatening. The clock was ticking. Time was slipping into the future.

Time to figure out where to stay the night.

We Have No Plan, so I politely asked Dr. Zumo to show some nearby hotels. We found one agreeable to us, it was only 6 miles away, so off we went!

Bad thing was, we had to hop on I-80 to go west 2 exits.

What happens?

Traffic comes to a. Dead. Stop.

Crapola.



We sit. And sit. And sit. Then we briefly move. Then sit. And sit. And sit.

Crap!

What the hell?

I’m watching the temp gauge creep up and the fuel level creep down.

DAMN!

The skies are threatening, and we’re damn near on reserve – down to one bar on the fuel gauge.

Dr. Zumo says we’re 0.8 miles from our exit.

Traffic doesn’t move for at least 5 minutes.

Did I mention that the skies were threatening, and we’re running low on fuel?

I really, Really, REALLY do NOT want to run out of gas on the side of the damn interstate in the rain.

I made a Command Decision.

I said, “Screw this. If I get a ticket, I get a ticket.”

I flip on the FF50’s, turn on the hazards, and go berm-riding.

WOO-HOO!! FREEDOM!! TOP OF THE WORLD, MA!!!

What the?!

We go just a little further up and there’s open road!

HEY! FSKING SEMI DRIVERS ARE STOPPED SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH OPEN ROAD IN FRONT OF THEM!! *&^@#$ TRUCK DRIVERS – YOU GUYS SUCK!! WHO MADE YOU TRAFFIC COPS?! Bastages.

I’m kinda pissed at what these jack-holes are doing and keep on rolling.

We do run in to more stopped traffic, so it’s back into the emergency lane we go. Right up the to exit ramp and…

And…

****! Yep, there’s a LEO on the exit ramp.

Like a moron, my first instinct is to dive back in to traffic.

Right after I do that, I say to myself, “SELF! He already saw you. Go ahead and take your medicine.” We are right near the exit ramp anyway, so off we go.

And the cruiser door opens.

Damn.

Out comes LEO.

****.

Waves me over.

Oh, well. Haven’t had a ticket in quite a while, but in anticipation I had kind of worked out a script in my head. Hopefully I won’t sound like a blithering idiot.

Pull in front of the cruiser, side-stand down, turn off the ignition.

Open my helmet (modular HJC) and await my fate.

LEO approaches.

DAMN! She’s a CUTE little thing!!

And the exchange went like this:

BG: “Officer, I apologize. I know I shouldn’t have been doing that. The bike just went on reserve, so I’m very low on fuel, traffic hadn’t moved back there for at least 5 minutes. I’m sorry.”

LEO: “You’re on reserve, eh?”

BG: “Yes, officer. And this is our exit.”

LEO: “This is your exit?”

BG: “Yes, officer. That’s our hotel right behind you.”

LEO: “Where you guys riding from? Did you ride through much rain? I see you’re wearing your rain gear.”

BG: “Well, officer, I’ve been on the road for about a week. We’ve seen some good rain – especially in Arkansas – but we always wear all our gear when we ride. It just happens to be waterproof.”

LEO: Kinda blinks and digests what I just said. (I think I scored points there, and did I mention she’s a cute little thing??) “This is your exit for tonight?”

BG: “Yes, officer.”

LEO: “I need to see your driver’s license. I just have to run a check for warrants.”

BG: “No problem, officer. My license is in my wallet, which is inside my jacket pocket (I pat on my manly chest for dramatic effect) – is it OK if I take off my gloves, open my jacket and reach in to get my wallet?”

LEO: Dismissively, she says, “Oh, yeah, sure, no problem. Those are cute helmets.”

Cute helmets? I damn near dropped the bike.

Mrs. BikerGeek heard this part of the conversation and kinda piped in:

MrsBG: “Oh, yeah, these are nice – you can just press this right here and lift it up and talk. Plus we have intercom so we can talk while we ride.”

LEO: “That’s kind of similar to the ones we just got, except ours have a separate sun visor that you can use, too.”

??? Uh, OK.

BG: “Yeah – I’ve seen those. Here’s my license.”

LEO:” Thanks. Be right back.”

I’m somewhere between embarrassed for being the moron who was berm riding that got pulled over, and in hysterics over the “cute helmet” comment.

Maybe a minute later, she returns.

LEO: “Here’s your license. You guys take care and ride safe.”

BG: “Thank you, officer. Have a nice evening.”

And, just like that, I actually got away with . . . . nothing! No written warning, no verbal warning, no ticket… If I weren’t a doofus, I woulda gotten a picture with her, but I didn’t want to press my luck. After doing something definitely ticket-worthy, and not getting cited… Oh, well. You guys are gonna have to take my word for it.

We get our hotel room, fill up with gas, and grab a bite to eat. This place reminded us of a place we go to at home. Note the clouds – it started raining pretty good as we pulled up.



BikerGeek laughs in the face of danger, LEOs, and rain.



And that ends our Route 66 portion of the journey.

So far, we’ve gone from Columbus to Eureka Springs, AR, for FJR Southern Owners Meet (AKA SFO), to Tulsa, OK, then picked up Route 66 and rode that to Joliet, IL, avoiding armadillos, not avoiding rain for hundreds upon hundreds of miles, avoiding elk in Arkansas, seeing Lucy’s Caddy, and having the pleasure of meeting 2 LEOs while receiving zero performance awards!

What’s next? We have 2 days to get home, so we take The Long Way Home, of course!

Coming up – have you ever ridden through northern Indiana?

Very cool trip. Thanks for sharing.

johnny80s said:

Very cool trip. Thanks for sharing.

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Thanks to everyone for following along.

We're down to 2 days now to get home.

We have Indiana to get through, my first two-up peg scrape on a public road, and a moment of melancholy to keep it all real.

BikerGeek99 said:

We have Indiana to get through, my first two-up peg scrape on a public road, and a moment of melancholy to keep it all real.

Click to expand...

Waiting with great anticipation... gotta find the popcorn...