Getting our kicks on Route 66 and crossing 10,000 miles

We headed back to Illinois for a few day to deal with some "life" issues and all is well.  We spent some great time with family and got to drive the van for a few days.  Yes, there was great excitement in driving our van that is being stored!  Also, after the last post, we did a little preliminary birthday celebrations for Caleb. 

A little pre-birthday festivities with Aunt Jen.

More pre-birthday festivities at cousin Val's house.

Wanted to make some laundry detergent. 

We headed to Fredericktown, Missouri and we camped at the place that I used to camp for a number of years when I was between Caleb and Zachary's ages.  Getting there was the biggest memory of all, I think, for this trip though.  OnStar thought it would be a good move to take us down 4 different (12 miles worth) OLD, ROCKY, SKINNY, HILLY, CURVEY, TREE COVERED farm/county roads.  Then, after nearly making it to the end, we found out that the bridge was washed out.  I ended up having to walk to a house, almost getting eaten by a few dogs, and met a distant cousin.  Then, we got turned around and made it to where we wanted to be.  We reminisced by going to the fishing and swimming spots that I went to as a kid.  I shared stories about copperheads and cottonmouths (as I kicked on down the hill as we entered the campground).  Also, I shared stories about how I knocked myself out by throwing a rock straight up in the air and how I floated down a river because my mom knocked me out of the boat.  We also met two other families there and had great conversation with them and shared the amazing story that we have been given over the last few months.  I think we might have inspired one of them to try full-timing.  We also visited our family cemetery and went to the other old swimming hole by the old church/school.  On the way back, I remembered another road to take to the house that my dad was born in.  We drove by but I wanted to stop; so we did.  We stopped someone on a tractor and ended up reacquainting with a cousin that I hadn't seen in decades.  She let the kids pick eggs, pet roosters, and she also invited us in the house to see how it had changed.  It was so amazing and such a great refresher to my childhood.  I think my family enjoyed it as much as I did. 

Getting ready for fishing where daddy used to fish as a kid. 

One of my old favorite spots. 

Just like daddy used to. 

Can you see it?!?!?!

Same road I used to walk down.  It was such a blessing to have them there. 

It doesn't matter how big the fish are...just happy to catch them. 

Our family cemetery.

Hanging out at the old school house. 

Parked at the old swimming hole getting ready for lunch. 

 

Fishing where my mom and dad had their honeymoon. 

That's my girl...bathing suit and a fishing pole. 

 
 

Happy day.

This was a photo opp...standing in the water, fishing, with a Go Pro on his head...and yes, he did fall in.  (Might have had something to do with me throwing rocks at him...not sure)

Family photo opp!

Right where I used to fish off of the bridge. 

This is where the kids loved hearing the story about when I knocked myself out with a rock right behind where we are standing. 

Kamryn has fallen in love with this dog since we have started travelling. 

Really...there is a crawdad in his hand. 

Massive monster crawdad on hos finger. 

 

At the house where my dad was born our in the same hen house I used to go in. 

After we left Fredericktown, we headed for Springfield, Missouri.  We stayed in a Bass Pro Shop parking lot and began our celebration of Caleb's multiple day birthday party!  We headed to an Incredible Pizza Company and stayed for 3+ hours.  We left full and smiling.  Then, we headed for bed and started our next morning with the trip to the flagship store for Bass Pro Shop; it was gigantic!  We thanked a few of the managers that were standing around talking and we ended up talking for a while with them.  Then, after seeing alligators, huge fish, ducks, and an array of other animals, we proceeded to roam for about 3+ hours.  We ended up eating a lunch special there and met a great guy that shared so much history with us.  We ate in a place that had numerous replicas of items that were in Ernest Hemingway's (the author) home.  What was really neat was that they had the actual boat that Hemingway used with his partner for fishing.  The owner of Bass Pro had traded him for a new boat for the original fishing boat and it hangs in the restaurant.  Anyway, we ate and visited and then we left...forgetting our handheld radio (that we used when we split up in the store) and we are now waiting for Bass Pro to send it to us...at no cost to us even though we offered to pay for the shipping.  Kudos to Bass Pro!

The birthday morning began like this...

Shooting gallery at Incredible Pizza Company.

Bowling!

Our 7 year old blessing. 

BASS PRO!

This place was huge...like an amusement park!

They loved all of the animals.  Especially the turtles and alligators. 

 

The surprise from Jim, our server. 

 

 

We left Springfield, Missouri and headed to Oklahoma.  We had a few long days of driving but that was by choice.  We stayed at Heyburn Park outside Tulsa.  We fished, Caleb started a "Bait n Tackle" shop, and we ended up meeting a fella that was taking a trip and fulfilling an item on his bucket list after retirement.  The kids saw him pull in and immediately invaded his space to help him set up.  They did great (and so did he!)  He ended up joining us a for a bit that night at our fire and we had a great visit.  The kids helped him take down, after helping him walk his dog, and we visited some more.  We exchanged information and agreed that we would hook up to his house when/if we come through Madison, Wisconsin. 

The girls are making some bannock. 

A night time walk.

Caleb said that he wanted to open a "bait n tackle" shop and be a pastor when he grows up.  Can you read the sign he put on the front of the truck?  It says "Bait n tackle for sale"

Gathering his bait.

Roaring fire and s'mores!

We headed out from Tulsa and headed for Amarillo.  I hadn't mentioned yet that one of the things that we wanted to do on this trip was to travel the historic Route 66.  Some of it is gone now and it doesn't exist on many new maps but it is still marked in many places.  We are driving it and made our first stop at U Drop Inn/Tower Station in Shamrock, Texas.  This place was COOL!  It was one of the places that was used as a setting in the movie Cars with Lightning McQueen; it was Ramone's automotive body and paint shop.  We had fun there and in the diner and met a couple of wonderful ladies.  We shared our journey and Kelly got a big hug and wonderful remarks about our family.  We also met a guy who just came from Japan to travel Route 66 on a motorcycle and was almost half way. 

U drop inn from the cars movie. 

Had to capture this photo opp.  We turned around and they were all on it... 

...and then when we lost her for a minute...she was like this with Leo.

In the diner.

The boys are playing with the register while Kelly was talking with the wonderful ladies there. 

Inspiration for one of the sets in Cars. 

 

After leaving Shamrock, we headed for Amarillo, Texas.  We checked out our new home for the night (the Texas Information Center...more on that in a minute) and we headed for dinner at The Big Texan Steak Ranch.  An icon on Route 66 and home of the "Free 72 ounce steak".  We had a wonderful dinner there and read about some more history on Route 66 and the restaurant.  It was a great evening and we headed back "home".  We have a website that we use for free camping places and one of them was the Texas Information Center in Amarillo.  This place was wonderful, except for the rattlesnakes!  It was a nice, clean area and we ended up being surrounded by a few neighbors.  We had a nice rocking (it was extremely windy) night and left in the morning after going in and talking with the guy inside the information center and gaining a wealth of information about Texas and sharing our journey. 

 

Outside the Big Texan on Route 66.

Photo op in the cow chair. 

Looking down on the restaurant. 

Remember this from the movie "Big"?

 

Big ol' chair. 

Dinner time. 

The same sign that has hung since the restaurant opened.

I had to take a picture of this.  I have heard it called "Wal Marts" but haven't seen it spelled it this way!

Our free home for the night in Amarillo.

We had learned of a free RV museum along Route 66.  Along this trip, and before we left, we have been told that we are a great mix of the two families on the movie RV with Robin Williams.  Anyway, we were able to go and see the actual Gornicke bus that was used in the movie along with some other old RVs.  We ended up meeting one of the people that worked there and talked with her for a while and had some laughs.  After a bit, we headed out with another memory and headed to New Mexico.  Before arriving at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico, we saw amazing landscapes, a famous abandoned town, the Leaning Tower of Britten, one of the 4 tallest crosses in the Western Hemisphere, Cadillac Ranch and some other amazing sites.  It is so neat to travel an iconic route like Route 66 and see it disappear into a farmers field or a culvert, only to reappear later.  There is so much history along it and so many stories.  It is great to see so many people trying to preserve some of this history.  In a day and age when things are always so busy, it is nice to see people want to keep "simpler times" alive. 

Leaning tower of Britten.

The Gornicke bus from the movie RV.

Yes, we were excited. 

Loving it!

"I am full of chagrin"  (If you don't know this saying and haven't seen the movie, you must.)

Happy Max!

Getting their "kicks" on Route 66.

Sunset at Kirtland AFB, NM

Today, we have hit our 10,000th mile on this trip and have been out about 136 days now.  It's a bit of a shocker but exciting for us.  We have met amazing people and are building a wealth of memories.  We continue to pray that we will keep meeting people and bless them in any way that we can.  We have a route from here but I will share that as we go.  I will say that we will be dry camping for a little while in the West and don't know when we will have internet or cell service again...so...until then...