Day 4 Sprinfield, IL - Cuba, MO 216 miles

  Left the motel in Springfield, IL around 6:30 this morning and the temperature was 75*. It was a good day and it never rained. We went 216 miles.
  We got a lot of good pictures today also and Susie is going to try to post all the pics we take to her website before we get home if she can. She will put the web address in when she does so you will know where to go.
  We rode some stretches of Route 66 today that were paved with  brick. It wasn't nearly as bumpy as I thought it would be. There were some bricks that were busted up on the side of the road so we got a piece for Drew and a piece for Mason to go with the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater rocks we got for them last year.

  We see more today than we can write about and more than we could take pictures of. So much cool stuff on Route 66 to see. Old motels, souvenir places, old taverns, cafes, etc.

You could spend months just traveling 66 and still not see it all. There are also different alignments through out the years. It reminds me of Route 11 back home. A good example is how it bypassed Richville and how I-81 made a difference in the small towns and business along Route 11. Maybe someday Route 11 will have a historical society fix up the old business along 11 and turn it into a scenic byway like 66.

  The biggest highlight of the day was the Chain of Rocks Bridge that crossed the Mississippi River in Route 66's heyday. It was built with a 22 degree bend in the middle so it didn't affect the water intakes that were in the river already. When semi's came along the bridge was abandoned because they were too long to make the bend in the bridge. Now it is a bicycle and pedestrian bridge between Madison, IL and the north side of St. Louis, MO.

  So we walked across the Mississippi from Illinois to Missouri and beat our Harley across the Mississippi. It is 1 mile across so we walked over and back for a total of two miles. It is a real nice walkway and some people use it to walk for exercise.      

                                  

Hum, Tyrade written in the dirt in Missouri. :)

  We met a real nice women named Ruby.......I mean Ellen while walking. haha. She took our pictures and told us some things about the river and the bridge. She was very nice to talk to. When we got back on the Illinois side to get on the Harley she came back in her car after she had already gone home to see if we wanted to cool of in her car air conditioning for a while. It was around 94* by then and we thanked her and said we were going to the Cafe just down the road, as we had heard it was a good place to eat. She confirmed that it was and now we can confirm that it was. I don't think it had a name just.......Cafe. Thank you Ellen for taking time to take our pictures and coming back to offer your air conditioning. That was very nice of you and most people don't have time for others. From visiting with you while walking we understand why. The only way I can describe it would be reaping and sowing, do unto others and I bet I am right.

  The other highlight was the Jesse James Museum. It was quite a place with a video and a lot of things that were owned or signed by Jesse James or J. Frank Dalton as he was known later. LOTS of guns too and other things from that time. Even a boot jack collection.

   So tonight we are in Cuba, MO and will continue down 66 tomorrow. We are at Best Western again and as of tonight we have earned two free night stays. They have a promotion until the 15th of August. Stay 2 nights any place and get 1 night free any place. The only thing is the coupons are mailed home so we won't get them until we get home. Who knows.......maybe a week in New Hampshire when we get back.
By the way!!!!! We have crossed the Mississippi, so now we are in the WEST!!!!!!!! Hope everyone is having as much fun as we are.