Road Trip Day 2 - Friday, 26th April, 2019

Say hi to Ruby - my trusty companion. She should be called Eva, as that is nearer to her license plate, but I didn't notice. It's a Kia SUV and an easy, comfortable drive.

Illinois is cattle country as well as corn, so here are some cows. However, corn dominates and the most conspicuous buildings in the landscape are the vast grain silos. The occasional spill provides a free meal for the locals.

Another "Giant" can be found in Atlanta, moved there from Cicero, Ill, this time clutching a hotdog. The town also welcomes visitors  with its friendly water-tower.

Both Atlanta and Lincoln have brick-built main streets, and the fabric of most is well maintained, presenting an attractive town centre. But many of the shops are boarded and vacant. The former stature of some of these Illinois towns, now by-passed, can be seen from the size of their public buildings, such as this.
On the whole, the route is well-posted with the familiar brown and white signs.  However, tracking down this unmissable piece of nonsense, which has been moved (how??) a number of times, resulted in a number of u-turns.

Another, younger, thinner, Lincoln stands, somewhat disconsolately, at the entrance to the State Fairgrounds. They were not in use, so I was able to drive around the fairgrounds unchallenged for a quite a while, trying to find him.

Afew miles further and yet another "Giant", this time advertising the Lauterbach tire service business, still in operation, in Jerome.

Apparently, he used to hold a full-size tyre in his right hand, which looked like a toy, but he seems to have lost it.

At Auburn is a rare piece of the original brick road, which makes the Munchkins' instructions to Dorothy (in the next State west) make a lot more sense. 

Route 66 took a number of different routes as it evolved, and a choice has to be made which to follow. As I had seen the town of Carlinville before,which lies on the original, northern 1926 - 1930 route, I detoured onto the southern, post-1930 route which goes via Farmersville.  They re-unite at Staunton. At Sawyerville, there is this personal monument, made up of Route 66 memorabilia.

After Staunton, I had the first real navigational challenge - getting lost in Granite City, which is not the most scenic of places, whilst trying to find a route into St Louis. Its name reflects its industrial past, and present, and is a maze of truck routes, railway sidings and industrial plants. I took the route advised by EZ, although not strictly on 66, heading south on 3 and onto I70.  This was a good choice, as it brought me quickly to my rendezvous point with my son, James (on the right) and his husband, Kolten, at the excellent Fountain on Locust. Time for a celebratory drink!

Three days of catching up - and the Avengers movie - before heading West again.