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route 66 traverses eight states and covers almost 2 500 miles only 13 2 of those miles are in kansas cutting across the very southeastern corner of the state kansas was the only state that was completely bypassed when interstate 44 replaced route 66 in the 1960 s that doesn t stop kansas from celebrating the historic route though far from it a round of applause for the kansans who keep route 66 not just alive but thriving read more posted by mary at 5 00 am 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels baxter springs independent oil gas blue whale of catoosa brush creek bridge cars on the route coleman theatre conoco hole in the wall dairy king hogue house mickey mantle waylan s ku ku burger march 18 2026 getting our kicks on route 66 day 2 st louis to joplin late last summer alan and i spent 22 nights on the road in a dedicated effort to travel historic route 66 from start to finish chicago to santa monica eight states three time zones and 2 448 miles in my last post i mentioned that 2026 marked the centennial anniversary for historic route 66 shortly after i published that post i learned that the city council in chicago arbitrarily decided to change the start of route 66 to navy pier the city is spinning the move as a ceremonial tourism minded gesture that ties directly into the centennial calendar personally i believe it was a timely move to direct tourist traffic away from the history of route 66 and to an area of the city where visitors are more likely to spend their vacation dollars am i being cynical yes indeed a new begin route 66 sign will be posted at navy pier and it s scheduled to be dedicated on march 25 th the removal of the old sign represents one more tangible piece of history that will be lost along the mother road the very first scavenger hunt item on our list for day 2 was the old chain of rocks bridge which crosses the mississippi river and connects illinois and missouri the old bridge is just south of interstate 270 which is known as the new chain of rocks bridge the old bridge was named for the rocky shoals found at this location on the mississippi the shoals made navigation for mariners difficult had the old chain of rocks bridge been built in a straight line across the river the bridge itself would have made traversing the shoals even more difficult so the old bridge is not a straight span across the water it has a highly unusual turn in it one source reported the turn as 22 degrees the national park service reports the turn as 30 degrees the old chain of rocks bridge both fascinates and horrifies me and i was determined to get a photo of it even if we had to drive back and forth across i 270 to get a long distance shot from the window of the car read more posted by mary at 2 30 pm 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels bonnie clyde garage apartment boots motel fox theatre gillioz theatre munger moss motel old chain of rocks bridge steak n shake union station wagon wheel motel world s largest rocking chair on route 66 february 16 2026 back to route 66 day 1 chicago to st louis late last summer alan and i spent 22 nights on the road in a dedicated effort to travel historic route 66 from start to finish chicago to santa monica eight states three time zones and 2 448 miles life got in the way of blogging during the past four months in fact i only managed to publish the initial overview of the trip link here now i m back to finish documenting the kicks we got on route 66 with route 66 celebrating its centennial this year i can t think of a better time to highlight this trip come along with us as we work to complete our scavenger hunt for motels gas stations restaurants theaters neon signs and quirky attractions in the many towns and cities along route 66 read more posted by mary at 2 30 pm 4 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels ambler s texaco berghoff restaurant burma shave castle car wash cloud gate dell rhea chicken gemini giant muffler man historic route 66 signs normal theater polka dot drive in rialto square theater rich creamy october 19 2025 route 66 start to finish chicago to santa monica for those of you who were waiting patiently for the route 66 road trip report your wait is over alan and i spent 22 nights on the road leaving home at the end of august and returning in mid september with 2 758 photos i can assure you that there is still much to see along historic route 66 eight states three time zones 2 448 miles traveling the entire length of route 66 had been on our bucket list for years for a variety of reasons this year was the perfect time to add this trip to our travel calendar route 66 officially opened in 1926 and cities and towns from chicago to santa monica will be celebrating the mother road s centennial next year while alan and i would have liked to make the journey next year to take advantage of the many events being planned we believed we might have less hoopla but a more realistic experience traveling historic route 66 this year without the fanfare honestly though anyone who is considering this trip should do it sooner rather than later in my humble opinion as time goes on we re losing more and more pieces of this historic road both literally and figuratively some of the oldest sections of route 66 are no longer accessible and more businesses are succumbing to the curse of tourists being diverted by interstate highways and air travel that part is sad to see but there are plenty of communities and businesses that devote time and resources to keeping historic route 66 not just alive but vibrant come along with us on this epic road trip read more posted by mary at 3 30 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels chicago to santa monica historic route 66 moon route 66 road trip travel guide route 66 the mother road september 14 2025 the disastrous conclusion of our west coast national parks trip national parks trip 3 this post represents the final installment in the series documenting our west coast national parks trip in the summer of 2017 alan and i along with our 18 year old daughter kyra logged a total of 8 513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of july and august those of you who are long time readers may remember that on our first day out on this west coast national parks trip the transmission on our gmc sierra failed necessitating the purchase of a new 2017 truck over the phone with our local dealer and a quick trip back home to drop off the old truck still under warranty and pick up the new one luckily we were just one day from home and this grand fiasco cost us only two days out of our five and a half week trip well go big or go home why not bookend the trip with equally disastrous catastrophes to make it especially memorable read more posted by mary at 5 00 am 6 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels axle whisperer coach net jerry s truck and trailer repair mall of america minneapolis roberts wisconsin st paul twin cities august 30 2025 theodore roosevelt national park underrated but not underappreciated national parks trip 3 this post represents another installment in the series documenting our west coast national parks trip in the summer of 2017 alan and i along with our 18 year old daughter kyra logged a total of 8 513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of july and august when we left home in mid july i had no idea how quickly this 39 day trip would fly by day 34 found us rolling into medora north dakota and we were due home at the end of the week medora is home to theodore roosevelt national park and the cottonwood campground within the park would be our home for the next two nights while we explored the park i would not have been president had it not been for my experience in north dakota roosevelt s time in north dakota impacted him greatly and our time in the national park named for him left a lasting impression on me as well read more posted by mary at 5 00 am 4 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels chimney butte ranch elkhorn ranch maltese cross cabin north unit south unit theodore roosevelt national park august 17 2025 opposite ends of the travel spectrum seattle and north cascades national park national parks trip 3 this post represents another installment in the series documenting our west coast national parks trip in the summer of 2017 alan and i along with our 18 year old daughter kyra logged a total of 8 513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of july and august it wasn t easy to pull up stakes from salt creek recreation area in port angeles washington salt creek had been base camp for our visit to olympic national park and the spectacular views of the strait of juan de fuca would be sorely missed but day 31 of our west coast national parks trip was a gift waiting to be opened and all three of us were eagerly anticipating the adventures ahead read more posted by mary at 1 00 pm 4 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels dale chihuly flowing lake county park north cascades national park old schoolhouse brewery valerie and charles winthrop july 05 2025 olympic national park guess what we saw at rialto beach national parks trip 3 this post represents another installment in the series documenting our west coast national parks trip in the summer of 2017 alan and i along with our 18 year old daughter kyra logged a total of 8 513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of july and august alan kyra and i were up and out early on day 30 of our west coast national parks trip our pace was grueling but we were trying to see and do as much as possible in the five and a half weeks we had the main event of the day was a hike to the hole in the wall at rialto beach and our timing had to be perfect the best time to safely walk out to and back from the hole in the wall was at low tide not only would going at low tide allow us access to a large number of tide pools it would also ensure that we could walk back rather than swim you don t want to challenge the tides people you ll never win as geoffrey chaucer said time and tide wait for no man read more posted by mary at 8 00 pm 4 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels hoh rain forest hole in the wall rock olympic national park rialto beach split rock june 22 2025 olympic national park let the exploration begin national parks trip 3 this post represents another installment in the series documenting our west coast national parks trip in the summer of 2017 alan and i along with our 18 year old daughter kyra logged a total of 8 513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of july and august after picking up the west coast national parks trip series of posts again in mid may i realized that i had forgotten to include the day number in the last two posts our last day on the oregon coast plus the time we spent at mount rainier national park and our arrival at salt creek recreation area in port angeles washington covered days 25 26 27 and 28 the two days we spent at olympic national park the first of which is documented in today s post were days 29 and 30 it was hard to believe that we had been on the road for a full month already they say time flies when you re having fun well it really flies when you re having fun and trying to jam as much as possible into each and every day read more posted by mary at 4 00 pm 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels reflectionsaroundthecampfire hurricane ridge instagram lake crescent madison falls olympic national park sol duc falls older posts home subscribe to posts atom welcome hi i m mary welcome to our campfire please do pull up a camp chair and make yourself comfortable i am absolutely passionate about camping and i ll bet you are too i love the great outdoors whether i m walking biking hiking or paddling through it or even just enjoying a campfire with a good cup of coffee in hand i like to talk about well actually a lot of stuff our state and national parks because they are just amazing and some of my most favorite places on earth outdoor activities they feed my soul family friends and traditions aren t they what make camping so special ideas to make our camping lifestyle even more enjoyable who doesn t like a good tip and anything else that comes to mind if you re like minded then i hope you ll stay a while and visit be sure to come back often you never know what we ll be talking about and if you d like to contact me feel free to do so via email at reflectionsaroundthecampfire at gmail dot com thanks for stopping by follow by email and all new blog posts will be delivered directly to your inbox subscribe search this blog on our way to everywhere blog archive 2026 6 july 2 route 66 we slept in a wigwam day 5 tucumc route 66 the blue swallow experience day 4 el april 1 march 2 february 1 2025 14 october 1 september 1 august 2 july 1 june 1 may 2 april 1 march 1 february 2 january 2 2024 56 december 2 november 2 october 6 september 9 august 7 july 10 june 11 may 3 april 2 march 1 february 2 january 1 2023 24 december 2 november 2 october 2 september 2 august 2 july 3 june 1 may 3 april 3 march 1 february 2 january 1 2022 21 december 2 november 2 october 2 september 1 august 2 july 2 june 1 may 3 april 2 march 2 february 1 january 1 2021 23 december 2 november 2 october 3 september 2 august 2 july 1 june 2 may 1 april 3 march 1 february 2 january 2 2020 30 december 1 november 2 october 2 september 2 august 2 july 4 june 2 may 3 april 2 march 3 february 5 january 2 2019 32 december 2 november 2 october 2 september 2 august 4 july 3 june 3 may 2 april 2 march 4 february 2 january 4 2018 66 december 3 november 3 october 3 september 4 august 4 july 5 june 5 may 4 april 9 march 9 february 10 january 7 2017 8 december 8 my favorite blogs the frugal girl five frugal things fancy yogurt 16 hours ago wandering his wonders how would you pronounce maquoketa 4 days ago on the road of retirement next up dining room and living room facelifts 1 week ago charming adventures of the millers western montana but before we go 1 week ago easin along july 2026 home by way of vegas 3 weeks ago retirementally challenged a final post with a full heart 5 weeks ago walking the parks traverseon tunnel aero duo tent review a lightweight backpacking tent 2 months ago roads less traveled buckskin mountain state park fun on the colorado river 6 months ago live laugh rv acceptance moving on 1 year ago raven chickadee finding peace and joy in 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