October 1998

Here we are back on Route 66. This time it is for a special event, the US 66 Expo ‘98. We are looking forward to seeing old friends that we’ve made along the route. We are staying at the Wonderland RV Park in Amarillo. The first day, Thursday, is the kickoff of the event. We meet up with the bus tour in Shamrock at the U Drop Inn, opened just for this event. It is a great old building, such a shame to see it sit abandoned and crying out for customers. Here we meet up with the Trews and also meet Richard Smith. Richard owns the Route 66 Motel in Shamrock. he’s a very interesting guy. We didn’t sign up for the bus tour, but plan on following it. First stop is McLean and the Route 66/Devils Rope Museum. Here we met up with an old friend, Dan Harlow, and got a chance to talk with Ruth and Delbert. They are such a joy. We went into town for lunch at the 50s Spot. Pretty good deli sandwiches. It is run by two women, one of which is the mayor’s wife. We got to meet the mayor; he had to sit in the vette. After lunch we headed up to Mobeetie (sweet water in Indian), the first town in Texas. It was fun to see the old jail. They have a great museum for such a small place. We had time to kill before the Kick-Off Banquet so we followed Route 66 over to Texola. We got back into town and visited with some of our friends. We met Jim Gilbert, who is part of Trail Net that is saving the old Chain of Rocks Bridge. He was selling pieces of the bridge. Jerry MeClanahan was there. We got to meet Jim Ross. Both Jerry and Jim had a slide presentation. We were happy to see that Lucille had shown up, she was accompanied by her sister, Lavina. The Trews and the Harlows were also there. The hit of the evening was the speaker, Michael Wallis. He is such a captivating speaker. It was great to finally get to meet him; he’s really down to earth.

Friday began with a symposium of speakers telling of happenings and such along the mother road. They included Dan Harlow, Jim Ross, Paul Taylor, Becky Ransom, and Michael Wallis. We had a great lunch of beans and cornbread. We went over to the Adrian Café for pie, which was delicious. We followed the old road back into Amarillo. Sixth Street in Amarillo was closed off for a street party later that day. There were slide shows and live music. Most of the shops had stayed open for the event. I got to meet Lucille Hamon’s daughter, Cheryl Ann. She’s pretty fun, sure does like to talk. Bob Waldmire was taking his bus/motorhome back to IL and we got to see him. It’s always great to see Bob. He’ll be missed out in Hackberry.

Saturday was the big day of the event. Sixth Street was set up with booths from various Route 66 vendors and local artists. The antique shops were open and bustling. We ran into most of our friends. We went to the Main Street of America Reception, basically a book signing. It was nice to be able to mingle with all the Route 66 celebrities, Michael Wallis, Lucille Hamon, John Weiss, Marian Clark, Tom Teague, Dan Harlow and Becky Ransom. Next was the Steinbeck Award Banquet. Awards were given and people spoke. The Steinbeck Award went to Tom Teague. It was really fun. We sat at Dan and Sheila Harlow’s table. It was catered by the Big Texan and was good. The organizers were disappointed by the turnout; we enjoyed the intimacy of the small group.

After sitting for a couple of days, waiting out a storm, we moved on to Oklahoma. We stayed at a park that we have frequented often, the KOA in Foss/Canute. We hadn’t been there in 5 years, they have new owners. The next day we followed the old road over to Elk City to check out the new National Route 66 Museum. They’ve done a really nice job with this. It is a complex made up of old shops and holds 3 separate museums. Then we jumped on the interstate and went to Hydro to see our grandmother of the mother road, Lucille Hamon. She is so fun to talk to. We were lucky enough to catch her in action giving an interview, we were even in it. We then had to say goodbye to our road for a short time. We had stops in Memphis and Bowling Green. We went to the Corvette factory and museum. Of course the National Corvette Museum has a Route 66 display. Corvettes and Route 66 go together. To our surprise we found a Snortin’ Norton trailer in a parking lot near our campground. It appears to be available for leasing. What a find! I’m sure the locals were curious as to our fascination with this. We took lots of photos. We also made a side trip to visit our old town, Carbondale IL. Then we headed north.

We stayed at Hayman’s Shadow Oaks Campground in New Douglas IL. We arrived here on the 26th. I mention the date because there was an invasion of lady bugs here and we are still finding them at the end of February. The owner is very enthusiastic about changing the name to Route 66 Campground, although he is aways from the road. He has big plans, hope they pan out for him. We got here early enough that we decided to go in search of 66. We got on the Interstate and went north to Springfield Lake. We checked out the Bridgeview Park that was created using a displaced 4 lane section of Route 66. Nice job. We then went over to look at the Sugar Creek covered bridge. Sure wish we could’ve driven across it. We then followed 66 down to the exit that takes us over to Auburn. We’re in search of an old hand laid brick section, we didn’t succeed. By now the sun is starting to set, a beautiful sunset I might add, we follow the old road until it gets too dark to see. We are able to go as far as Carlinville before we’re forced back to the freeway, and camp.

Old brick section of Route 66. 1920 alignment - Auburn, Illinois

We’ve done our research a little better and head back to Auburn. We only missed the brick section by a mile and a half. What a wonderful piece of road! The fall colors line this section beautifully. There were a few large trucks that came along while we were there, hopefully they won’t destroy this piece of history. We are using Bob Moore’s book in conjunction with the Illinois Association Map and Jerry McClanahan’s Map.

We continued on into Springfield. We had lunch at the Cozy Dog. The new building is bigger but has lost some of the atmosphere. The dogs are still good. We stopped at Bill Shea’s service station. He is full of information and has lots of old pumps and stuff to look at. Well worth the stop. He enjoyed talking to us as much as we enjoyed listening. We then followed the route (26- 30 alignment) through Springfield. We stopped at a McDonald’s that still has the original arch out front and then over to the Lauderbach Giant for a couple of photos. We then went through town back over to the 1930-1940 section and followed this south and out of town. We checked out a great old section right before Springfield Lake (it actually disappears into the lake).

We went on through Glenarm, Divernon, Farmersville, Waggoner and Litchfield. We were finally able to eat at the Ariston, which means superior. We got to meet Nick Adam, the owner, a nice guy. The food was really good and reasonably priced. We then drove over to Mt Olive to check out Russell Soulsby’s old station. It was dark by then, so we will have to come back.

Russell Soulsby’s father opened this Shell Service Station in 1926. Russell and his sister operated it until 1992. Mt. Olive, Illinois

The late Russell Soulsby and Earl in 1998. (What I remember most about this photo is that Russell insisted on putting on his Route 66 cap before letting Cheryl take his photo.) That’s cool!

The next day was a special one for us. We went back to Mt Olive and were lucky enough to catch up with Russell Soulsby. He was out in his yard. We stopped and talked with him for about an hour. He was happy to have the company. He’s now 88, has a girlfriend and loves to dance. We’re surprised that he still drives. Guess there’s hope after all.