9/23/17 - Lebanon, MO

Route 66 - Day 5

Soon after leaving Rustic Acres Campground this morning, we arrived in Livingston, IL.

The Pink Elephant Antique Mall is quite an interesting looking place.  Check these oddities out.

I am sure that I should have gone in the antique mall to find out the story of this place.  I mean, who puts an elephant on a wall?  But Bungie wasn't too impressed and I was ready to leave Illinois.  So we hit the road.

We spent more time on interstates today than I like.  Route 66 seemed to be harder to follow than in previous days.  But we managed to see sites from the car and made a few stops.  But I missed seeing the World's largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville, IL.  Oh, there is so much to see...

I did get to see the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site before leaving the state.  The Visitor's Center looked too crowded to me, but I am sure that I could have learned a lot about the Native Americans who built the mounds in pre-Columbian times.

There were people climbing that mound in the 93 degree weather when I drove by.  Yuch!

I purposely got on the interstates to travel through East St. Louis and St. Louis.  I have felt very confident traveling alone, but I don't put myself into situations that I am not comfortable in either.  So my pictures of the St. Louis skyline are not too impressive.  If you enlarge this photo, you will see the Arch.  

The Route 66 State Park Visitor Center in Eureka, MO was a great stop.  They have quite a collection of memorabilia and souvenirs.  I even found a Route 66 sweatshirt in anticipation of cooler weather.

The Gardenway Motel was found in Villa Ridge.  It has been closed since 2014 but I bet there are a lot of stories in those walls since 1945.

I also drove by the abandoned Diamonds Restaurant in Villa Ridge but failed to get a photo.  I did notice it's for sale.

The Sunset Motel in Villa Ridge looked like someone might be restoring it.  This little town has really been affected by I-44 replacing Route 66.  

St. Clair offered another Meramec Caverns Barn Sign, as I got closer to the caverns.  I didn't take that side trip but got the barn picture.

It seems that my ability to stay of Route 66 got harder after this, so I focused on finding a campground with very specific amenities.  I wanted electricity for the air conditioner, WiFi to get some work done, and laundry facilities since I am out of warm weather clothing.  The clothing that I brought is about 1/2 warm weather and 1/2 cooler weather, I didn't anticipate so many days in the 90's tho.  

Anyway, I found the campground that met all my needs at the KOA in Lebanon, which is very near Route 66 and I am going to try to avoid the interstates more tomorrow.  

I wonder what tomorrow will bring...