Just Got Back from Route 66 Part 1: Odell, Pig Hip, Ariston and Munger-Moss

Liz and I just got back from an eight day Route 66 trip covering 1200 miles, 1000 on the dear old Mother Road.

We left last TUESDAY and checked out the 1932 Standard station in Odell, Illinois, just as a busload of tourists from upper Minnesota came in. They were impressed with all the Route 66 stuff on the Malibu. We had a long talk with Ernie and Fran Edwards at the site of the Pig Hip restaurant that Ernie operated since the 1930s. Dinner was at the famous Ariston Restaurant in Litchfield, Illinois (dating also to the 1930s). We stayed at the motel that used to be a Best Western where Liz stayed quite often as a child while driving to visit family in Kansas City.

WEDNESDAY-- Took a ride around and walk around Litchfield while waiting for Liz to get up. Ate lunch at the Jack-in-the-Box in Litchfield. On the old roads, we make it our choice NOT to go to national chains on trips, but this is the closest Jack-in-the-Box to us and we're quite fond of Monster Tacos and Jumbo Jacks.

Had those great "concretes" at Ted Drewe's in St. Louis and drove 66 out to Rolla. We stopped along the way to play NTN at three new sites, one in Illinois and two in Missouri.

Made it out to the Munger-Moss Motel in Lebanon, Missouri and had a talk with Ramona Lehman, a real Route 66 character. Also met up with Jeff Meyer, winner of Route 66's John Steinbeck Award. He said he wasn't going to the Route 66 Festival in Springfield, Illinois, this weekend because it is nothing but a glorified car show.

On the Road for Some More. --RoadDog

Don't Mess with Them Squirrels

A week ago, a squirrel went on a rampage in southern Germany and attacked and injured three people before a 72 year-old killed it with his crutch. Think about this the next time you mess around with one of our bushy-tailed friends.

I can spend a lot of time watching and enjoying squirrels. Those twitching tails and frantic motions are hilarious. It's amazing how fast they can climb trees and sometimes they'll be sitting there looking at something (usually the seed in my birdfeeders) and you just know that they are are doing some serious pondering. Often, I make little noises that gives them something else to think about. It's also fun to watch them trying to get somewhere they're not wanted. You've got to be impressed with their determination and ingenuity.

It was a squirrel, or at least they're pretty sure, that chewed into the electrical lines at the historic old Pig Hip Restaurant in Broadwell, Illinois, (just north of Springfield) and that caused a destructive fire that totaled the place. This was a major Route 66 stop, and put Ernie Edwards, "The Old Coot on Route 66" out of business in his museum at the site. They found the charred remains of a squirrel in the ruins.

This past April, while going to visit Andy, Andrea, Jolly Prince Charlie, and AP in White House, TN, I did a cruise across Illinois on US Route 50. I visited Olney, and was able to see one of their famous white squirrels. That was quite a sight. Also saw several who were partially white and gray.

Mt father-in-law Amby had a running vendetta going with the Palatine, IL, squirrels who were as determined to get into his bird feeder as he was to keep them from doing it. Every year, he would be at the hardware stores investing in the latest squirrel-proof offerings. Every year, the squirrels were able to figure out how to overcome the new defense, much to Amby's dismay. He was not nice in describing the 'lil varmints.

Daddy Graham's (our name for Mom's father) cat, Pretty Girl, so-named because he said she was so ugly that she really needed to have something pretty about her, used to be great at going up into the many trees around the house in Goldsboro, NC, and knocking the squirrels out of them.

Julie's tabby cat, Lexi, is very small, and often wanders out behind their home in Richmond Hills, GA, where there are a lot of squirrels scampering about the many trees. They usually think she is one of them and ignore her. Then, one discovers she isn't a squirrel and there is a mad dash for the trees.

Julie has had several "pet "squirrels who would eat out of her hand. One other thing, DON'T go out by those trees in May or June when the deer flies are there. Really nasty little buggers.


Hey, Something's Mighty Squirrelly Around Here!! --RoadDog


THIS DAY IN HISTORY- 1997- The US Air Force says officially that there is no truth to the rumors that aliens were captured at Roswell, NM. Hhhmmmnnn.