It was a stormy first morning, but we didn't let that stop us from driving into Chicago and starting our trip from The Art Institute of Chicago in Grant Park and official start of Route 66. Traffic in Chicago at 6am isn't that bad.
We drove through the rain to our first stop: Wilmington. We were there to see the Gemini Giant Muffler Man, a 20 foot-tall statue celebrating to towns love affair with space travel. These types of statues were popular in the 60s and each one had its own theme.
We continued on, stopping in Dwight to see Ambler's Texaco Gas Station, now the town's visitor center. After that, we continued on to Pontiac, home to the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame and Museum, a mural walking tour through the town, and a series old swinging pedestrian bridges from the late 1890s and early 20th Century.
Drove on through towns with names like Chenoa, McLean, and Sherman on our way Lincoln, where we stopped to see the World's Largest Covered Wagon. We had dinner in Springfield at the Cozy Dog Drive In, the place on Route 66 for corn dogs. After that, we stopped at the Sugar Creek Covered Bridge in Glenarm. Built in 1880, it is believed to be one of the oldest bridges in Illinois.
We arrived at our RV park, dropped off the camper, and headed to Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, where you can find the largest prehistoric earthworks in North America. The largest is Monk's Mound, measuring 100 feet tall and covering over 14 acres. We also saw Woodhenge, a replica of the giant solar calendar that once stood at Cahokia. There are pretty awesome views from the top of Monk's Mound. You can pretty clearly make out the St. Louis at the Gateway Arch when looking west.
