Route 66 - Day 2

We haven't had access to Wifi for a few days so excuse the lateness of this post, but without further adeiu. . .

My husband called this morning at 9:55 and woke us up. We . . . all of us . . . slept for 12 hours straight. I can't remember the last time that happened. Probably before I had kids! I still can't believe my kids slept that long, especially after sleeping so much in the car! Well, we had 5 minutes to get out by checkout time, and I think I did pretty good waking everyone up, getting everyone dressed, and getting everything packed up in 25 minutes. It was time to start our day, at 10:30!!! It was a beautiful day to start our daily explorations!

 

We went through some small towns and stopped in Gardner. The kids had fun arresting each other in the 2 cell jail and locking each other in. I loved the horse-drawn streetcar diner. They really fixed it up from the images I saw in our Ghost Towns book! This Coke house was across the street and I had to photograph it for my Mom, the ultimate Coke fan. Unfortunately, the beautiful day didn't last for long! We had to pull over shortly after our first stop because the rain came down even harder than it did yesterday. I didn't know that was possible, but holy cow. I'm not sure I've ever experienced rain coming down that hard and fast before. We had to sit there for quite awhile until we could see again.

     

Once we were able to drive again, we stopped in Dwight to see this beautifully restored gas station. The kids put a pin in their US map to show we had visited from Las Vegas. They had maps up from all over the world and so many pins! She said what was up was only since May when they took them down and started again. They also had a restored 100+-year-old fire engine. The kind you see in your childhood books. She told Riley to push down on one lever and it rang the fire bells.  Then, of course, each kid had to try. . . multiple times.

From there we visited a windmill which was next to a lily pond and frogs jumping all over the place. We checked it all out for a little bit but then the thunder started again. Jade got it into her brain by this point in time that we were all going to perish in a tornado and refused to leave the car if there was any thunder.

In Odell, we wanted to experience the Underground Walkway. In the heyday of Route 66, the congestion though down was so bad - day & night - that the kids couldn't cross the street to get to school. Their solution? Build an underground pass. Kids were disappointed though to find that it has since been blocked off and filled back in. Bummer! We also stopped at another lovingly restored gas station and the kids bought 'Route Beer'. They've now decided that by the end of our Route 66 trip they will own the bottles in every flavor. We kept driving and went through some cool ghost towns and did some exploring.

In Pontiac, we added to our Cars character checklist and were able to see the VW bus that inspired the character of Fillmore. It was one of the homes of artist Bob Waldmire. We also explored his second home, a converted school bus. Talk about amazing, how this bus was transformed! We walked around the Route 66 Hall of Fame here.

In Lexington, we drove through Memory Lane filled with old signs.

For lunch, we stopped at a park with swinging bridges. They're like the bridges you can find at a park that move when you jump on them, but these ones were real!

I was disappointed to find that by the time we arrived in Funks Grove, they had closed one hour prior. I really wanted to watch the 'Sirup' making process and to buy some pure syrup. That's what we got I guess for overdoing it yesterday!

In Atalanta, the kids were awestruck by the giant Paul Bunyon and his hot dog. Across the street, the girls and I had fun on this giant rocking horse too!

 

As we passed through Lincoln, we had to stop and take pictures of one of the 'Top 10 Strangest Things on Route 66', a telephone booth on top of City Hall. The rumor is that it was there for weather watchers?!?! After I explained what a telephone booth was, the kids found it as hilarious as I did! We also found this iconic barn and had to stop for a photo.

We didn't plan on finding this old courthouse that Lincoln traveled to on his Judicial District, but we had to pull over when we saw it to learn more!

The Arch Bridge in Elkhart was tricky to find but worth the hunt. Last up for the day was this cool sign to different places in the world.

 
We wanted to stop at the Cozy Dog Drive-In for dinner but found it dark when we got there, and we were once again an hour late and they were already closed. Sad to say we gave up our authentic Route 66 menu and had Taco Bell for dinner.

We finally got to our hotel and discovered we were an hour late (seemed to be our motto today) to swim at the pool. To ward off tears with the kids I promised them pool time in the morning before we start our day.

We planned on seeing all the Lincoln sites today, but that will have to be moved to manana seeing as how late we were running today.

My tip for today!?!  DON'T SLEEP IN!!

Route 66 - Day 1

Our bags were packed and it was time to take a nap before we started the beginning of our journey. I hopped in bed ready to sleep, but my kids? Not so much. Do you remember that 1980's ad on Disney movies where the kids can't sleep the night before they leave for Disneyland? Yea. . . that was my kids, all of them. I didn't get to sleep at all. Every 2-3 minutes one of them would knock on my door asking if it was time to leave yet! Silly me, thinking I would get some rest!

Anyways, we headed out, got to the airport, and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited. We boarded the plane about an hour late. Finally, we were able to start the first leg of our journey, our flight to Chicago. I was anticipating sleeping on the plane to have some sort of energy once we landed. you know that Spirit Airlines seats do not recline? Talk about uncomfortable on a red eye flight when you just want to pass out. The kids and I slept a little bit on and off before we landed, not nearly enough for what we needed.

                  

As soon as we had our car and were off, we made our first stop at Nut-Phree Bakery. WOW! What an amazing experience. A bakery where Riley could eat everything he saw in front of him. Cupcakes, cookies, brownies, candies. I actually teared up watching him act like a normal kid in a candy store, not able to make his mind up to what he wanted to get. I let him stock up on goodies for our trip, and he left a happy camper!

  From Nut-Phree bakery we started our exploration of Chicago with Lake Shore Drive. The kids couldn't believe that Lake Michigan wasn't the ocean! We tried to make our first stop at Lincoln Park to see the statue of President Grant (and wanted to see the statue of President Lincoln in Grant Park). We drove around the park for 10 minutes to find a parking spot on the street, but none could be found. All we could find was parking down by the Lincoln Park Zoo. So park there we did, and instead of finding the statue, we explored the zoo instead. I was super excited to find a molding machine there! As a girl, my Grammie would take me to the LA Zoo and buy me an animal mold with each visit. I haven't seen a molding machine since then! I was giddy like a little girl as I put the money in the machine to have my little piggy made! As soon as it came out I inhaled the delicious smell of my childhood. My kids smelled the wax mold and thought I was completely crazy for loving the smell. We continued walking around the zoo and found this amazing photographic spot with the city behind us.

We continued our drive, but because we spent so much time at the Zoo we had to give up a stop we wanted, going to the beach. We finished driving Lake Shore Drive at the Navy Pier and intended to park our car and go on the Ferris Wheel. We were left in complete sticker shock with a price tag of $28 to park our car. I apologized to the kids and kept driving to our next stop - Millennium Park. Again we were left in shock with a $28 parking fee. I choked down the pain of the paying the fee and forked out the money because we could hit 2 sights with parking here. We were able to see the Cloud Sculpture and walk about 10 minutes to see the beginning of Route 66 sign. We picnicked by the Cloud Sculpture and then had fun exploring all around the sculpture. Kids had fun seeing what they could do with the reflections.

          

From there we walked to the Route 66 sign. The kids were enamored with the bands playing on the street corners. I'm glad we walked there instead of trying to capture it while driving by because, holy cow, Chicago drivers are absolutely insane.

 





By the time we finished our walk and made it back to the car, we were all exhausted. I tried to be animated to keep them awake but within minutes it was all for a loss. My girls fell asleep first and stayed that way for most of the rest of our trip that day. I tried to wake them up multiple times, but it all for non.

 

On our way out of Chicago we got stuck in a torrential downpour and could barely see the road in front of us. Because of the rain we missed seeing the Castle Car Wash. I was disappointed but I know we won't be able to see everything we want to see. We continued our trip to Romeoville. On the way there, I lost my navigator. He joined his sisters in sleep for the rest of the trip for the day. I stopped at the White Fence Farm and a picture with the Rooster.

 

We continued onto Joliet. I found Sheriff from the movie Cars, the awesome Blues Brothers dancing on the top of an ice cream shop, and then drove to the highlight of my day - The Old Joliet Prison. On the way I found this awesome mural! Riley woke up right when we got there, saw the prison, said "Oh, Cool!", then closed his eyes and continued to sleep. While the kids slept, I walked around the prison and took photos for about half an hour. I love the history of the place, the eery-ness, the broken windows, the vines slowly taking over, and the sunset light hitting the tower. It was an amazing sight.

Our next stop was Wilmington. The kids were still passed out. I stopped to photograph the Gemini Giant at the now shut down Launching Pad Drive-In.

Our last stop was in Braidwood. We enjoyed dinner at the classic Polka Dot Drive-In and slept for the night.

The first tip of what we learned on day 1? SLEEP IN CHICAGO!! I overextended our day by traveling outside of Chicago on Day 1 and the kids missed a bunch of good sights. OMG. Chicago has so much to do and see! Also, you really need a hotel in Chicago to leave your car at to utilize public transportation to see the sights so you can avoid the parking fees. Day 1 is a wrap! So excited to see what Day 2 holds!

Route 66...Here We Come!

My kids and I have been excitedly planning our Route 66 trip which we are starting days after school gets out! Our trip was inspired by this amazing book we found: Ghost Towns of Route 66.  My son is obsessed with Ghost Towns and we immediately loved this as the focus for our next summer vacation.

                                                                       

The first thing we did was research how long people spend taking this iconic trip. Wow! We were blown away! It is recommended, to get the most out of your trip, that you spend AT LEAST 3 - 4 weeks doing this trip! 2 weeks is considered speeding through the trip and it is stated that you won't get everything out of your trip as you could. Well. . . 3 - 4 weeks seems to be a little overdoing it when I will be alone in the car with my three whiny, argumentative, lovely children who suffer from bouts of sibling rivalry -- especially while enclosed in a vehicle.

So, with that being a huge factor in our decision making, plus finances, we've opted for the 2 week trip. Will we be speeding through Route 66? Maybe. Will we get to see EVERYTHING? No. Will we have the trip of a lifetime? YES! Will my children (and I) get to see things we've never seen before? YES! Will we get to go places we've never been before? YES! Will we get to make unforgettable memories together? YES!

Although we will not be seeing everything there is to see in every single city, we have mapped out exactly what my kids and I are interested in and planned our schedule. We purchased this book to guide us along the way. We wanted the most cultural & educational experience possible. We chose to choose iconic, affordable, and Route 66 culturally rich motels mapped out in this book. This book provides a good range of motels along the route. From more expensive 'must stops' to affordable 'must stops' along the route. We'll still be stopping to check out the more expensive hotels with history . . . just not laying our heads there at night!

                                                                     

Now that we had our time schedule and booked our rooms, it was time to get down to the nitty gritty! We started with this book - Travel Route 66. It is an amazing resource to guide you on your trip. We went though this book with a highlighter, state by state, and logged everything we wanted to see in a journal. After that, we went back with our Ghost Towns of Route 66 book and made sure all of the Ghost Towns we wanted to see were noted and written down.

I also made sure to note the educational opportunities along the route. For example to start our trip, we'll be going through Springfield, IL. I noted that before we leave on our trip I want to teach my kids as much as possible about Abraham Lincoln, so when we arrive and are able to visit his home, law office, and tomb, it will be more meaningful to them.

I also noted more . . .  quirky, fun, educational opportunities. For example, in Joliet, IL, we will go right past the prison where they filmed a section of Blues Brothers. It is in my agenda before we leave to educate my children on The Blues Brothers, and enjoy the movie together.

Other educational opportunities along the route are: Al Capone, Jesse James, various Civil War battles, George Washington Carver, Bonnie & Clyde, Mickey Mantle, Will Rogers, The Grapes of Wrath, Rough Riders, Teddy Roosevelt, Doc Holliday, The Santa Fe Trail, and more!

                                                                     

Well. . . we have our schedule. We have our hotel rooms. We have our plane tickets to Chicago! We have our rental car booked. We have our 'must see' stops. We have our agenda. We are ready to go! Now, we must wait. The hardest part!

We purchased this book after doing our research, and decided it would be probably the best investment of our trip. Seeing as how Route 66 isn't one road, isn't a straight shot, and was re-routed many, many, many times, it can be confusing not only reading and figuring out which stop is on which alt-route of Route 66, but I'm imagining it's going to be even more baffling once we're on the road.

This book looks disconcerting when you open it up, but it is stated many times in reviews that once you're on the road, this book makes perfect sense. I sure hope so! My 11 year old navigator and myself are counting on it!

                                                                   

Home for the Holidays

It has been awhile since I've blogged. I got so busy with sessions, family, and the holidays, blogging just slipped by. I aim to do much more in the New Year! With that being said, my first blog of 2016 is of this awesome family. They were all gathered together for Christmas and we were able to get a large family shot plus shots of each individual family and all the groups of kids all within a half hour! The kids were done by then! Here are some of my favorites!

Love & Basketball

I love it when clients bring new ideas with them to a photo shoot! These two are both ball players, and wanted to incorporate that into their Homecoming photo shoot. I absolutely love how they turned out! We combined ideas, and they didn't say no to one pose I proposed! They both looked amazing and I hope they had a night to remember! Here are some of my favorites!

View the entire gallery here