The motel was on Sixth Street, south of Springfield, which, conveniently, is Route 66.
I drove into Springfield to check out the Cozy Drive In, home of the Cozy Dog. When I'd visited a year ago, I'd heard rumors that it was closing down. This wasn't accurate.
What happened is that the entire block was razed. A Walgreen's was put at one end, a video rental store at the other. In the middle is a brand new Cozy Drive In.
It was closed, but it is always closed on Sundays. It is bigger and nicer. It is missing the hugging Cozy Dogs on the sign by the street, but I think that is just temporary.
I've very glad they are doing so well. The current owner is the son of the founder and the brother of the person who does those artwork Route 66 cards. I'm just glad I got to visit before it changed.
66 is well marked through Springfield. It even has two separated dated alignments marked. In fact, all of 66 that I drove in Illinois today was marked clearly and in advance. This has happened in the last year or two.
Springfield is packed with Abraham Lincoln historical sites. There must be four dozen marked, ranging from his tomb to the pew his family sat on in church.
I decided to drive 66 to Springfield, since there's not much on it and it would take just a few minutes long than the expressway. It was much more pleasant.
I passed a cyclist along the way. He had a number pinned to the back of his shirt. I didn't see any other cyclists. Maybe he got lost.
The Pig Hip Restaurant is still closed and still has the For Sale Or Rent sign in the window, just as it has for the last five years.
I stopped in the Dixie Truckers Home for a piece of pie. This claims to be the first truck stop in the country, and it is probably at least the oldest still in operation. I checked out the Rout 66 Hall of Fame here and picked up some postcards. I mentioned to the cashier that I hadn't seen any of the Bob Waldmire postcards anywhere else on the trip. She said that if Bob was as good about filling the others' orders as he was with hers, then they've probably been waiting two months.
I mentioned a newer series of postcards, featuring 66 paintings, that I'd picked up along the way, and she asked me if I knew the address. I went to the car and dug out the cards. She took down the address so she could find out about them.
The Funks Grove maple sirup (sic) gift shop was closed when I got there. According to the sign it would be opening in ten minutes, but I still have most of the bottle I bought three years ago, so I just kept going.
That's about it. At Bloomington I got on I-39 and was home in a couple of hours. I got home around three. In fourteen days and twenty one hours I had goneabout 5800 miles, covering twelve states and two countries.
Now I need to decide where to go next.