Chicago to Springfield part 2 of 2

Pontiac, IL has some nice Murals and a very thorough Illinois route 66 museum. In 2012 we got a great photo of our car and the Pontiac mural, sadly they were doing construction and we couldn't get up to the mural :(.  Luckily there was another mural we could use!

Welcome to Lincoln, IL the only city named after Abraham Lincoln while he was still alive!

The worlds largest Covered Wagon with Abe Lincoln in the driver's seat! 

Lastly we made it to Springfield! Which is also the Capital of Illinois! The area we stayed in had a lot of video gambling locations, including our hotel. 

Pink elephant with a cosmo? Was a nice touch.  Breakfast the next morning was at Charlie Parkers we got something they call the shoe. Ours was a layer of biscuits with sausage,eggs and hashbrowns layered on top. Smothered in half gravy and half  their special cheese sauce. All Delicious!

Day 1 Chicago to Springfield part 1 of 2

From my past experience I recall that Illinois  made a large effort to maintain the old sites of Route 66. Complete with road signs pointing out different routes and the years they were used.

2012 June 19 Cruisin' through Illinois

14 years later and they are still making a great effort to preserve their portion of this historical route. A lot of the Illinois sites especially Giants have been restored/repainted and given new life along with new surrounding signage. Photo ops and information centers! I feel partial this is because of the centennial year celebrations however also because Illinois seems to love their connection to Route 66. 

Joliet has the Rich and Creamy custard spot (some say it inspired or was the location of the original Dairy queen) was still closed for the season which is sad because in 2012 we got there too early in the day and ot was also closed. However the space around it is a nice historical area. 

Joliet prison as seen from the Rich and Creamy

Mother nature:

Spirit of the river

Gemini Giant - in space suit with a rocket! At the Landing pad. It use to be at a restaurant called the Launching pad which sadly enet out of business in 2022.

More Giants im Atlanta, IL. Other than the Hot Dog guy these are all new to us. 

Route 66 a revisit!

 Some of you may recall our first adventure on route 66 on June 18, 2012 -June 18,2012 Early Start

This time we left at 8:30am from Kenosha, WI to get to the recently moved start of Route 66 at Navy Pier in Chicago, IL. 

Why revisit a trip we have already done? Why not!? Lol, that and we always wanted to revisit route 66 because the first time through we missed a lot due to things being closed or just now knowing it was there. 

The official start sign has changed a lot...

Why now? Because Route 66 was established in 1926. 100 years of travellers traversing across the country, Cruising Westward or Eastward either way this route is seeped in so much rich americana! 

Navy pier and the new Route 66 sign.

Left Navy Pier at about noon.  Onward to Springfield, Il which is also the Capital city of Illinois! 

Inca trail Day 4 - Machu Picchu

 

Our Hiking Tour group was – Alpaca Expeditions. We had 3 Guides – Nilton, Adolfo, and Romario. Chef – Walter who was absolutely amazing! Every meal was flavorful and fantastic. 21 Porters to carry everything and prepare the campsites each day. We had 14 hikers in our group and there was always a guide close by. Really the guides were quite attentive and intuitive to our needs. We frequently stopped for rest/photos and a brief history of the area and/or the plant life.

Inca Trail Day 4: May 12,2022 Winay Wayna to Machu Picchu then Aguas Calientes and back to Cusco!

This was the day I had been waiting for. a 5 km hike and the pinnacle of my trip - Machu Picchu with an elevation of 2400m/7873 ft. It did not disappoint! 

 

We started very early, even before the sun rose.

and we had our steepest climb - it was short but more like a scramble than a hike. 

looking up when we were almost to the top:  

                                        

Looking down the pink hat is me.. if you look behind me that to the people at the bottom of the 'climb'

                                            

 We made it to the sungate and our first look at Machu Picchu. It made all the struggle worth it. 

As we hiked we kept getting closer. It was hard not to stop and take a photo every few feet.

                                        

                                        

 

Sophie and myself meeting up again on the last day!

 

Finally we got to the guardhouse area and saw that classic Machu Picchu view.

 

                                        

 Nilton our lead guide talking about the history of Machu Picchu:

Walking around Machu Picchu was magical. We saw Llamas.

and the lone tree it is unsure why it was planted there -

It is located - in the Middle of the ruins,near the residential sector where it is surrounded by the mountains. Per our guide this tree was not originally from the Machu Picchu, it came from the Sacred Valley, and was planted there the reason remains unknown. 

 

The mountain in the background here is Huayna Picchu - you can take a side trip to climb it, I did not.

It was amazing to explore the grounds.

I wish I could post every picture I took, the architecture and views were so amazing.

The lone tree stands tall as we continue winding our way through the ruins.

This was one of our last photos taken in Machu Picchu. I was touching the stone and taking a moment to breathe in the area and say goodbye as we walked away.

 

On our way back to Cusco the bus made a bathroom stop and we saw this amazing cat house.