Up and gone before 8 again today. Since we were so close to our next stop we decidied to see the caverns at Wind Cave National Park. The park has a really neat history. The caverns are some of the most complex in the world with the largest extent of boxwork structures ever found. They are also the 5th longest with over 100 miles of mapped tunnels on three levels all within 1 square mile. The tour was nice and cool (52 degrees) and the walking was good exercise. About 20 miles down the road we stopped at the Crazy Horse Memorial. The undertaking is huge and the video about the process was very interesting. There were no explosons while we were there but watching the crews work from a distance was quite interesting. The memorial ... read more

Some how the stars aligned and we were all cheerful this morning. We were up, breakfasted, packed and on the road by 8 AM. We crossed the border into Iowa at about 11 and stopped in Iowa city for lunch at a local cafe. Iowa city is a college town and there was lots of college flavor at the cafe. Lunch was tasty and so was the chocolate, bourbon pecan pie. Michelle asked what it tasted like. Anne's response was "a candy bar". Michelle tried a bite and then raced Anne to finish the slice. Newton, IA has a great looking race track and we just missed a NASCAR truck series event there this past weekend. We got in early enough to relax and hit the pool a couple of times before dinner and bed. Durring ... read more

Today, we did much of nothing. We were so exhausted by the trip so far, that we just needed a day of pure rest. We did a lot of camp things (mini-golf, a lot of swimming, hay ride, flashlight candy search, laundry.) We have decided to extend our trip one day and drop through Colorado to visit friends and relatives, so Tony spent a few hours re-planning and making/cancelling reservations. The KOA here in Union, IL is pretty nice. 100% of the sites are full, and it does not feel crowded. Other than the wild west theme park next door, complete with it's roller coaster and occasional shootouts, plus live (bad) music... the park is pretty quiet. Michelle took up with a group of girls and has been running all over the campsite. We enjoyed a ... read more

The actual distance from Pacific, MO to Springfield, IL is short, the drive time was not as short as we anticipated. We were on the road by 10:30 after some swimming and cooling off and St. Louis was the next town. Our first stop was Dewy's Frozen custard, a Route 66 tradition. What makes it frozen custard and not ice cream? It's been cooked! Which means Anne and Michelle can eat it without worrying about lactose :). since we had not done lunch yet, we only shared a small treat. It was the consistancy of soft serve but much creamier. As the server handed it to us she turned it upside down. Apparently that's to show that the custard is so thick and frozen it sticks to the bowl. Or next stop was Fitz's American Grill ... read more

As we get closer to Chicago, the better marked Route 66 is. It also seems to have fewer preserved bits. We were able to follow most of the final alignment through Missouri with a few side trips on to earlier alignments. With the final alignment still in use, most of the rural alignmens have not been maintained. We even ran into a few closed roads where "Old Route 66" was being repaired. Missouri uses a base 26 system for naming county roads. We drove on roads called A, AT, OO, KK, ZZ, CC, AH and crossed others making interesting combinations on the road signs. Most of the day was spent navigating from one town to the next, meandering back and forth over I-44. We saw some great old towns, nice back roads and a few bits ... read more