2019 EB Day 17 - The Home Straight

Paul Mullan
Jun 9, 2019
2 min read

The last day on the road into Chicago and we stopped at Towanda to wander a mile of the old road and celebrate the journey from one side to the other. Neatly divided into states, it encapsulates the trip across eight states and more than 2,000 miles.

In Pontiac we wondered how Bob Waldmire ever got his modified old school bus licensed for the road but marvelled at his ingenuity anyway.

Nearby nearby a mural was being fixed up after a drunk driver had hit the building... so the 'bricks' had to be painted back on!

Naturally a Pontiac museum should be in Pontiac and another man's collection of special cars was of interest.

And even the city's council chambers and court house were impressive.

We swept past the Odell Gas Station for a quick photo and on for another at the Dwight Texaco, where Phil & Debbie's old gas station is beautifully displayed as it was decades ago. Their son Todd met us and showed off the collection of hot roads we didn't see when we met them a couple of days ago en route to LA. Let's not also forget 'that' toolkit!

We slipped down the mother road with interstate and railway mustering our mustangs on toward Gardner...

...where we found the two cell jail in a town where crime was low a century or more ago.

Lunch was at the Polka Dot Drive In with some great company too!

Through Wilmington the Gemini Giant, that old advertising gimmick, has had a face lift and looks splendid on the roadside.

While Jake and Elwood were on watch as you'd expect in a town called Joliet.

The realisation was hitting home that there wasn't much more of the mother road to go.

The White Fence Farm further along still seats more than 1000 diners, has a great little collection of cars and paraphernalia providing a different perspective for some!

There was even a make believe rooster for the little kids!

Into Chicago's Friday afternoon traffic we headed on the surface roads, rather than the freeways, until we had towering sky scrapers all around.

The final sign, literally signalled the end of journey...

...and as we joined the traffic along the Lake Michigan foreshore there was time to reflect on our two week odyssey across a nation that considers itself the greatest in the world and the stark contrasts in roads, weather, terrain and people we have encountered, endured and enjoyed.