Dad's Route 66 Blog

Discovering Normal Rockwell's America

Evanston, WY to Grand Island, NE

Written By: trevixan - Jun• 26•11

Ok .. first things first. I have updated Trevor’s and my blogs settings to do two things. First, I think I corrected the time on the posts. I won’t bore you with the details. The second improvement was to add a menu at the top of each blog so that you can navigate to each of the blogs. You should not have to hit the Back key any longer.

Now that that’s over, I can get on with what we did today. Totally boring as you’ll discover. But I hope you like the minimal pictures I took today.

Actually slept in until 6am today. But since we were in the Mountain Time Zone, it was more like 5am. Anyway, it was light enough to wake me up. Managed to get Trevor up pretty easily, surprisingly enough. Where we stayed, we got a free hot breakfast. What I mean by free is that they charged us more for the room than if we went somewhere else that didn’t have a free breakfast. But when the guy behind the counter said biscuits and gravy .. well .. that was it. No, that’s not all I had, but .. ok .. this is what I had.

See .. I do eat more than that. However, for you lovers of biscuits and gravy, this one’s for you.

As we were leaving, something caught my eye, so I took a picture of it.

Of course, you may know him as Mater’s Cousin! :O)

Finally, we can get on the road. It was a reall nice drive. No too mountainous for me. We were north of the major portion of the Rockies. It was like we were at the top of the world. Pretty flat driving, but you knew you were at a high elevation. It was weird, though, that I crossed the Continental Divide twice. Once at 6920 ft and another at 7000 ft. I have no idea why it would be at least 10 miles apart. I’ll have to look that up some time.

But, that’s why I love driving. It’s not so much the destination, but the drive itself. Mabe you’ll get an idea of what I mean when I say we left Evanston, WY and next stopped in Big Springs, NE. That’s 500 miles of nonstop driving. Call me crazy, but it was an easy drive.

I then called the wife and, for some reason she seemed pleased to hear my voice. We drove another 200 miles and are now in Grand Island, Nebraska.

Tomorrow we should end up in Racine, WI where I have relatives. I’m hoping to drive through Rockton, Illinois as well, getting some pictures of a small town I know, as well as some houses, if I can find them. But I’ll explain all of that tomorrow.

Until then, have a good night.

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18 Comments

  1. Darla says:

    I was already telling Trevor, but the Safehouse is about 100 miles North of Racine. It’s more like a sports bar than a bar as in there is also seating for dinner, so Trevor will have no problem getting in. 😉

  2. Annette Thorsen says:

    I love the “Mater” picture dear! I am hoping Alex will take me to the movies to see Cars 2. What a great movie ( the first one ) to watch for your road trip as it was about Route 66 as well.

  3. Annette Thorsen says:

    So what are gas prices like in the various states compared to California? In today’s Mercury news was a headline ” Bay Area gas prices are a bargain compared to Chicago area” I found that an interesting article since you are heading to Chicago. The reader posted that “gas in Chicago was $4.59 a gallon at some stations”.

    • trevixan says:

      Gas prices? Let me see .. The lowest I filled up was in Davenport, IA at $3.39. It was 87 octane and up to 10% ethanol. The sign advertised gas at $3.29 but I didn’t see that one at the pump.

      By the way, our trip from Wyoming to Nebraska, I got 34+ mpg in a Toyota Camry. Very impressive.

  4. Judy Stoneking says:

    What a wonderful idea. The Biscuits and gravy, I mean. No, I think the father and son trip is fabulous and I too love Norman Rockwell. I wish you the best as you explore NR’S America, but, watch those biscuits and gravy (too many carbs). Looking forward to more photos.

  5. Connie Wyatt says:

    I love your pictures today! I also loved the “Cars” movie, and hope to see the second installment this coming weekend. Hubby would love to have had biscuits and gravy with you! I think that is his favorite meal! Looks to me you had plenty of protein there to cover the carbs! I look forward to more stories and pictures!

    Travel safe!
    Connie

  6. wayne says:

    I just got back from vacation so I’m
    glad I’m not to far behind on your blogs.
    Question? Did you take that pic of the Chevy
    pickup for me?

  7. Annette Thorsen says:

    Good Morning Mary! Its been nice seeing you on the blog. What a great job your son is doing. Hey Wayne! Great to have you back. I am sure Dale would not mind some of the wonderful cuisine, sights or experiences you just enjoyed on your Europe trip and perhaps some parallels exist? Perhaps, for example, eateries on the the Appian Way vs, Route 66.:-)

  8. Darlene Vlach says:

    Well I am kind of late getting started with you on your trip, but WOW! what a cool adventure for a father and son. Now my mother would be jumping out of her seat knowing you were in Racine Wis. She grew up in Milwaukee Wis and talks about going to Chicago as I am sure you know. Have a beer for her and some Saurkraut. 🙂

    • trevixan says:

      Beer yes .. sauerkraut .. uh .. don’t think so. When we were at my aunt’s we picked up a local beer called Fat Squirrel. Can’t get that in California.

  9. Francois says:

    Just did a double check, Depending on where in Racine you are, it’s about 40min to an hour to International Exports. In the event you’re looking for a safe house…. >_>

    About 25-35 miles depending on route taken.

    Also told Trev about a place for phenomenal fish fry on Fridays in MKE, in case you are there.

    • trevixan says:

      Yeah .. not sure if we’ll actually make the trip. We might have time on Wednesday before we head down to Chicago. We’ll see if the logistics are good.

  10. Denise Thorsen says:

    Just catching up on your blogs! Real fun. Reminds me of all the times I’ve driven the same road. You might not know, but Grand Island is home to a branch of Grandma Kocher’s family. I have a picture of three families of female cousins that all went to Grand Island college, must have been early nineteen hundreds, but I don’t know exactly.

    • trevixan says:

      Sure .. NOW you tell me! :O) I didn’t know there was family there. But then, there’s a lot about my family I don’t know. When I was in Rockton, I was talking to a lady outside one of the 4 bars on the street and she knew the name Kocher. I don’t know how many relatives we still have in the area.

  11. Van Tirino says:

    Do you have a Facebook page or Twitter? Would love to follow you there, I’m on my iPhone and love reading your stuff! Plase check my free ipad 2 blog, hope you will find interesting information about free ipad 2 there!

    • trevixan says:

      Van, no I do not have a Facebook page or Twitter. However, you can subscribe to the rss feed and you will be notified each time I post.

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