ROUTE 66

Yesterday I spent the morning scheduling appointments for the upcoming week. I am headed back to Cincinnati on Monday and onto Lexington, Kentucky on Tuesday. It was more-or-less a vacation day. In the afternoon, I decided to 'get my kicks on Route 66.'  Route 66 was 'born' in 1926 and officially decommissioned in 1985. This roadway from Chicago to Santa Monica, California will live on in the memories of Americans for quite some time. Route 66 began at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Street. I had already hiked nearly 6 miles when I approached the historical marker announcing the beginning of this historic roadway. I hiked along 11 miles of the Route 66 path. Another 2,440 miles and I would have reached Santa Monica, California.  Apparently my hike along only the first eleven miles of this legendary trail represented .45% of the entire pathway.

This button celebrating the defunct Route 66 was manufactured until recently by a now-defunct button company.

This historic marker for the beginning of Route 66 is on Michigan Avenue and Adams Street, even though Route 66 actually started on Jackson Street. Since Jackson Street is now one way heading eastward, I suppose it would have been way too confusing to have the marker on a street at the beginning of a 2451 mile trail heading the wrong way.

Lou Mitchell's restaurant has been serving folks in Chicago for nearly 100 years. It is on Jackson Street and it would have been right on Route 66. The thing is, until I read about Route 66 in preparation for my hike, I had never heard of this restaurant and never eaten there. I am sure that I will make the effort to go there soon.

This marker was on the Ogden Avenue portion of Route 66.

After hiking 11 miles on Jackson Street and Ogden Avenue part of the historic ROUTE 66, I continued my hike  by turning north all the way to River Forest. Once there, I hopped on the 'GREEN LINE' subway and headed back to Chicago.  It could have been a one mile walk home from the station. I stretched the walk to three miles. By the time I arrived home, I had hiked 26 miles on Tuesday.

DO I LOOK THINNER? I better be. This photo was taken after I have hiked 98 miles in just four days, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and yesterday. Actually, I have been 'cheating' - I am well aware that the scale is going to be kind to me when I 'officially' record my weekly weight on Saturday.  At this moment in my life, my body is on fat-burning mode.  I am starting to approach the lowest weight that I have had since I started this weight loss journey on December 24, 2014. I am not there yet, but I am on the way.

Your Food Diary For:

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original	300	66	0	6	930	0
	300	66	0	6	930	0
L U N C H
C2o - Coconut Water, 16 fl oz	100	26	0	0	150	24
Hamburger Patty	300	0	26	48	0	0
	400	26	26	48	150	24
D I N N E R
Read - 3 Bean Salad	600	130	0	10	3,000	80
	600	130	0	10	3,000	80
S N A C K S
Add Food Quick Tools
Totals	1,300	222	26	64	4,080	104
Your Daily Goal	6,092	761	203	305	2,300	228
Remaining	4,792	539	177	241	-1,780	124
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 4,162 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 162.5 lbs in 5 weeks     

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
23 Mile Hike	336	4,059
3 Mile Walk	45	510
Daily Total / Goal	381 / 30	4,569 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	715 / 210	8,228 / 4,130

.

It is weird, recently In recent weeks I have had to really concentrate to keep my breakfasts under 1000 calories, but this week with the monstrously long hikes, I have just been more thirsty than hungry. I have definiely been thirsty! It is completely counter-intuitive that I have been less hungry than usual. I can't explain it. For the time being, I am just going to 'go with it.'

* * * * * * * * * *

ROUTE 66 (from wikipedia.com)

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway and also known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, andArizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.

US 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and the road supported the economies of the communities through which it passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.

US 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, and it was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985, after it had been replaced in its entirety by segments of the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66", which is returning to some maps. Several states have adopted significant bypassed sections of the former US 66 into the state road network as State Route 66.

* * * * * * * * * * *

ROUTE 66 LYRICS

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six. 

It winds from Chicago to LA,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six. 

Now you go through Saint Looey
Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.
You see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino. 

Won't you get hip to this timely tip:
When you make that California trip
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six. 

Won't you get hip to this timely tip
When you make that California trip
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.

Written by Earl Nelson, Robert Relf • Copyright © BMG Rights Management US, LLC

* * * * * * * * * *

I am sure that I have never seen an episode of this TV Show from the 1960's.

.

The town of Berwyn, Illinois embraces the history of Route 66. I passed this sign right on the sidewalk as I hiked past it.

Lou Mitchell's

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lou Mitchell's, also known as Lou Mitchell's Restaurant, is a Chicago diner located at 565 W. Jackson Boulevard. It is a popular restaurant for commuters, as it is located near Union Station. It is also located near the start of U.S. Route 66 and was frequented by many people on the start of their journey along the road, earning it the nickname "the first stop on the Mother Road." In May 2002, the Nationwide Route 66 restoration program was launched at Lou Mitchell's. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Founded in 1923, Lou Mitchell's is known for handing out fresh donut holes to people waiting in line, boxes of Milk Duds to children, an orange slice and prune for breakfast, and a small cup of ice cream with each meal. Their egg dishes are made using double yolk eggs, which they claim makes the eggs larger and fluffier

and one more thing... Shortly after I left the Route 66 Historic Route (Ogden Avenue) I found myself in the town of Lyon and came upon this 8-story tower that looked like a castle. It seemed so out of place in this suburban community.

.

.

Hofmann Tower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hofmann Tower is the name of a tower in Lyons, Illinois. It was built in the year 1908 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978.

Hofmann Tower is featured prominently in two books written by Rose Marie Benedetti and Virginia C. Bulat entitled Lyons: A history of a village and area important for 300 years (1959) and Portage, pioneers, and pubs: A history of Lyons, Illinois (1963).

George Hofmann, Jr., a local brewer built a dam on the Des Plaines River to generate electricity. He also built the adjacent tower as part of a park that attracted visitors to picnic and ride boats.

In the 1970s, Rose Marie Benedetti and Maureen S. Kiener worked closely with the preservation efforts of the Village of Lyons Historical Commission to have Hofmann Tower designated a village and state landmark and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

.

More than 100 years after this structure was built it continues to draw people to it. It sure drew me to it!