Here we are, first thing Thursday morning, at the Arch. Anne and Jerilyn didn't even count my vote this morning when we were deciding on whether to backtrack 10 miles in rush hour traffic to see the arch up close or head for Chicago from the hotel. Big surprise.

This is what you get when you ask a passer-by to take your picture under the arch - no arch.

First stop after St. Louis is Springfield IL, home of President Lincoln who lived with his family in this house for 16 years before moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

This train station is in Lincoln IL where I went to college my freshman year. Every night at 10 PM a north bound train would stop by to pick up passengers and the mail. I had a girlfriend at the time who lived in Chicago to whom I wrote a letter almost every day. If I could get the letter on the 10 PM train, she'd have it the next day so every night, rain, sleet, show, freezing temperatures be damned, I walked the 3/4 mile to this station to deliver my letter. Lots of other guys in the dorm were also writing to girls in Chicago and when they found out what I was doing they were willing to pay me 25 cents to deliver their letters as well. This was my first business. With the profits from the mail delivery business I started my second business, Honest Bob's Loan Company - "Cash in a flash on your signature only". I made pay day loans at 10% per day. "Need $20 on Wednesday and allowance doesn't come until Friday - no problem, only gonna cost you $24 due on Friday."

Built the year Lincoln died, the old Administration Building at Lincoln College is where I had frequent visits with the dean.

The Dixie Truck Stop in McLean, has been open every day since the 30's except for one, the day the original building burned down.

The hilite of the day was having dinner with Tim Pyle and his wife Carol at the Chicken Basket on old Route 66 in Hinsdale. Tim and I were classmates at Hinsdale High School. They drove their beautifully restored 36 Ford to the restaurant from their home in Hinsdale. Tomorrow morning we drive the remaining 25 miles of Route 66 to the lake in Chicago and then head to Northern Michigan for a week of down time before returning home.