Everyone else went to check out the Arch and I styed behind to figure out how to resize pics for the blog …. without success then walked down to the Union Station to join them for lunch and enjoy the beauty of the building. May try to keep working on the pic issue as we travel or if no success will do it when I get home, if I don’t throw the notebook away before then!

Sort of managed, but still not happy. Will keep working on it.

Norm and I walked back from lunch to our hotel amidst rain thunder and lightning, very very frightening so we decided to eat in again rather than heading out to an Irish Pub for dinner.

The Historic Union Station which is a magnificent building where Norm and I stayed when we were last here. We took the others to see it and have lunch and found a very obliging hotel employee who gave us a terrific tour on his break. It was great! So, the only photos I have are from there.

Started out walking past the Old Capitol Building then a tour of the new one finished in 1888. Just beautiful. We were guided by a young tour guide through the Parliament and also what was the original Supreme Court. The photos don’t do it justice. After that we rode by Abraham Lincolns home (not open until May) then got onto the road proper and had as we stuck pretty much to the old Route 66 with an occasional diversion through vast harvested cornfields. The scale of farming reminiscent of through the wheatbelt at home. Lots of road maintenance visible in both Springfield and St Louis.

Truckstop for coffee complete with Blues Brothers and Route 66 themes.

And some quirky signs to the Loo's and stating the obvious that women are always right ..... just saying

Some Aussies visiting the Capitol Building (Where Government is enacted for the State of Illinois). I love that they are all reminiscent of the White House in Washington

In the building one of the halls around the center dome.

Looking directly up at the dome. Several Storeys

Part of the original brick road (about 2kms)

Old Chain of Rocks Bridge over the mighty Mississippi River

And again

And again with the new one we travelled over still being improved in view

And a very picturesque farmhouse we saw on the way into St Louis

Last night’s accommodation

Carpenter Street Hotel

Comfortable stay. Lovely comfortable beds again and good facilities. USA Hotel breakfast included and a short ride to some sites before departure...and thankfully pulling up a lot better than the citizen on the left!

The bikes parked up at the front of the hotel, also one being ridden by a German guy doing a Route 66 tour.

A long day today weaving our way in and out of little communities trying to stick to what remains of Route 66, often only an old road beside the one we travelled on visible and many tired towns trying to stay relevant followed by a frustrating night trying to get a home delivery dinner and being let down by IT a number of times finally having dinner after 11pm and walking to get it …. Bikes parked at front door of hotel which felt good until told they were best there under the cameras!

Also, a special thankyou to Chris Humphrey Office National at home in Traralgon who helped me with an IT issue supposedly from Russia!! Office Supplies, Stationery & Furniture - Chris Humphrey Office National

Old servo at Odell. Also had a lovely lunch in a local Cafe.

Pontiac Route 66 Museum in an old Fire and Police Station. Checked out the old cells and glad I wasn’t a guest.

Largest Mural depicting Route 66 behind the museum, brick roadway under bikes from the original road. Bricks from the original road under the bikes.

Last 2 night’s accommodation

Hampton Inn Chicago-Carol Stream

A comfortable stay. Lovely comfortable beds and great facilities. USA Hotel breakfast included and handy to the bike shop. About to head off on the big trip. Nice to see signs of Spring everywhere.

After close on 20hours in the air and on land via Dallas Fort Worth we arrived in Chicago to dinner in a local pizza restaurant and a loong sleep then off to collect the bikes ready to start the trip tomorrow.

Celebrating with bubbles in the lounge at Tullamarine before departure. How decadent at 10am in the morning!

 Flying in over Lake Michigan and over the city complete with one of many other planes in the air if you look closely.

On the ground at O’Hare airport with hundreds more.

Bikes picked up from DuPage Honda Yamaha.

And with the rest of the crew, our 5th time and the 1st for the others.

We last did some exploring around the USA and Canada on our motorbikes in 2019 and our plan was to return the next year to do some more but then COVID hit and life took over but now it’s almost time to head back to do some more exploring so come along and join us for the ride and I’ll try and keep you up to date here as best I can. Grateful thanks to our housesitters in our absence.

We headed off with some hope of mostly dry riding albeit not very warm but encountered full sunshine which continued until Powelltown until past Willow Grove then patchy sunshine until home. The ride home confirms that we live in the prettiest State and are spoilt for choice for beautiful roads to ride but having said that we enjoyed all our riding in spite of some of the weather Murphy threw at us. We had breakfast at Beechworth Bakery in Healsville and apparently beat the usual morning crew as walked straight in and ordered but there was a doubled-up queue to the door when we left. We pulled into Noojee Hotel for a welcome hot coffee and encountered friends from Traralgon as we left, heading to Alexandra for the weekend. Another stretch break at Willow Grove and home so thought I’d do what I do when I don’t get many shots in a day and show you some of Traralgon which is a lovely place to live.

Morning coffee at the Noojee Pub.

The first Hotel in Traralgon the Star Hotel, now a Restaurant.

Victory Park.

Old Court House and Post Office.

War Memorial and elm plantation, supposedly the second most significant one in the state, the first being in Bendigo or Ballarat apparently.

Ryan's Hotel.

What was a Church is now a night club and restaurant and in the back ground St Michaels Catholic Church.

The new Performing Arts Centre still under construction.

And if you need some help, the Police Station.

The GRAC - Gippsland Regional Aquatic Centre, lots of fun stuff in there.

And a bit quirky, what used to be the town's water tower is now a private home.

And a heritage listed oak previously part of a farm now a housing subdivision where we live.

And home at last and Santa has made his appearance for 2021 with lots of positive feedback from passing kids. All a bit of fun.

Last night’s accommodation

Alexandra Motor Inn, Alexandra

A comfortable overnight stay. Built in about the mid to late 70’s (going on tile choices) but spacious enough with a front door to the parking area and rear door to the veranda and garden area. Happy to say the bed was beautifully comfortable, a relief after the previous night. The surrounding grounds and garden are immaculately presented and there is a nice pool and BBQ area and unbelievably there were kids in the pool last night! Don’t know if that means it’s heated, or the kids are from Antarctica! Wi-Fi not free here! Only place we have found that. Cards can be purchased but I didn’t bother.

Well we expected to be wet through for the whole day today after the forecasts but we headed off dry, had breakfast at Finley and didn’t come into any rain until about 30km before Wodonga and ran out of it around 30kms south of there. We had fine riding conditions from there and even had blue skies, but we kept pedaling in case it all turned to water.

We were amazed at the amount of water we saw on our way from well before Finley into Wodonga. All table drains were full, dams were full and any decent indentations in the ground were also full. Won’t take much rain to lead to widespread flooding and inconvenience.

We caught up with a friend in Wodonga who is soon to move to Queensland. Apologies to family and friends who we didn’t catch up with, take my word for it that chronology says you will be here a lot longer than he is likely to be ….. or us for that matter.

So, the phone was tucked into the pannier all day so here are a few views of Alexandra after we got in.

Last night’s accommodation

Deniliquin Motel, Deniliquin

An ageing motel but in good condition with refurbished bathroom. Clean and comfortable space with obliging hosts. Windscreen washing facilities available to guests and a pool and BBQ space if the weather suited. Walking distance to the RSL for dinner. A comfortable space to stop, but the worst bed I have ever come across so made for a very uncomfortable night’s sleep.

Well we expected to have very wet weather all day but only a bit of rain in Hay as we headed off then mostly just a bit of drizzle after that so a very warm and humid day but we had a chance to check out some sights in Deniliquin which was great and I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

About halfway here we had a stretch break at the Royal Mail Hotel in Booroorban which was a lovely old building.

And into Deniliquin we had lunch across the street from a very nice park and garden.

And another.

We also spent a good deal of time checking out ‘The Depot’ which is a comprehensive collection of historic and other cars trucks and lifestyle items owned by the Purtill Family and shared in this complex along with providing a truck depot and service center, car and truck wash and an awesome Diner complex as well. Apart from the working side of the service center it reminded us of the Richardson family display in Invercargill NZ though that is larger in volume. A few shots below.

And some street views in Deniliquin.

 Last 2 night’s accommodation

Nicholas Royal Motel, Hay

A comfortable space to stop for a couple of days Not a large room but plenty of room for all we need. Got all the gear spread out and still room to do the blog so that’s saying something! Has been recently refurbished and looks in great condition. Owners friendly and helpful and plenty of space to be parked up.  A nice touch, buckets of water and windscreen washing brushes between rooms. Around the corner from the street so nice and quiet. Well set up and handy to the street and options to eat or shop.

Well we told ourselves our work diary said we needed a 24hr break today so we have spent some time exploring the lovely town of Hay and while we thought it would be a case of getting the bike gear on and off Phyllis lent us a car which made things much friendlier, especially given how warm and humid it’s been after over 10mm of rain overnight and given the upcoming forecast we expect to get very wet between now and when we get home. I’ll let the pictures tell you where we have been.

A visit to the Australian Shearers Hall of Fame which we really enjoyed. This is the main building housing many exhibits and the obligatory gift shop and café where we enjoyed a delicious lunch.

An early wool trailer, a hefty weight before any wool was added!

The Murray Downs Shearing Shed. The original was a 24-stand shed and needed 42 people to run it. It was unfortunately burnt down in the 1800’s and this 10-stand shed was built to replace it and subsequently moved to this site when the property was sold.

And one sheep being shorn. Intrigues me how dazed they look once on their back considering how frisky they are on their feet.

Bishops Lodge Historic House had hoped to see the rose gardens, but it was shut.

Hay Station, a grand building, now a Museum but again, not open.

And from the platform side. There were two carriages with historical details about the German, Austrian, Japanese and Italian internees held in Hay during the 2^nd World War.

And the Station Masters House, now a private property.

The mighty Murrumbidgee River, water level well up.

You can see the level on the bridge uprights, so not as deep as it has been at some time.

And Hay Park  (awesome)set amongst some beautiful fig trees.

And some more of the trunks. They look spectacular but I’m glad I don’t have to worry about the massive roots being anywhere near the foundations of my house!

Comfortable days travel with gradual darkening skies and thunderstorms predicted, thankfully didn’t happen until after we got in and settled. So it’s official, I finally got to travel across ‘The Paddock’ also known as ‘The Hay Plains’ and I quite enjoyed it albeit with a desire for a few more  roadside stops both for us to stop and have a stretch but more so for all the truck drivers to be able to break up their journey and manage their fatigue. I’ve loved seeing all the vast sweeping paddocks of grain and farmland and that was only topped by the magnificent vistas of stormy skies with rolling clouds and trailers of rain falling in places beyond us. Just confirmed again that I love big sky views.

Have caught up briefly with our friend Phyllis Jones and will have dinner with her tonight. Haven’t managed to spend time together for a couple of years so lots to catch up on.

A brief coffee stop at ‘FatBob Blonde HQ’ a tiny little location in the middle of nowhere (cannot remember the name). Norm struck up a conversation with a couple of old locals which was fun.

And down the street, the pub has just changed hands and about to be reopened so the locals are pretty happy about that.

A street view in Hay near our motel to soak up the view of the Jacarandas, being further south than where we have travelled earlier, they are still well in bloom.

And further along the street to capture the nice buildings. You always know you’re in a pretty remote area when the communication towers are in full view of the CBD.

Last night’s accommodation

Ardeanal Motel, West Wyalong

A budget price but adequately looked after us with newly tiled bathroom and comfortable bed. Tidy space but had all we needed other than a reliable Wi-Fi connection, kept fluctuating so decided it was all too hard. Shady place to sit and chill on the veranda and got a tip for a home delivery dinner from a local Tavern with a discount, so dinner sorted. Pool on site had we wanted to use it.

The view from the street.

And where we were.