Headed off hoping to beat a bit of the rain forecast and rode through ferocious winds skirting a storm and tornado warnings behind us. Stopped a bit early for lunch as the sky looked bad with potential of tails touching down but thankfully it turned around and headed away from us and we headed off again in calmer weather and towards clearer skies. The wind ramped up again as we entered Texas but remained clear. Overall, we managed to stay on Route 66 more than other days and that was also a bit slower pace so kinder on ourselves and bikes especially in the heavy winds.

El Reno, cute little main street. I hope it got on okay today because there were tornado warnings around there when we had lunch further along.

The stormy sky while we were having lunch. You can see three lines heading down. Was a relief it turned back on itself.

The Historic Conoco Servo at Shamrock plus bikes. This was the servo depicted in the 'Cars' video.

Conoco Servo Tow Truck.

Britten water tank. Quirky.

Street view in Amarillo.

Last 2 night’s Accommodation.

Country Inn & Suites by Radisson
A lovely spot for two nights. Comes with breakfast and parking. Nice and spacious, walk in shower, and capacity to self-cater if wanted. No restaurant but free shuttle to town and good value compared to last stay (which was heavy on quirky but low on value).

A warm and sunny day so got the washing done and dried and Norm tidied up the bikes after the drenching they got with filthy floodwater and road runoff yesterday and I had a kick back morning getting the blog up to date. The others did some exploring and checked out the Bricktown Canal tour and the OKV National Monument, a very moving experience as we previously found, then the Cowboys Museum and we joined them to do some more exploring and dinner before returning to our hotel. The pictures can tell the story.

A working shot from our hotel window. Train line, concrete batching plant with working trucks and another train line and locomotives.

Part of the OKV Memorial.

Horse carriage transport around Bricktown.

And back to the Bricktown brewery for dinner. Awesome use of an old building. The atmosphere was great....and the food...and beer.

We started in rain and headed for sights on Route 66 under a tornado warning but after very wet shots for photos we were hit with a massive rainstorm and the cameras and phones stayed locked away for the rest of the day and instead of the sights, we had planned to track down we opted for getting in out of the weather. In that time, we encountered torrential rain, thunder and lightning (very very frightening), flood waters and incredible wind trying to blow us off or throw us over for the rest of the day. Were a bit concerned to see very dark clouds late in the afternoon forming a circle with a clear patch in the middle, so it wasn't really a surprise to hear a small tornado had touched down later in the day. The rain stopped from lunchtime on (murphy was obviously confused) so only got in wet instead of wet and dripping but we saw lots of lovely countryside and a progressing Spring with green buds well progressed to leaves so a happy outcome. Had lunch at the Buffalo Ranch Roadhouse where there were a couple of live buffalo in the yard but by the time Lyn had her gloves off, they’d gotten bored and lay down out of view, so she had to satisfy herself with a photo of the mounted one in the shop. If I can pinch the photo I will. It was good to get in and a hot shower revived us enough for a lovely dinner at the Bricktown Brewery.

Gary Parita Sinclair Servo Ashgrove.

And another old bridge, glad nothing came along while we were here.

A shot from our second last coffee and stretch stop from the security camera in store. Check out some very worn-out travelers.

And the last stop before we were in. I had enough oomph to ride forward but not enough to back up so was suitably rubbished by my fellow travelers, hence the photo. Note the faint hint of approaching blue skies!

Dinner at the Bricktown Brewery which was great, awesome atmosphere beer food and company.

Last night’s Accommodation.

Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven

A quirky little stop which has been here since the 30’s and has modernized without losing a touch of the Route 66 Main Street era including a mini diner look to the breakfast area. Comfortable bed and one row back from the road so quiet to sleep. A few bikes at the entry making it look even better.

Everyone else went to check out the Arch and I stayed 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. Pics from phones downsize okay but I must need to change a setting on the camera as I don't get the option to get them right and they are out of whack!! Grr.

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.

Red brick Greenway a walking path beside a huge stadium between our hotel and the Historic Union Station. If you look in the distance down the street, you can get a glimpse of the Arch.

A wet view of the St Louis Arch. Last year we took the lift to the top for the view which was awesome.

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.

A stained-glass mural above the original entrance on ground level. It depicts New York, Saint Louis and Los Angeles which the rail line represents. There were 42 lines in and out of the station, and this was where the change from East to West took place. It's supposed to be long, sorry. Around the edges are all the fruits each area produced.

The Lobby on the mezzanine level. There is also a bar here and a light show over the doe takes place each night from 5 - 11pm. Very speccie.

The reception area at the end of the Lobby. Note the mural above, it was unearthed and restored during reclamation of the station after it had been abandoned for many years.

Going upstairs these are a quirky bench top in the alcove. Very well done. A couple of tourists taking a pic also!

The Lobby from above. Stairs down to the ticketing level to the left and bar to the right and reception straight ahead. Through the end arch Railroad head offices for all the companies who operated through the station. The railroad offices now suites have retained the doors as it is a listed building. There were originally around 50 guest suites in the hotel, now over 600 as there are the originals, the railroad offices now suites and a whole lot more built out over the area where the trains used to reverse into the platforms.

An example of the magnificent arch work detailing.

And a schedule of the one days of trains Sunday November 2nd 1930.

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 pretty much stuck 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. 

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.