Route 66!

 Today I started in my town of Pontiac, Illinois, and toured up to Braidwood, Illinois. This is the Old Log Cabin. If you are in town you can grab a great meal at this old eatery on the north side of Pontiac.

 There are some nice information plaques on various sites. This one even has a "passport station" on it.

As you can see, you can put a piece of paper over the disk, and rub over it with a pencil or crayon to make a nice rubbing for your journal or album.

 The next stop was the Ambler-Becker Texaco service station in Dwight, IL. Dwight has done a great job bringing this old station back to life.

 I love the old gas pumps. No doubt you'll see a drawing of this soon!

Another rubbing at the Texaco station. I love stuff like this. If you are a hiker, you can look for a similar idea at national parks...the parks have rubber stamps you can use for free to stamp your journal.

 In Gardner, Illinois you will find an old two cell jail.

  You can go in and get a picture of yourself and your friends locked up!

Glad I don't have to spend the night here!

 This was my destination of the day...the Polk-a-Dot Drive In! It's a 50s style drive in, with malts and shakes, burgers and fries, as well as their famous chili cheese fries.

All around the outside of Polka-a-Dot are stars you can pose with. In fact, there are several more inside as well.

 Betty Boop!

 The Blues Brothers!

 Many of the tables have their own juke box and you can play your favorite tunes. I brought my page along so I could start drawing one of these. It's kind of hard to see, but I've penciled in a general outline, and now I can start inking and painting.

 These things are soo cool...they have the look of an old car...lots of chrome and curves.

Here is an interior shot of part of the restaurant. If you come in the summer you can drive up, and get your food brought to your car. I had fun being a tourist in my own state today. If you haven't done that in a while, you might want to give it a try. It's amazing all the cool things that are in our own backyard!