2007 -- Getting to Route 66

When leaving Colorado to join Route 66, one has 3 choices: 1) head east to Chicago & begin at the beginning; 2) head west to Santa Monica and begin at the end; or 3) begin somewhere in-between. 

We chose to join in Chicago (where the route began). In looking at the US map, we realized that neither of us had been in Wisconsin or Michigan,; and since they didn't appear to be that far off the beaten path, we set our sites north first.

Since we have been to Nebraska several times (more of those adventures later), we took I-80 as far as we could go before finding a 2-lane road that would take us to Minnesota. Now this route took us to Sioux City, Iowa -- but, before you cross the bridge, you are in South Sioux City, NE; and then, if you take a wrong turn, you are in North Sioux City, SD. We had picked up one of the motel guides at a highway rest stop. You can imagine what fun it was trying to find a motel when you didn’t know what state you were in!

After we were settled, we went to dinner and overhead a conversation about car racing nearby. Being Saturday night, there was dirt track racing going on. We got directions to the track. They were racing the same type of car that Bev’s son Greg raced in Colorado – she was just glad that Greg raced on pavement.  There was no guardrail, so many of the cars disappeared over the top throughout the night!


The next morning we headed north into Minnesota. The temperature was in the high 80’s, so it felt good to stop for lunch near the Redwood Falls.
While traveling we also got to see the tallest corn cob  (It’s amazing what one can find in the AAA book to do!)








We stopped for the evening half way up the state.  Our goal now was to see Lake Superior. We talked to a state trooper at one of our stops, and he told us about the most beautiful view as we crested the hill right before we crossed into Wisconsin at Superior -- as we approached, the weather turned from 90 degrees to 40. When we crested the hill, all we could see was the entrance to the visitor center because of the cloud cover. We had put on our raingear, but hadn’t dressed for the cooler weather, so little time was spent in the Duluth/Superior area.

As the rain lessened, we stopped for lunch in Bayfield, Wisconsin on Lake Superior.  The Apostle Island National Shoreline is just north of here – an arpeggio of islands. The southernmost, outside of Bayfield is Madeline Island. Ferries travel to the island until the water freezes; then locals need to use snowshoes to come to the mainland for school and shopping.

We crossed into Michigan and stayed in Iron Mountain.  The road would cross between Michigan and Wisconsin several times before we arrived at Lake Michigan at the resort town of Escanaba, Wisconsin. We followed Lake Michigan and then headed to Green Bay. Our hotel was behind Lambeau Field on Holmgren Way. We went to dinner that evening at Brett Farve Restaurant.

Before taking a tour of the stadium, we took a quick ride through the actual town. The stadium  was built in 1957 and originally called City Stadium. The team received its name because a group of ‘meat packers’ had gotten together as owners. The name was changed to Lambeau Field in 1965. We were able to tour the entire stadium except the field (they were resodding). The floor in the atrium is laid out like a football field  and ties into the actual marking on the field.  When leaving we met a band member from the group Fendermen – ‘Mule Skinner Blues”

From here we headed to Milwaukee where we stopped for a tour of the Harley Davidson Motor Assembly Plant. 

We arrived in Chicago during rush hour traffic and the rain (Ed wasn’t sure how long his clutch hand would hold out).

We parked the motorcycle for two days. We took the "el" (elevated transit system) into the city and did some touring (walked around Soldier Field) (You would think we were into football!) If you haven’t taken the "el" in Chicago, you should the next time you visit. We passed between apartment buildings close enough where someone could hand you a cup of coffee from their kitchen.

We let someone else do the driving, and we took a tour bus to see the remainder of the sites. While in town we had a wonderful Italian dinner. The restaurant was set up as an Italian village.


Ed was able to pick up to tickets to the Cubs/White Sox (baseball this time) game at Wrigley field.  What an experience the "el" was with having fans cheering on both teams. 

The area around Wrigley is similar to riding on the "el" in that there are buildings surrounding the entire stadium.  Many of the building owners have now set up seating on their roofs in locations where the field is easily viewed.  It has now become so popular that the stadium now requires each building to pay a fee based on the number of seats they provide.
The next day we would begin our Route 66 journey.