2021-04-02: Day 11 Finishing Route 66 in Oklahoma and Turning South into Texas and Returning Home

Well finally we've reached the eleventh and last day of our roadtrip adventure. We started out in Maiden, NC in what Google said would take 18 hours and 1210 miles to drive to Killeen, TX. Now here we are starting our 11th day in Oklahoma City, following the famous Route 66, and soon to be making that left turn down into Texas. On this final day we found more Route 66 roadside attractions, more historic buildings and bridges, a ghost town and of course more geocaching counties! So without further delay, hope on board for the ride and let me show you what great places we found today...

Our first stop was for the Osiyo Big Cherokee geocache (GC96K4R). Located at the Cherokee Trading Post and Travel Center, it was a busy place. Lots of muggles prevented us from finding this geocache. Fortunately I found a previous geocache here, now archived, and already had the county.

On the side of one of the buildings there was this huge mural and statue depicting a scene from life here in the 1800's. This is just a small portion of that mural.

Just a few miles west down Old U.S. Highway 66 into Caddo County, and we get to another one of my favorite historical structures. The Pony Bridge (GC8YAQ7) is the longest bridge on Route 66 at 3,944 feet. A joint venture Oklahoma Federal Aid Project No. 164-H and officially named the William H. Murray Bridge, it spans across the South Canadian River and was completed on July 1, 1933. It was nicknamed the "Pony Bridge" because of its 38 pony style trusses.

Across the county we found the historical Provine Station and our next geocache (GCY1GQ). This old Route 66 gas station was built by Carl Ditmore in 1929. W.O. Waldrop purchased the gas station in 1934 and renamed it the Provine Station. A small tourist court was added for overnight stays. In 1941 Lucille and Carl Hamons became the next owners where they raised their three children in the upstairs living quarters. Lucille operated the business for 59 years.

Continuing westbound into Custer County and past Weatherford, my next geocache stop was for a "Cache Across America - Oklahoma" cache (GCXD60). There's nothing special about the cache or location. However this is a series and there is only one in each state with a bonus in Washington DC. I try to get them whenever I'm in the vicinity. One day when I finally retire, I'll plan a road trip specifically to get the remaining states in the series.

Well it's about that time now when we reached US-183 in Clinton, Oklahoma and leave Route 66 to make that left turn and drive south towards Texas.

A minute later we cross over into Washita County and soon arrived into the town of Bessie. Our first stop was at the Peace Lutheran Church. The church was organized in 1893. Land was given and a church building / schoolhouse was erected in 1906. This current building was constructed in 1942. The Lutheran Cemetery is next door as well. 

Another historical building in town, and the location of our next geocache (GC15MV7), was the 1916 Bessie Schoolhouse. There's a pretty nice mural on the side of the building depicting scenes of the early days in Bessie. Next door to the schoolhouse was where the bank used to be. Frank Simpson and Fletcher Rickard robbed the bank on January 24, 1928. During the robbery, the cashier of the bank, Ben Kiehn, was killed and Fletcher Rickard was wounded and died later the same day. Simpson escaped and was never caught. The granite cornerstones and granite "Bank" stone are part of the Bessie Memorial Park.

Continuing southbound on US-183, we passed through this small town called Rocky, Oklahoma. Rocky was established in 1898 when two businessmen settled and opened the Rocky Mercantile Store constructed from rock gathered at the Kiowa Reservation. At it's peak in 1930, the population was around 500. Today it is barely over 100. This old church and house caught my attention and I stopped for a quick photo.

Crossing over into Kiowa County, the next town is Hobart, OK. The Rock Island Depot (GCD1E8) was built in 1909 and was used until the 1970's. This was a busy location during the growing years of Hobart. these include World War I and II. The rapidly growing farming industry depended on this rail service to transport it's products. It was left in disrepair until the Kiowa county historical preservation society acquired it in 1987. After many hours of volunteer work and money it was reopened as a museum.

South of Hobart was the small community of Babbs. A picnic area along US-183 is the Babbs Switch Memorial and a virtual geocache (GCD1E9). It was set up to remember those who perished on Christmas Eve in 1924. On this date a Christmas party was going on in a 1-room frame school house when a candle, that was lit on the tree, started a fire. Since the doors to the room opened inward, the kids panicked, pressed against it and could not open it. Everyone inside perished. The school was rebuilt and was used to point the way to safer county schools nationwide. This tragic event is the reason all school doors open outward.

Our next two geocaches were in Tillman County at the Frederick Cemetery (GC7A74B, GC2HNE8). There are over 12,000 internments dating back to 1844. We didn't have time to look around so just finding the geocaches, a photo, and back on the road.

Well we finally made it to the Oklahoma-Texas state line. This means crossing the Red River Bridge (GC8D4F0). Even though highway traffic crosses a newer modern bridge, the old US-70/US-183 bridge is still there. The plaque mentions that it was built in 1939 by the Texas and Oklahoma Highway Departments. The length of its largest span is 75 feet, with a total length of of 5,463.2 feet and a deck width of 24 feet.

One last stop in Texas before reaching home. I wanted to stop by this old abandoned schoolhouse in the ghost town of Gilliland since we were so close. Back a couple of years ago when I was working nearby, I hid a geocache here and it seems to have gone missing. So I replaced it.

I wrote a blog a while back specifically about this town of Gilliland. I tell of the town's history and share a lot of photos of some of the abandoned businesses and houses. You can take a look and read the stories by clicking here.

So that was our 11 Day, 3404 Mile Adventure starting in North Carolina and returning to Texas. Taking the long northerly route of course! Here's a recap with links to each days blog post:

Day #1: Turning a 1400 Mile Drive into a 3404 Mile Road Trip! Day 1 in North Carolina and Virginia

Day #2: Virginia, DC, Maryland, and Pennsylvania

Day #3: Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio

Day #4: Ohio and Indiana

Day #5: Visiting the Birthplace of Ben Hur in Indiana

Day #6: Visiting Presidents Lincoln and Reagan in Illinois

Day #7: Touring More Abraham Lincoln and Route 66 Sites in Illinois

Day #8: Visiting history in St Louis, Missouri via Route 66 and the Gateway Arch

Day #9: Exploring the Historic Route 66 Through Missouri

Day #10: Cruising Route 66 Through Kansas and Oklahoma

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2021-03-31: Exploring the Historic Route 66 Through Missouri on Day 9 of Our 3400 Mile Roadtrip Adventure

Winding down on Day 9 of our crazy 3400 mile geocaching and sightseeing roadtrip adventure through history, we spent the day in Missouri trying to follow the original sections of the famous Route 66 highway from St Louis to Joplin. Along the way we stopped at many of the roadside attractions that Route 66 is famous for: a super-sized rocking chair, historic gas stations, old abandoned bridges and more. Oh and let's not forget picking up new geocaching counties along the way too! So hop on board the GeoJeep and let's go for a drive...

Our first two county cache stops was in Crawford County. A travel bug hotel geocache (GCKC79) next to the Crawford County Historical Marker.

Continuing westbound on Old Route 66, we enter the town of Cuba, MO. There we spot several places that look interesting. Among them were the Missouri Hick BBQ with an old garage out building to the side. Or perhaps it was the smoker shack where they slow cooked their BBQ. Don't know but it looked pretty cool.

Next door to it is the Wagon Wheel Motel. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was built in 1935 and originally called the Wagon Wheel Cabins, Cafe, and Station. Standard Oil leased the station for one year after WWII. The cabin rooms have been upgraded and modernized while still maintaining the exterior historic charm.

A couple of other noteworthy places to stop for a photo in Cuba would be the Holy Cross Catholic Church and the Crawford County Historical Museum, both made of the same stone walls as the motel.

Just a few minutes further in the town of Fanning is our next geocache (GC1G43E). The Rockin' on Route 66 cache brings you to the Fanning US 66 Outpost and the World Famous Rocker seen at the top of this blog post. After a few photos and finding the geocache, we started to drive off.

At the same time I took a drink from my McD's iced coffee I just purchased a few miles back in Cuba. I think I only got 3 or for sips from it as it was more ICE than coffee! So I looped right around and parked back by the Outpost. We went inside to see if they had some bottled Starbucks or Dunkin coffee to pour into my cup. Yep! We ended up spending much more as we walked out with the coffee, a few novelty soda's and some homemade fudge. The proprietor was also very friendly and welcoming. I highly recommend that you be sure to take a look around inside the Outpost as well after getting your required Rocking Chair photo.

While staying on the Old Route 66 can be very interesting, it is also a slower pace and very time consuming. We still have to get to Texas for the next project before too long. Since I already had a geocache found in the next county, Phelps, I jumped back onto the parallel I-44 to quickly put some miles behind us.

Exiting back off into Pulaski County, we make a stop for our next geocache and our first ghost town in a while. "A Gathering of Hookers" geocache (GC174AZ) brings you to the only remnants of the small community that was once called Hooker, MO. Built in 1900, this church building and cemetery are the only evidence of the early pioneers. The slow curving Old Route 66 (1926-43 alignment) passed by right in front of the church. When the new and improved 4-lane US-66 was built (1943-77 alignment), it was straightened and by-passed many of these communities.

A few Route 66 curves later and we arrive at the Devil's Elbow. A small lumberjack settlement began here after the Civil War around 1870. The name derived from a tight U-shaped bend in the Big Piney River. When the lumberjacks would send their logs downstream, they often got jammed up in "a devil of an elbow," which became known as Devil's Elbow.

Also here at the Devil's Elbow are my next three geocaches (GC175JD, GC1TG2P, GC17E9W). I'm just gonna give you a brief description of my two photos below before telling you about a great web page to go look at for more. This bridge was actually built in 1923 as part of the MO-14 state road connecting the communities. Three years later it became part of the original Route 66 alignment. However with the 4-lane realignment of Route 66 in 1943, came a new bridge. This was used only for local traffic and without regular maintenance, it was eventually condemned. Route 66 enthusiasts saved, restored it in 2013, and now open for vehicular traffic once again.

Following the curve around a half-mile to higher ground you get a good look at a section of the Big Piney River where the double truss railroad bridge crosses over.

Now for more historical information and lots of old and new, before and after photos, if you really get into history like I do, take a look at this web page I found on the Devil's Elbow community. It's a quick read and along with the photos and map will give you a better understanding of the Route 66 alignments. As well as some of the businesses that came and gone, and a revealing photo of the 2017 flood.

Making my way further westbound, we arrive in the town of Waynesville, still in Pulaski County, and our next two geocaches. The "Wire Road Stop" virtual geocache (GCE7E0) brings you to an old Stagecoach Stop listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally built as a complex with two log cabins in the 1850's, it was later rebuilt with wood in the antebellum style. A stagecoach stop for the Burden and Woodson Stage, also a tavern, used as a hospital during the Civil War, and a hotel after the war. Later abandoned and rundown it had been condemned by the city in 1982. Local citizens got together and saved the historical building. It is now the Old Stagecoach Stop Museum.

The other geocache was at the Talbot House (GC46FPX). One of Waynesville's oldest homes, it was constructed in 1885 by the Rev Albert Washington Davis. Dr. C.A. Talbot purchased the home in 1915 and used it as a residence for his family as well as an office for his medical practice for the next 30 years. After his death in 1945, his widow then rented rooms to boarders. Today, the current owners use it as an Antiques, Collectibles, and Gift Shop business.

Moving on down the road into Laclede County and some more geocaches along the Mother Road. The Gasconade River Bridge (GC8V6TP) is next on the list. I love these old bridges. Like the Devil's Elbow Bridge, this bridge was built during the construction of Missouri's State Highway 14 a few years before Route 66. And again with the new expanded 4-lane Route 66, the lack of maintenance and repairs led to the closure and condemnation by the state in 2014. The Route 66 enthusiasts are trying to rescue and restore this bridge as well.

My next two geocaches are in Lebanon, MO. A quick stop and find for the Graffiti Tunnel (GC8AVN3).

The other geocache has over 500 favorite points and is the second largest cache that I've ever found, with the old Space Coast Geocaching Store cache in Florida being the largest. This one is called Jolly Green Giant (GC1MDCE) and is Missouri's largest ammo can.

There was just one more geocache we stopped for right before leaving the county. Nothing really to see here. But it was a Challenge cache (GC41F8V) that required you to have found a cache in at least 25 states before claiming the find. Well we've found one in 49 states, so I figured I'd stop quickly and sign the log sheet.

Another chance to make up some time as we already have Webster County, I jumped onto I-44 over to Greene County. There were two geocaches (GC2ZFAA, GC2Z72F) near the intersection of I-44 and US-65 that had some favorite points because of their creativity. They were easy to get to and easy to find. Had an interesting containers. What I liked most and wasn't even mentioned on the geocaching listing, was the historical pioneer cemetery just down the short trail.

It was the Union Campground Cemetery which was established in 1840 by the Presbyterian Church for open air camp meetings. Historical research by locals and decedents put the number of burials at around 200. However, documentation has only confirmed 84 burials.

Staying on the Interstate to get through Springfield, I took the first exit into Lawrence County to once again pick up the Old Route 66. Knowing that Route 66 was being built to the west following the old stagecoach trail, Sydney Casey purchased some property in 1925 in the small community of Spencer near Johnson Creek. There he built his businesses in a row of connected buildings, kinda like a mini shopping center. There was a gas station / garage, barber shop, cafe, and grocery store.

Strategically placed on the right just past the Johnson Creek Bridge (GC7TE1D) which was built two years earlier, Casey was open for business from the Route 66 travelers crossing the bridge. Looking west through the bridge, you can just make out his shops on the right past the Jeep. Then another 1/4 mile beyond and further up the hill was the Camp Lookout Cabins for the weary travelers looking for a break from the road.

The businesses prospered until the new Route 66 alignment a couple miles to the north bypassed this section of the original roadway in 1960. Then eventually killed any thru traffic with the construction of Interstate-44. The cabins no longer exist except for a couple of the foundations can be seen in the grass. Fortunately with the historical interest and fans of Route 66, what does remain here in Spencer has been rescued and slowly restored. Along with the geocache on the bridge, there are 4 easy multi-caches going up the hill using clues gathered from the shops (GC7RPV0, GC7RPY7, GC7RPZ0, GC7RQ04).

Passing through west into the community of Phelps, I spotted this old school building. The Phelps School was a one-room school built in 1888. Classes were held there until 1952. It was later abandoned and fell into disrepair in the 1980's. Eventually the community got together and restored it.

Entering into Jasper County and approaching the town of Carthage, we arrive at our next geocache. The Jalopy (GC4QMA6) is another example of artist Lowell Davis creations, an old car driven by a hillbilly and his hound dog.

Well that's our quick tour of Route 66 through Missouri. One day in the future, probably after retirement, we'll get to take a slower and complete roadtrip stopping in all the small communities. But it's late now and we made it to Joplin. Believe it or not we found a great Greek restaurant called Mythos. Time for a bite to eat and then get some sleep! She got the grilled chicken salad and I got the sampler platter.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2021-03-28: Visiting Presidents Lincoln and Reagan in Illinois on Day 6 of Turning a 1400 Mile Road Trip into a 3404 Mile Adventure!

Welcome back friends, family, RV'ers, Geocachers, Jeepers, and fellow travelers of the open roads. In this edition of our AwayWeGo Adventures blog, we pick up where we left off yesterday at the state line entering Illinois from Indiana. We spent the whole day in Illinois as we grabbed new geocaching counties and picked up some Presidents Lincoln and Reagan historical sites. And a really cool college ghost campus along the way! There's no debate about it, we've got lots to show you. So join us as we do some sightseeing along Illinois backroads...

So yesterdays blog focused on the General Lew Wallace Study / Museum and the Ben-Hur story. We did continue on and cross the state line that afternoon, but I wanted to hold those geocaching stops into todays Illinois post.

A geocache needed in Vermillion County was our next stop. Driving westbound on I-74 past Danville, is the Salt Kettle Rest Area. While many may stop for a much needed break at the rest area, few realize that there is a pioneer cemetery (GC35GC9) just a short hike along a trail to the east.

Edward M. Wilson was born 1785 in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in 1802 at age 17. He served in the Battle of North Point, in Baltimore, MD, which occurred on Sept. 12, 1812 and the following 2 days, the Battle of Baltimore at Fort Henry occurred. During this battle and bombardment on Fort Henry, Francis Scott Key penned the words to The Star-Spangled Banner. In 1832, Edward migrated west, married Caroline Searl on June 29, 1835 (she was born Feb. 23, 1811 in Mass.) and she died April 14, 1867 and is buried next to him here in Searl Cemetery. Edward died Sept. 4, 1840 age 55. Edward bought property in Vermilion County in 1832 and before he died, he amassed quite a bit of property which included this family cemetery.

Moving west along I-74 into Champaign County, the was another cemetery right near the exit. That made for a quick geocaching find for the county (GC2739Z).

Passing through the northeast corner of Piatt County, there was a quick park and grab geocache (GC6CA0A) right at the exit that allowed us to continue moving and putting miles behind us. And the same thing just a few miles further in DeWitt County (GC3X0ZC). I already had McLean County from my truck driving days back in 2008, so we turned north on I-39 in Bloomington to Woodford County. There we grabbed a quick roadside cemetery cache near the small town of El Paso (GC971CA), didn't know there was an El Paso in Illinois.

Continuing north into Marshall County, there was an earthcache (GC1BRDJ) I decided to stop for. An earthcache is a geocache without a traditional container and logsheet. To get credit for the cache, you are to observe something geological there and answer the specified questions within the description on the cache page. At this location in the middle of vast farmland is this huge boulder sitting where it's difficult to find even the smallest of rocks. Supposedly this was carried down to this location on ancient glaciers and left here when they melted.

Making good time and now up in LaSalle County, we stopped for a quick geocache (GC473T0), some fuel, and some food. Then a quick geocache (GC17KM8) stop at the Willow Creek Northbound Rest Area.

Then we took the Lincoln Highway east over into DeKalb County for two cemetery geocaches (GC7PRVY, GC8D9GA).

Back to I-39 northbound, we stopped for a quick roadside geocache (GC39RYA) near the exit in Ogle County. But it was missing and we had to DNF it. So I looked up another nearby cemetery geocache (GC4GVX3) that was a little further out and found that one to get credit for the county.

So that finished up Day 5 from yesterday. Today we began in Rockford, IL. Now the original plan for our extended roadtrip going from North Carolina to Texas via the LONGWAY across the northern states, had us jumping up into Wisconsin and Minnesota also. But this morning we were met with an artic blast of temps in the low 30's and an expected high of only 45 degrees! And that was for Rockford. Why would we even want to go further north?? Change of plans...

After some coffee and breakfast, we grabbed a quick parking lot geocache (GC28T0P) for Winnebago County.

Because of the artic blast, I head west on I-90 instead of north. The next stop was a geocache (GC5WQ5A) in Stephenson County. It was outside the old Lincoln School building. The front of the building says Lincoln School. On one side above the door it says Boys Entrance. On the other side it says Girls Entrance. I don't think it's a school anymore. Other than that, an hour of searching the web and I can't find any history on the building.

A few blocks away was the historical Debate Square. In 1858, the Democratic Party was the majority party in Illinois and Douglas was by far the most popular member of this party. Lincoln was not well known because his party, the newly formed Republicans, were still trying to create an organization. As a result, Lincoln had trouble drawing crowds as he canvassed the state in his bid to unseat Douglas.

Finally Lincoln suggested to Douglas that the two of them share their platform and divide their speaking time. Douglas had nothing to gain by agreeing with Lincoln, but loving a good political brawl, Douglas agreed to Lincoln's proposal.

Photo Bomb!

Seven debates were scheduled in each of the congressional districts in which the two had not already appeared in close proximity. Ottawa, Illinois was the location of the first debate on August 21, 1858. On this square in Freeport was the second debate on August 27, 1858.

On the corner of the Stephenson County Courthouse Square is this Civil War Memorial honoring those citizens of this county who gave their lives during the war.

One more county in the northwest corner of the state and we take the very backroads to get to the nearest two geocaches. The first was along a heavily wooded area on the north side of the Ward's Grove Nature Preserve (GC302PR). The geocache was hidden by the rock wall in the back near the shallow cave-like openings. As thick as this looks now, I'm just glad spring hadn't sprung yet and the whole area covered in foliage!

The second geocache (GC8PA44) in this county was further down a rural country road to view a tree carving on the lawn of a farm house. This is a carving of Chief Black Hawk, between this site and the Black Hawk Monument at Kellogg’s Grove is where the skirmish of 1832 took place. Makataimeshekiakiak (“Black Sparrow Hawk”) was known to European-Americans as Black Hawk. Born around 1767 in the village of Saukenuk, he grew up very anti-American supporting the British during the war of 1812. Commonly referred to as “Chief,” he has no official position in his tribe. He did, possess, however, natural leadership skills that caused many warriors to follow him.

Working our way south now towards warmer weather, the next county on the list is Carroll County. I have three geocaches selected here and the first two are in the town of Mount Carroll. The Shimer College Campus (GC8FXG4, GC5FGN9) was originally founded as the Mount Carroll Seminary in 1852 by Francis Shimer. It grew from just 11 students in one room to over 100 students in four main classroom buildings. And it was primarily an all girls school ranging in ages as young as 3 to college students. There were some boys that had attended over the years, but they were only allowed to be day students not living on campus.

In 1896, the school partnered with the University of Chicago and the Baptist Church and became the Francis Shimer Academy. Over the years there were many changes as the college struggled financially and admissions rose and fell. In 1950 the name was changed the Shimer College and it became coeducational school once again. The highest number of students was in the 1960's with just over 500 attending classes. Disagreements with the older more conservative faculty and the younger faculty and students of the late 1960's led to a third of the students and some faculty leaving. Several bankruptcies and school closers later, the yearly student enrollments fell below 100 and around 50 most of the time. In 1979 the school board decided to move classes to the town of Waukegan, Illinois.

During the 1980's, a group of Mount Carroll residents organized the Restoration College Association which later became the Campbell Center for Historic Preservation Studies to prevent the campus from being broken up. As I walked around this campus, the more than a dozen buildings appeared to be abandoned. I kept thinking to myself that these would be cool to own, restore and turn them into something useful. Well that is currently the intent. It is now call Shimer Square and more than $30 Million will be invested over the coming years to convert building to housing, business, and community amenities. You can read about the future plans and progress here.

OK, back to geocaching. From there we drove over to State Road 84 which follows along the banks of the Mississippi River, stopping for a quick cemetery cache in the town of Ayers (GC8C16J).

Continuing south into Whiteside County and the town of Fulton, we stopped at Calvary Hill Cemetery for our next geocache (GC39WDR). Resting atop the hill overlooking the great river is a historical headstone of presidential significance. Buried in this cemetery are President Ronald Reagan's paternal Irish ancestors. His great-grandparents, Michael and Catherine Mulcahey Reagan, emigrated in 1856 and after Michael's 1884 burial in Calvary Hill Cemetery, Catherine and three children moved to Fulton. One son, John, married Jennie Cusick. Both died in their thirties and left four orphans. One of those was Jack, whom became the father of the future president. A total of 16 Reagan relatives are buried here.

From there we drove over to the town of Tampico. The geocache (GC90AHG) happen to be missing at the time of our visit so we did have to log a DNF. But we did find some more presidential history. From the historical marker: "On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in an upstairs apartment at 111 South Main Street. His father, John "Jack" Reagan, of Irish-Catholic ancestry, was a clerk in the H.C. Pitney Store also on Main Street, and gave Ronald the nickname "Dutch." His mother, Nelle Wilson Reagan, was of Scots-English background."

"The small town atmosphere of Tampico played an important role in Reagan's formative years. As a child he played on a cannon in the park. Both of Reagan's parents were known for their acting ability in productions at Burden's Opera House on Main Street. Ronald Reagan became a sports announcer, a well-known movie star, served as Governor of California from 1967-1975, and then President of the United States from 1981-1989. He died in 2004 and is buried at the Regan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California."

Unfortunately the Reagan Birthplace Museum was closed while we were here and we didn't get a chance to take the tour.

Now back over to the banks of the Mississippi River, we entered Rock Island County and the town of Rapids City. There we made a quick roadside geocache (GC33PJR) find for the county.

Being so close, we took the I-80 bridge across the river into Iowa to check off a bucket list item. The American Pickers is a popular TV show and they happened to be based right there Le Claire, Iowa, just outside of Davenport. There's also a geocache hidden there too (GC3MYET)! Well, we found the geocache but arrived just as two girls were locking the doors to leave. I didn't recognize either from the show, so no autographs.

Jumping onto I-74 eastbound, which in reality goes straight south through three counties, we stop at the rest area in Henry County for another quick geocaching find to claim the county (GC2BVRR).

Our jump over into Iowa for the cache at the Antique Archeologists put us back on track with our original planned route if we had gone up into Wisconsin, Minnesota and then down into Iowa. We would have then crossed back into Illinois to where we are now.

That's it for a long day today. Join us again next time for Day 7 as we continue finding more President Lincoln history and make our way over to the Historic Route 66.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, RVillage, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.