Route 66 Part III

Hi there
 
  Second day of the ride . I woke up early and went for a stroll around the city ,it was very beautiful small city ,neat and clean and weather was crisp.I saw both the sate capitals new and old one ,they were magnificent.

Springfield city in morning 

Tour hotel in morning

   As we were waiting to load our luggage ,just across the street I saw some tents and thought of exploring it.To my utter surprise it was a farmers market!! I had read about them and I was seeing it first hand.Even though it was 0630h the whole market  was already up and ready for business.

  

   The farmers markets are on weekends and essentially selling farm produce from nearby farms .Items are  all organic and very cheap,as also they are  very fresh san any preservative used by supermarket,on top of it people are very friendly and the portions/bag of any commodity is much more in quantity than weight. 

  

  As I came upto a shop selling ceramic bowls and bells the owner called me and asked me if I am a rider( I was already wearing the riding Jacket) and were am I heading to .I told him I am from India and doing Route 66,he was very happy and said he is a retired marine and was riding motorcycle for almost 45 yrs and his son works for an Indian IT firm in Bangalore. He immediately called his wife and tried to gift me a small bowl ,I declined it ,he spoke so warmly and wished me best luck in my ride and stay in America.

                                                                       

 The retired Marine from Springfield

  After morning brief ,it was time to move.The first halt was to see and ride on the old sections of the Route 66,it was stupendous,the landscape was picture perfect .

The gang

Post card perfect landscape

Beauties lined up on old section of route 66 

   After soaking in the beauty of the old section we further moved Henry's Rabbit ranch located at Staunton,Illinois.In 1999,Rich Henry decided to purchase some property along an abandoned road,only when his neighbor told him that this is the old Route 66 did he realise the importance of the place.Meanwhile he got a call from his daughter Emily who had got a pair of rabbits and didn't account for the resulting population explosion. She lived in a single room apartment and things were getting a little out of hand. Rich stepped in to help meanwhile,an idea stuck him,where in he decided to convert his property in an unique destination on Route 66-a ranch for Rabbits.The rabbits at the ranch are those which are abandoned/neglected few of them have got names too,they love patting by the visitors.

   Before we actually entered the place Richard warned us that dont joke about how rabbits taste good,they will be great barbecue etc he told Mr Rich is very sentimental about it .

  As we were parking the motorcycles,my shoe slipped and the whole bike tilted to the left,I tried to left it but it was too heavy,seeing my predicament Richard(Italy) and Andrea rushed to lift  the bike ,what a spirit!.Afterwards all gang came to me and asked if I am ok and have I got hurt.

At Rabbit ranch- photo taken after the slip!

   After Rabbit ranch it was time for Lunch and some ride on the highway again the speed was making it difficult for me to ride, in fact the slip of bike was worrying me a lot ,since never earlier had a bike slipped from me,on top of it we were hitting speed of almost 70 miles/hr,I had never driven the bike at such speed.

  There after we moved to another beautiful historic town Carlinville,Macoupin county .The town is famous as this is the place were Lincoln practiced his law,and the court house still functions as court house.
                                                                      

The court house 

Veterans Memorial

The famous jail of the county

  The lunch halt was at Weezy, located in Hamel, its a small cosy dinner.

Inside Weezys

   After lunch it was time to visit the Chain of Rocks Bridge.The bridge was privately build as a toll bridge in 1929 and later on ownership went to city of Madison ,Illinois.The name of the bridge comes from large shoal or rocky rapids called Chain of rocks.Originally the bridge was designed to be straight but land acquisition issues resulted in the 30 degree turn at the mid point of the bridge.In 1970 the bridge was stopped  for vehicular traffic as new bridge was build.

Entrance to the Bridge 

    After crossing the highway we parked our motorcycles near the bridge,a brief halt for a photo and it was time to ride on the bridge.We rode slowly and  halted in the middle for photos.Meanwhile Agnes  who had a go pro wanted to shoot a video of all of us riding on the bridge ,after completing the shot we came to know that the Go pro was not switched on!! we had to do a re run on the bridge again .
  

On Chain of Rock Bridge

  As we moved from the bridge for our night halt at St Louis,we saw the famous arch of St Louis city .It was a free way with less turns so the ride was easy for me .

First glimpse of the Gateway Arch

    As we halted for a traffic signal suddenly we saw a flash mob of at least 1000 bikes they were riding all over the road and whole traffic had come to stand still as we raised our hands to the bikers few of them rode past us giving a clap on our hands.It was almost 45 to 50 min show ,there after we reached the hotel.

View of city from my room

   St Louis city I found developed was developed by placing huge building blocks in hap hazard manner.It no where looked like an American city.Even though it is very historic town I felt no connection with the town.

Free public park 

    Evening I was out for exploring the city.As I was walking towards the famous Arch ,I came across a barbecue festival,there was live music,live barbecue stations ,the whole area had a festive atmosphere,by the time I reached the Arc it was dark.

Barbecue Festival

Live Music

   The Gateway  Arch is 630 foot monument,clad in stainless steel ,it is the worlds tallest arch.Build as a monument to the westward expansion of USA.Its located in a giant park.

Close shot of one of the arms of the arch

    In the park few members of astronomical club all of them veterans had got their own huge telescope and urging people to watch the planets all for free,it was an beautiful experience.
    By the time I started walking towards the hotel it was dark and almost the whole city was closed own the time was just 2100h!!!!In between I lost my way ,but again google maps came into help.
   It was time to hit the bed .