Sluggy's Solo Road Trip Part 7......MO & Back to IL

So I hit the road on Sunday afternoon heading South out of Iowa.

I passed the "Barilla Castle" before I left Iowa.....

Ok it's not really a castle but a big white building Barilla built along the interstate in Iowa.
But Leon calls it a castle, so a castle it is. 8-)

And then I hit the Missouri line.  Sorry the photo is so blurry, my windshield was uber dirty......

After 3 hours of driving I got into Kansas City and checked into my motel for the night.
Then I went out to get some dinner and get some water and check out the beer selection at the Walmart down the road.

Back to the room and I ate and emptied my pockets before changing into my pjs.
Look at what I found in my pocket.......

 

A piece of candy I picked up along the parade route from Saturday in Polk Iowa.  I forgot I had that. lolz

I called an ex-blogger friend from the area and we arranged to meet up in the morning for a visit before heading to bed.

I had a lovely breakfast the next morning at the hotel(hot food!) and then I made up a plate to take with me on the road for either lunch or dinner that day.....yogurts, banana and makings for a PJB sandwich.  This helped me cut down on one meal's cost on the road.

If any of you remember reading Annie Jones' blog, here she is in all her glory in a selfie she took of us.  My photo didn't come out as my arms are too short to take a multiperson selfie. lolz

We had a nice 3 hour visit in the motel and then I checked out and we traipsed over to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch and more chatting.  Boy, I wish we lived closer as we'd probably hang out together a lot if we did.

I had a scare at the restaurant when I went to take out my camera to snap some photos and I couldn't find it.  I called the motel and found out I had left it in the room.
Duh.
Good thing we were just around the corner from the motel still so I drove over to get it before leaving town.

So after a nice lunch and saying our goodbyes, Annie and I parted and I hit the road north, back up to Iowa and then east to Illinois.
Another long boring day of driving ensued.

Before leaving Iowa I made a stop around dinner time in Walcott, IA at the Largest Truck Stop in the USA.....Iowa 80.

Then I went across the street to here.......

Grandma's Kitchen.

And I ordered this item to go......

A pork tenderloin sandwich.
Mmmmmmm
You know you can't go to Iowa without eating one of these babies.....it's practically against the law!

Of course I still had a fair piece of driving to do until I got to my motel for the night so this sat next to me in the car and about drove me WILD with hunger from the smells.

Finally got to the motel about 8:30pm, schlepped up to the room with all my stuff, put the pork sandwich in the microwave and then wolfed it down.
Aaaaaahhh......

Then a phone call to the ladies I was here to visit with before I hit the bed and we arranged to meet in the am.

I got a call from the lobby around 9:30ish am and these smiling faces were soon in my room.
Say "Hi" to Robin and Pam!

We met on a beanie forum years ago but met in person only last August when we came through their part of IL to go to Hub's sister's wedding.

We sat and gabbed and tried to come up with a plan for our day together as there was no plan yet.
This booklet of things to do in this part of IL was in the room and between browsing through that and going online to Roadside America(which has a state by state list of weird and quirky sights to see), we hatched a plan.

The first stop was that covered bridge in the booklet.

It's called the Red Covered Bridge(duh)and was built in 1863.
I took my life in my hands posing for this photo since the bridge is still active and open to traffic.

The Big Bureau Creek that runs below the bridge.

Cool design inside the bridge.

 I attempt a selfie with the bridge(and Pam's back)in the background.  Note to self--remember to keep eyes OPEN when snapping a selfie.....lolz

Five Dollar Fine Sign over bridge entrance.
Don't even think about taking more than 12 animals or going faster than a "walk" across the bridge!

On the other side of the bridge was a nature park by the creek and we caught this flock of turkeys looking for lunch there.

A momma and baby turkeys.

Next it was over to the Owen Lovejoy Homestead.

Mr. Lovejoy was an early settler to these parts.
It is said his home was a stop on the Underground Railroad to Canada.
But the Homestead is only open on weekends so we didn't get to tour it.

The motel where I was staying had an Owen Lovejoy Suite down the hall from me.  Now I know why.....

Mr. Lovejoy was a big supporter of Abraham Lincoln but we won't hold that against him.

Also on the property was this one room brick schoolhouse.

This school, built in 1850 was in use until 1972.

 

 

It was locked up tight as well.

And even further behind these 2 buildings was a replica log cabin commemorating the 1st
"White Settlers" in the area, the Henry Thomas Family (1800-1848).
Also parents on the first "White Child" born in this county.
Yes the plaque said "white" but without the parentheses.

 

Then we drove to the downtown section of Princeton, IL.
But we stopped for a photo of this elaborate monument along the way.
No dates on it but plaques listing men who had fought in some war.
I am guessing it's War Between the States.
A quick look online tells me it's the Soldiers and Sailors War Between the States Monument and was dedicated in 1913.
Pam took this shot.....

Looking at monuments makes me hungry so it was off to find something to eat.

We parked downtown and walked by this salon with a replica of a renaissance sculpture out font.

I wonder what is behind that grape leaf?

Oooo! He's nekkid under there!

 

Then we got to a building that smelled heavenly.....

 Myrtle's Pie Shop!  It's owned by a fellow who's grandmother was named Myrtle.  I guess she baked really awesome pies in her day.

Myrtle's photo on the door.....stupid glare......

Though it was lunch time we were just there for the pie.
And there were soooo many choices.
Obviously Pam is working hard studying the menu.
But she ended up getting the same pie she always gets. lolz

Here's my selection--a banana and chocolate concoction that tasted divine.

On the way out of town after waddling back to the car, I saw this signpost.
Ronnie was from Dixon IL.  We had too much to do and too much mayhem to reek so there was no time to wander the Reagan Trail.


We drove past the giant coffee pot sign in Peru.....

Then we went off in search of the giant carved Vulcan Hand also in Peru.....

It says "Live Long & Proper" on the arm part.....

That's Pam giving her version of the Vulcan salute next to the statue.

All I could think about was someone taking a chainsaw to 3 of those fingers on the carving and you'd have a very different "salute". hehehe

And if you didn't know where you were, here's a reminder......

 

While hunting for the Giant Vulcan hand we also came across this strange sight in that town......

Blues Brothers full sized statues on the balcony of someone's home.

You just never know what you will see when you poke around a small town.

We took this road trying to get out of town and it led us here......

Really?
Did they actually need to put a stop sign up at the end of this dead end road?? lolz

It was getting pretty hot by now so we swung into a convenience store for some drinks.

What a find!
Frozen bait AND Live bait!!

A truly one stop shop.....get your gas, cigarettes, munchies, drinks and night crawlers.

Well it does make sense as we were very close to this......

I'll stop this here and pick up next time on the rest of our day out since there are tons of photos left.

Sluggy