October 17, 2014
Today’s Map
Below is an interactive map of our trip, tracked using my Trimble Outdoors Navigator iPhone app. You can zoom in, or click the link below for a bigger, fullscreen map.
Feel free to browse and refer to the map for details about where we traveled, the photos were taken, etc.
Road Trip!
When deciding on a route to Cuba, we realized there aren’t alot of options that we haven’t taken, at least for state or US routes. Nonetheless, Pat decided upon SR 37 south to SR 450, then US 50 to St. Louis, at which point we took Route 66 to Cuba.
We arrived right around dinner time, so we first had dinner at Missouri Hick Bar B Que. Definitely a place to have a great meal when in Cuba! Here’s a photo from last year:
After dinner, we headed next door to the bonfire / party at the Wagon Wheel Motel where we met up with Route 66 friends Mike and Sharon. We had a nice conversation visiting with them, then as things wound down, we headed over to our motel (we were staying at the Super 8).
Not a bad place, but for me, the overwhelming chemicals used to hide the smoke smell from our so-called “non-smoking” room necessitated ventilating the room with the windows open on this very chilly evening. My entire respiratory system was irritated and mild nausea was setting in. Ahhh, the joys of having chemical sensitivities and asthma!!
October 18, 2014
Today we spent time visiting CubaFest and catching up with more Route 66 friends. CubaFest was the quintessential small town festival and it was wonderful! It was so nice to be away from the city and relax and enjoy the friendly and festive atmosphere. We had a small bite to eat at the festival, then we decided to stop in a store along Route 66 in Cuba called Route 66 Mercantile. The building used to have a restaurant, but it had been closed for some time. Route 66 mercantile sells a variety of quality household kitchen gadgets and equipment, such as Vitamix, KitchenAid, Cuisinart, All-Clad, etc. His prices are VERY good. I’ve wanted a VitaMix since I was a teenager (yeah, that’s a long time now!) and with the price he’s selling it, it won’t be long before I’m hitting the road to Cuba to pick one up! You can check out the Route 66 Mercantile Facebook page here.
Afterward, we went back to the motel to relax for a bit before heading over to Belmont Vineyards & Winery on Route 66 for the Road Crew show!!
Pat and I had first seen The Road Crew last year in Galena, Kansas during the 2014 International Route 66 Festival. During that trip, I picked up their CD “Songs from The Mother Road” and when I was home on Wifi, purchased their other album, Rock-a-Billy Road from Amazon in MP3 format. Here’s a link to their Amazon listing where you can sample their music! We were unable to attend the International Festival in Kingman, Arizona this year, so I was pretty excited to hear that they were going to play at CubaFest…that was definitely within a distance we could attend!
Since last year, their music has secured a permanent place in my Route 66 and Road Trip playlists on my iPhone…several songs have become anthems, if you will, for our future plans to fulltime and travel the US in an RV. In particular, “We’re Going West” describes the feeling of ditching city life perfectly (click the link to listen to the full song!):
Honey pack up the bags we’re gonna blow this town today
We’re gonna wind up where the sunshine’s warm and free
Hey there’s a better life out there for you and me
We’re going west…we’re going west…
There’s a two lane blacktop we’re gonna take
A lotta city livin’ baby we gotta shake
There ain’t no stoppin’ us, we’re makin’ a break…
We’re going west!
The Belmont Vineyards & Winery wasn’t far from Cuba, just about 10 minutes east on 66, in Leasburg. It was a little chilly as the sun went down, but it was really pretty at the vineyard. We met up with even more 66 friends, who had a table reserved and invited us to site with them (which was great, since we didn’t know about reservations!). We tried some wine (as “unsophisticated” as many may think of sweet wine, it pleases our taste buds, and dry doesn’t!), so we selected a bottle of the sweetest wine they had, called Pink Dogwood. They had a limited menu, but still very good – we had a pizza, which we enjoyed!!
The band played from 5-8 with a couple of breaks and it was a great show!! If you have a chance to see The Road Crew, you will have a great time!
Here’s a video The Road Crew just posted on their YouTube Channel, which they wrote all about fellow Route 66 roadie, Ron “Tattoo Man” Jones. Alot of the video was filmed at CubaFest!
After the show, Pat and I stopped at a frozen yogurt shop called Dessert Island in Cuba on our way back to our motel and the band came in shortly after us – we had a nice time visiting and chatting with all of them, and look forward to seeing them again soon!
Slideshow of Photos (from The Road Crew Show)
Below is a slideshow of all of the photos from The Road Crew show at the Belmont Vineyards and Winery.
Click any photo to stop the slideshow and view the photos on my Flickr site. If you are on an iOS device and do not see the slideshow below, click here to view the set on Flickr.
October 19, 2014
Below is an interactive map of our trip, tracked using my Trimble Outdoors Navigator iPhone app. You can zoom in, or click the link below for a bigger, fullscreen map.
Feel free to browse and refer to the map for details about where we traveled, the photos were taken, etc.
Heading Home
We planned on heading home on 66 to St. Louis. Cruising through Bourbon….
Through Villa Ridge…
We stopped in the Route 66 State Park in Eureka because we remembered that author Jim Hinckley would be giving a talk on Route 66. We met up with our roadie friends again (Mike and Sharon Ward), as well as several more from Missouri, including Roamin’ Rich, who we just met the day before. Check out Rich’s blog, Hooked on 66 or his You Tube channel!
Jim Hinckley during his presentation
Then it was on to St. Louis, and then we picked up the Evil-I and headed back to Indiana.
Hope you enjoyed the ride!
Pat & Jennifer
