Not too much to say about today, really. We started the journey home early, broke down camp, packed up the trailer, and hauled it east to Indy all day. No festival attendance for us today, since yesterday was our big day.

We took Route 66 most of the way out, but eventually had to take the Evil I home. Still, we did stop at the Route 66 Rest Area and Visitor’s Center, which is a great place to pick up information not just on Missouri, but on Route 66 as well. The rest area is very much Route 66-themed. Here are a few examples; see the gallery below for more.

I also enjoyed a new app called iExit. It’s mainly for interstate travel, but it could also help Route 66 travelers because it quickly brings up nearby services based on your smartphone’s geolocation. It works especially well when you’re traveling on the sometimes necessary Evil I, showing what services are available at upcoming exits and how far away they are. It’s very handy to see at a glance that the next rest area is 58.7 miles away, so if you need to stop sooner, you know whether a restaurant or gas station is coming up and which ones they are. Here’s a link to iExit, available for iOS and Android.

The other thing that helped the time pass quickly was knowing our RV friends Dane and Elaine would be traveling home from a trip to Michigan. After texting them to see which route they were taking, they replied with I-70. So for about an hour and a half, we played a game estimating when our paths might cross and whether we’d be able to spot each other and snap a photo.

We did remarkably well, getting down to the 113- and 108-mile markers and leaving ourselves only minutes apart. Then my fear happened: a semi passed us, and slowly, blocking our view. He creeped along, barely passing us. It would have been too risky for us to slow down, since we already cruise at a steady 60 mph when towing, so we held steady and hoped he’d hurry up and get by. Once he finally did, I gathered myself, turned my head to look past Pat and out the driver’s window for a split second, and saw a small silver car that looked like a Toyota RAV4 in the westbound passing lane. I thought it might be them, and it turns out it was. Too bad I missed getting a photo, but they got one of us.

We set off on our next adventure a month later, another road trip with the trailer. Plans were still sketchy, and we weren’t sure whether we were heading to Michigan or back to Route 66. But either way, we knew we’d have fun and make more road trip memories.

Pat & Jennifer