7 days, 3600 miles

Just before we left to go to Mesquite, NV for a wedding, we fixed up an annex to the brooder box. We guessed correctly that the girls were going to keep growing rapidly. I brought up the cage that has served as the infirmary for Della (the cat) when she is recovering from surgery and/or needs antibiotics. She is not a good patient, and I’m not about to drag her out from under a bed every time I have to give her medicine. The cat cage makes a very good chicken annex. The girls were hesitant at first, but with the inducement of a little fresh clover, they all found their way through the opening and out into the fresh air.

The annex attached to the brooder box



The braver girls venture through the hole in the box for fresh clover.

Our road trip to Nevada can be summed up in one word: ZOOM! We both wanted to travel the historic Route 66 at some point, and Terry suggested that this trip would be as good a time as any. I ordered a Route 66 guide from Amazon. The guide said to plan on spending two weeks to go one way. We had three days. We weren’t going to start in Chicago or go all the way to L.A. We were going from Bloomington/Normal to the end of Arizona. We would not have much time for site seeing. Still, we drove for at least a little bit on the old Route 66 in every state through which we passed.

One of my goals was to go to the Cozy Drive Inn where the “hot dog on a stick” a.k.a. corn dog was invented. My Route 66 guide was not helpful here, but I found the address at the Funk’s Grove rest area and punched it into my GPS. We got to Springfield, IL at 10:30, which seemed early for lunch. Luckily, the Cozy Dog was open (and had been since 8:00 a.m. I didn’t ask why.) It was the most outstanding corn dog I have ever had in my whole life.

The original corn dog with Route Beer 66 (root beer) made with "real cane sugar."

In Missouri, we detoured from the interstate to see limestone cliffs in Pacific and Devil’s Elbow, so named for a sharp bend in the Big Piney River where logjams were once common.

Limestone cliffs in Pacific, Missouri



Bridge over Devil's Elbow of the Big Piney River, MO

We pulled into a Waffle House at 4:30 for supper. I love their hash browns “all the way”—cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, mushrooms, and chili. I was surprised and disappointed that Missouri has not yet banned indoor smoking. Ug. The place was nearly empty, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We spent the night in Mt. Vernon.

Up early and on to Oklahoma. We kept to the interstate most of the day, getting off only once to follow what the guidebook described as one of the best drives on 1930’s concrete 66. Note that it does not say most scenic. It took us awhile to figure out that it was the best preserved original pavement. Otherwise it was a pretty boring stretch. It did have a cool old bridge over the Southern Canadian River called the Pony Bridge because it used 38 small pony (small) trusses in its 1933 construction.

Pony Bridge, Oklahoma, on an original stretch of Route 66

It was now apparent that we had a very long way to go to be in Mesquite Friday evening. Consequently, we pretty much put the pedal to the metal, landing in Albuquerque (is there any more peculiar spelling of a name?) at 8:00. Or was it 7:00? Did we change time zones? What day was it, anyway? We had a nice Mexican dinner at a restaurant within walking distance of the motel.

The next day was the same hard driving across the rest of New Mexico and Arizona. We stopped briefly at an overlook near the Nevada border by Hoover Dam. We ran into a little rush hour traffic in Las Vegas, but  got to Mesquite at 6:00. We found the family hanging out by the pool. It was 105 degrees.

Scenic overlook just before we got to Nevada

There were no organized plans for Saturday morning. I didn’t set an alarm and planned to sleep a little later. However, with the time changes, I was bright-eyed as a marigold at 4:30. Terry was awake an hour later, and we got up and left for the Valley of Fire state park. At least we would get there before it got too beastly hot. We got bakery goods and lattes at the Starbucks in the hotel to take with us. It was in the upper 80’s when we set off at 7:00. It was nearly 90 by the time we got there an hour later. It was largely a drive-through experience. My geologist friend Kate told me before we left that the Valley of Fire was a must-see. It was filled with geological awesomeness. Also, we saw lizards, desert plants, birds, and mammals. I was particularly thrilled by three families of Gambel’s quails with chicks at various ages. One family’s offspring were fully feathered and about half the size of the parents. One set of chicks was still downy but fairly good sized, and one group looked like cotton balls with legs. So cute! I only got a good picture of the middle family. The cotton balls ran for the shrubbery and stayed there.

Cool rock formations in the Valley of Fire

Gambel's quail parent with babies following behind

The wedding was at 6:00 Saturday evening. The temperature was 106 and the humidity was 4%. FOUR PER CENT. By this time I felt as if my face might crack and fall off. The minister was brief, praise be, and we were back in the air-conditioned meeting room for a nice buffet and open bar before long. The only picture I took in Mesquite was of the ice machine down the hall from our room.

Whats wrong with this picture?

We had a big breakfast at the resort Sunday morning and were back on the road by 8:00. We stopped at just one scenic overlook in Utah and soon afterward were climbing the Rockies. The father of the bride gave us a tip that we could save a bunch of money on a room if we went beyond Vail to Silverthorne, which we did. We stopped at a Wendy’s somewhere for chili and a frosty. This week had to be a junk-food record for me.

Utah overlook

We took a detour through Dillon before we got on the highway in the morning and happened upon a mountain lake. After that, there was nothing but prairie. We spent the night in Lincoln and got home at 4:00 Tuesday afternoon, so ready to get out of the car. Illinois is so wonderfully green. A cool breeze refreshed me as I walked around to check on my flowers and the gardens.

The girls are so big! Hilda reported that Ellie is an attention hog. During bonding time, she cut to the head of the line and had to be held as many as three times. They love hanging out in the annex. We leave the garage door open as often as the weather allows.

Big girls hanging around the annex

Today Terry got the door put on the coop. Tomorrow we shingle.