TODAY IS/WAS THE DAY!!!! We finally reached the beginning — or our end — of ROUTE 66! Thanks for coming on this journey with me! Especially Krystal and Steph who were physically next to me and endured all the long driving, car singing, and overall craziness of each day.

Without further ado...

Day eleven itinerary: 

• Shaw Nature Reserve (mentioned it in previous, and not technically in ideal itinerary, but we did it this day anyways) {Gray Summit, MO}
• Cahokia Mounds {Collinsville, IL}
• World's Largest Catsup Bottle {Collinsville, IL}
• Abraham Lincoln's tomb {Springfield, IL}
• Cozy Dog Drive In {Springfield, IL}
• Dana-Thomas House {Springfield, IL}
• Drive-in Theater {Springfield, IL}
• Funks Grove (Maple Syrup!) {Funks Grove, IL}
• Route 66 Museum {Pontiac, IL}
• Rocket Man Statue/ Gemini Giant {Wilmington, IL}
• BEGIN Route 66 Sign (in front of Art Institute) {Chicago, IL}
• drive to friend Madeline's in Evanston, IL for the night

*Because we backtracked a bit this day to go to Shaw's Nature Reserve and spend some time there, and because I always seem to schedule too many things into one day and forget that places close around 5pm, we did not get to see Abe's tomb, the Dana-Thomas House, the Drive-in Theater (is only open select dates of the year and wasn't showing any more movies), Funks Grove, or the Route 66 Museum.

Approximate mileage: 382

Approximate driving time: 6 hours

Approximate expenses: $49.39

• Gas: $29.39 @ $2.199/gallon, 13.367 g
• Food: $15 
• Experience: $5 Shaw Nature Reserve

Read more for map, trip details and photos...

Every day just gets better. Especially when that day starts with a sunrise in a field of sunflowers. But I'm getting ahead.

Day ten itinerary:

• Grinter's Sunflower Farm {Lawrence, KS}
• The Corner Restaurant {Kansas City, MO}
• Mini Stonehenge {Rolla, MO}
• Great Wall of China Restaurant {Rolla, MO}
• World's Largest Rocker {Cuba, MO}
• Meramec Caverns {Sullivan, MO}
• Shaw Nature Preserve {Gray Summit, MO}
• Purina Farms {Gray Summit, MO}
• Chain of Rocks Bridge {St. Louis, MO}
• arrive on the Illinois side for sleep

*the sunflower farm and Corner Restaurant were not in our original plans, but worth the sacrifice of not going to Mini Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China Restaurant, Purina Farms and saving Shaw Nature Preserve for the next day. We initially intended to stay the night in St. Louis but canceled our reservation because we found out our place was in a bad area and we wouldn't get there until after dark. So we stayed on the Illinois side instead for that night.

Approximate mileage: 389

Approximate driving time: 6.2 hours

Approximate expenses: $172.98

• Gas: $25.58 @ $2.039/gallon, 12.544 g
• Food: $25 
• Experiences: $21 Meramec Caverns 
• Stay: $101.40 Comfort Inn & Suites

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Yay for Flashback Fridays! 

Well, I'm going to take a momentary break from the road trip, in light of the road trip and the day we spent with Whit in Kansas City, to share with you some adventures from a couple years ago — 2014 (technically landing in 2013 and then ringing in the new year there) — when I visited Whitney in Kansas City, MO for the first time. 

It was winter, so the weather was a little different than what I experienced when I visited her in the fall on the Route 66 trip, but funny enough, the time that I came to visit her was a result of changed plans from the original Route 66 trip we were going to go on. 

Looking back, I'm glad that I went on the Route 66 trip in the summer/fall and not at the end of December when it's cold in most places, and that I got to visit Whitney in her hometown instead.

In addition to what I showed in the previous post, here's a breakdown of some of my other favorite things I did in Kansas City the first time around.

Starting with food. Because, as I realized the first time I visited, they have some of the best food I've ever tasted.

Places we ate:

• Jackstack BBQ {Overland Park, KS}
• Jerusalem Cafe {Kansas City, MO}
• Blanc Burgers and Bottles {Kansas City, MO}
• Stroud's {Kansas City, MO}
• Aviary {Springfield, MO}

Things we experienced:

• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (unlike in this post, we went inside) {Kansas City, MO}
• Historic Downtown Parkville {Kansas City, MO}
• Built a Snowman (because there was snow! :D )

Short trips we took from KC:

• Liberty Jail {Liberty, MO} 
• LDS Temple {Kansas City, MO}
• Butterfly Palace {Branson, MO}

Read more for photos and details...