Route 66-based story
written by OC,SH’s founder, inspired by his September 2009 Route 66 road trip

CHAPTER 54: EARLY MORNING & TRAINS

“Why are you up this early!?”

The eldest, standing in the kitchen looking wistfully out the window the next morning, whirled around to see his cousin standing behind him.

“I could ask you the same thing,” retorted the eldest.

“Ah, I’m always up this early. Always have been & probably always will be.”

“Same here,” said the eldest, continuing: “But, today, I’m contemplating going for a short drive.”

The cousin gave the eldest a quizzical look. “Won’t you be doing enough of that the next few weeks?”

The eldest shook his head. “Nah, no such thing as driving too much!”

The cousin tilted his head in acknowledgement, then asked: “Any particular place you’re thinking of going now?”

“Yeah,” replied the eldest without hesitation. “The historic train station & then to other sections of the railroad tracks.”

“Ah,” said the cousin. “Yes, that building was built in 1891 &, if I’m not mistaken, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since December 1982. I want to say the foundation is Joliet stone, but don’t quote me on that.”

The eldest seemed a bit surprised. “I didn’t realize you were into trains that much.”

“Well,” the cousin started, “when you live in a town that is along Route 66 & has a train station served by Amtrak, you tend to take notice. They say it’s about 1.5 hours to downtown Chicago from the station here in Dwight, if you’re interested in going.”

“Ha, no,” chuckled the eldest. “I want to avoid big cities on this trip as much as I can. I know some have chastised me for not experiencing ALL of Route 66, but others have reminded me that not everyone travels the entire route all at once anyway. So…..”

“Yeah, I’m not much of a big city person myself,” the cousin offered. “So I don’t blame you one bit.”

After a pause, the cousin continued: “If you want, I’ll tag along with you.”

“Sure,” replied the eldest. “That’d be cool.”

“Sweet. After we visit the historic train station, we can drive to the Casey’s there on 47 near where 47 & 66 share pavement. We can park there & then maybe walk along the tracks past where they meet with the line that runs parallel to Route 17. That way, we see more tracks & walk along Route 66 at the same time!”

“Sounds like a plan,” said the eldest. “Almost as if you’ve done it before!?”

“I have!” His cousin winked & grinned & lowered his voice: “Just don’t tell my wife!”

“Ha, I won’t,” replied the eldest. “Ya know, I really love watching the trains come through back home. It’s just so relaxing.”

“I get that,” the cousin said. “But, at this hour, I doubt we’ll see any trains….”

“Oh, yeah, I know,” the eldest assured his cousin. “I just really want to walk along the tracks.”

“OK, cool,” said the cousin. “Well, in that case, let’s go!”

The eldest jiggled the keys in his hand: “I’ll drive!”

“Fair enough,” replied his cousin.

With that, the 2 left the house, got into the youngest’s tan 1976 Caprice & started their short early morning drive….