IT WINDS FROM CHICAGO TO LA, OVER 2,000 MILES ALL THE WAY

I wanted to post a picture of an unusual design feature of the Chain of Rocks Bridge but I'm going to have  to go back and find a better viewpoint. For now, we have this marker on the eastern side in Illinois. Route 66, made most famous by St. Louisan Chuck Berry, is no longer an official U.S. highway designation. But as the song had it

Well it goes from St Louis, Joplin, Missouri
Oklahoma City looks ooh, so pretty
You'll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona don't forget Winona
Kingsman, Barstow, San Bernadino    

The original route ran within a moderate walk of my home.. Now it's something to remember and perhaps make a buck off.       

MUSCLE POWER ONLY

This is the Illinois entrance to the old Chain of Rocks Bridge I've discussed lately. Hard to believe that this narrow strip, as part of Route 66, was once the major auto and truck crossing on the central Mississippi. After it went out of business, so to speak, there was talk of demolishing it. The reason it was not razed is that the price of scrap metal was so low it wasn't worth the bother. Now it's managed by the National Park Service and you can walk, run, bike or skate across.             

STEEL WORK

There are some other good pictures from the aquarium but after a week I think I'll give it a rest. Last weekend's other activity was an attempt at eagle watching. During January and February bald eagles hang out around the junctions of the Missouri, Mississippi and Illinois rivers just north of STL. The waters in their territory in the far northern US and southern Canada are frozen, so they can't fish. They come our way where there is usually a mix of ice and open water. No ice this year, though. We went to some of the usual spots and saw one lousy eagle swooping away.

One of the places we went is the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/route66/chain_of_rocks_bridge_illinois_missouri.html, across the Mississippi. The link explains the reason for the name. It was the original crossing for Route 66 (https://youtu.be/frwybMReZ3o). The bridge has been closed to vehicles for years but is maintained by the National Park Service for pedestrians. The engineering of the old steel work is worth a look.