August 30th. Day 4 of the cross-country America trip.
Brrrrrng, brrrrng, brrrng, booang! I woke up by the combination of noises from the air conditioner and trucks driving by. It was 9 AM. Past couple days, I woke up by the sound of birds chirping, fresh air and gentle breeze on my face. When I opened the zipper on the tent, fresh air from the forest at dawn poured in along with the sound of leaves rustling, chipmunks scurrying about, and morning dew dripping on the tent fly. This morning, the air conditioning unit, refrigerator, someone taking shower from next door woke me up and when I opened the door, car noise from the highway and the hot rays of the sun all poured in. My ear and breath became stuffy at once. Inkeeper Motel is actually a decent place for its location and price. What I'm trying to say is the difference between the mid-city lodgings verses camping in the woods. Oh, wait! It was actually not 9 AM, but 8 AM. We'd already come to a different time zone. It is 9 AM in New York and 8 AM in Illinois.
One more negative aspect about waking up in motels is that we cannot make our own breakfast. At a campground, we could make anything that pleased us whether it's omelets or jjigaes(spicy Korean stews) on our little gas stove. But we can't cook in motels. Some people try to make small things like ramen noodles but it's against policy for most places and it's not even that convenient. So we decided to find a restaurant nearby.
Sumi asked what I'd like, so I said Soondaeguk(Korean sausage soup)! I know I can't have it but I yelled it out anyway. But Sumi ordered something at a Mexican restaurant and it looked incredibly similar to Soondaeguk. Sumi thought maybe spicy Mexican soup might be similar to Korean soup and she was right. She said that if we want to eat something proper, then we should order with proper pronunciation. I completely agreed with her.
Caaaallldoooo ddde Pppoyyyoooo!
I don't know which part of that is chicken and which part is the soup, but I tried my best to sound like a Mexican nobleman. Sumi ordered Huuuuuevooooos Rrrrrrancherrrrrooos.
Thanks to my wonderful pronounciation, the soup served was just like what I would have for a hangover in Korea. A spicy chicken soup with a bit of sour after taste. I emptied the entire bowl and started the day fresh. Sumi's international sense worked nicely this time. I also learned that Huevos Rancheros is breakfast burrito. Once again, I don't know which part of those words is breakfast and which part is burrito.
Route 66 was disconnected between Hamel and Chain of Rocks Bridge in Illinois. We might have missed it but we decided to take 157 instead and it quickly continued onto Route 66. We tried to stay off Interstate highways as much as we can.
Now that we got on Route 66, the plan was simple: Just follow Route 66 signs. And stop, if we see old hidden jewels with stories along the road. That was all. What we look at when we pass it and what impressions we keep solely depended on each of us. For us, we often used Road strippers, uh, I mean Roadtrippers. The first thing to look at was Old Chain of Rocks Bridge.
Though, the center of Route 66 is always the road itself. I started to get this feeling that the scenery along the route and driving through it was the prime bases of traveling Route 66. Even if there were many roadside attractions dotted along it, if the road itself was boring, then it wouldn't mean much to travel the route. There's a saying, it takes more than pearls to make a necklace. Route 66 could be the golden thread that strings up all these old beads. It was simply amazing that this golden thread would continue all the way to L.A.
Today, Route 66 started with sights as below.
This used to be a drive-in theater, but only the signage remained.
There are usually multitude of electric poles lined up alongside Route 66. Route 66 being one of the first road crossing the country, it makes complete sense. The first road that crossed the country would've needed electricity first and foremost and the most convenient place to put the electric poles would've been by the roadside. This also meant the Route 66 was once the most busiest streets in America.
A biker with a stretched out undershirt. He must live a block away from the Route 66 which is all bikers' dream road. It is a fantasy for others but for this fantastic biker, a daily route. That's why he's dressed so casually. His undershirt may be stretched out, but his heart burns like a flame.
Soon, we crossed a bridge and we shouted, "Old Chain of Rocks Bridge! Yeah!" But something felt strange.
To tell you the truth, all we knew about the bridge was that it was an old iron bridge and we get on it right before reaching St. Louis. From what we saw, this bridge wasn't much to look at.
Of course, it wasn't the old bridge, it was merely the passage way to get to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. We also found out later that Old Chain of Rocks Bridge crosses Mississippi River and the center of the bridge is the border between Illinois and Missouri State, and the whole history that followed.
The Chain of Rocks Bridge
In 1894, Water Plant was built by St. Louis Waterworks.
World's largest filter plant was added in 1915.
A Bridge was built next to it in 1929.
1,632 meters, the longest bridge in America.
In the 1930's, Bypass US 66 was designated over the bridge.
The Chain of Rocks Bridge closed in 1970.
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge reopened for pedestrian and cycling use since 1998.
Beside this chronological history, what I was curious about was the 'Chain or Rocks' part. It didn't seem like the shape or the mechanism of building the bridge. However, what I have found through some searches on the net, it was the natural shape of the river bed under the bridge. This unusual part of the Mississippi River had 17-mile shoal, or series of rocky rapids, called the Chain of Rocks. Multiple rock ledges just under the surface made this stretch of the river extremely dangerous to navigate. The bridge was built right next to it, hence the Chain of Rocks Bridge. So I understand the name part. Now I must see the Chain of Rocks as well.
Of course, one can look at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and also cross it on foot. It is a great looking old bridge, well-matched the mighty Mississippi River.
However, the origin of the name, Chain of Rocks can't be seen any more. In the 1960's, a low-water dam was built covering the Chain of Rocks. Only the fast currents on the surface of the river give hints to what it used to be.
Pictures below are of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge:
Dense greens on the Mississippi River banks.
There's a red object far out on the bridge.
Water plant sends water to filter plant. We can see the fast current above the low lying dam.
Illinois-Missouri border
The red object from far away turned out to be an old truck.
A family is looking out to the river from it. So we stopped and looked, too.
An inevitability stopped everyone at the same place. And we all looked out on the same spot. Wherever you came from, whatever you were doing before, looking out the Mississippi River from the old red truck on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge was the final rest to dry the sweat off our foreheads. It was a melody from a banjo that reminded of old country home, and the straw hat of Huckleberry Finn. There was nothing else beside that on the bridge.
To read Jingoogk's original blog in Korean : http://blog.naver.com/hwangjinkook/220147293480
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