After a week exploring the quirky roadside stops and art-filled stretches of Amarillo, we made our way west to Albuquerque, one of the most iconic cities along Route 66 and a stop we had been looking forward to on this trip. Sitting right in the middle of our journey (with…
After wrapping up an incredible week exploring Tulsa, we continued west on our Route 66 road trip and settled in near Oklahoma City for another full week of exploring. We actually visited OKC just a few months prior, but with so many museums, Route 66 landmarks, and nearby towns to…
After wrapping up our Route 66 tri-state adventure through Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, we headed to Tulsa for a full week of exploring, and it quickly became one of our favorite stops along the Mother Road. Known as one of the most iconic stretches of U.S. Route 66, Tulsa is…
Spending time along U.S. Route 66 always feels a little like stepping into a living museum. Every small town has its own stories- neon signs that have been glowing for decades, roadside diners with generations of history, and museums packed with pieces of the past. During this stretch of our…
There are a lot of places along Route 66 that claim a special connection to the Mother Road, but Springfield has one of the strongest: it’s widely known as the birthplace of Route 66. In 1926, a telegram sent from the Colonial Hotel in downtown Springfield confirmed the highway’s now-famous…
Our Route 66 trip officially began from our home base in the Chicago suburbs, but we intentionally skipped Illinois (for now). After exploring much of Illinois Route 66 over the years, we’re planning a separate summer road trip (without the RV) to properly revisit and document those stops. We also…
The Weldon Spring Site is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management–controlled nuclear waste disposal site with a public interpretive center. That combination alone makes it memorable. During our Route 66 Centennial road trip, we were staying at Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park just outside of…
During our three months at home base for winter, we squeezed in a few smaller trips without the RV. In January, we flew out to visit my dad in Oregon and spent a weekend at a conference in southern Illinois. Then in February, we headed out for a long weekend…
I visited the L.R. Ingersoll Wonders of Physics Museum with two of my good friends, and we spent the entire day happily geeking out over science. After working in higher education for most of my career, I’ve never quite lost my love for wandering college campuses. They’re such hidden treasure…
Washington, DC is packed with incredible museums, and while everyone knows the big-name federal stops like the White House, U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court, National Archives, and Library of Congress, there’s a whole world of lesser-known federal museums and visitor experiences hiding in plain sight across DC, Northern Virginia, and nearby…