I decided to make one extra long post to include the final day of Illinois and some brief stops from the two days heading home. The 33-day trip “stats” are included at the end of this post.

Let’s start with this wood-carved spine in front of a chiropractor’s office in Palatine, IL:

I think all or most of the Chicago area Weber Grill restaurants have these giant grills. This one is in Schaumburg, IL (taken in the pouring rain):

These statues have been at BlondZee’s Steak House in Lake Havasu City, AZ for decades. That’s Orbit watching me from the dash on the right:

Same place — with two of these cow heads — more examples of these around the country at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/critters/cowsheads.html

On to some buildings — Rand Red Hots in Des Plaines, IL:

There are two of these abandoned bathhouses (with spiral staircase lifeguard towers) in Illinois State Beach Park in Zion, IL:

The former Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Des Plaines, IL has been converted into The Foxtail on the Lake Restaurant. The kept most of the interior including the stained glass:

A detail from the Art Deco City Hall in Vinita, OK:

The Orpheum Theatre in Hillsboro, IL:

Moving on to some signs. 1st Shoe Repair is still operating in Waukegan:

This was originally Vince’s Pizzeria in Wheeling, IL. When the name changed back in the 1960s, they cut out that spot of the panel to replace it with “Joe’s”:

This one is in Des Plaines, IL:

The Del Rio Restaurant is in Highland Park, IL:

This sign is at City Auto Sales in Park City, IL. The sign has only been there for a few years. I don’t know where it was originally:

B&L Liquors is in Wheeling, IL:

Let’s close up with some Arizona signs. Rod’s Steak House in Williams has been closed for a few years now but its many signs remain. Everybody shoots the neon steer signs so let’s show the parking lot sign:

Lastly, the four signs below are in Kingman — all modern but worth including:

Some Stats

During this 33-day trip, I drove 14,674 miles and spent $3,122 on gas. That’s an average of 444.7 miles per day from sun-up to sun-down with only pee breaks for me and the dogs. Since I started this website 25 years ago, I have spent about $76,000 on gas and driven more than 550,000 miles (with 3 different vans). Let’s just say, that’s a significant amount of my income. If you ever want to make a donation to my cause, there’s a spot at the top of every page of my website that says “Feed Me” with a PayPal link that goes to my email address (roadarch@outlook.com).

What’s Next

Now that the ~4,000 photos from this summer trip are all up at my website, it’s time for the exhausting but necessary winter project. I comb every page poking at those thousands of map links to find out what’s been removed, remodeled, demolished, repainted, etc. and update my descriptions. I also post to this blog on a regular basis throughout this process with the more noteworthy “discoveries.” So, you’ll be hearing from me soon enough (and for many months) but it will probably be more tragedies than good news.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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