Today was our first day on Route 66. We left the busy city for small town rural America. We drove 200 miles to Springfield with a long list of things to stop and see on the way.

Our first stop was at the Rich & Creamy ice cream stand in Joliet where we each had a very nice chocolate and vanilla twist ice cream.

Part of the fun of Route 66 is seeing the many roadside giants that encourage you to stop and buy something. On our trip today we saw: a giant hotdog, two giants, a dinosaur, a giant Abraham Lincoln and a large model beverage container. Our favourite was the Gemini Giant, which can be seen above.

We stopped for lunch at the Polk-A-Dot Drive In in Braidwood, which had life sized statues of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Betty Boop.

Pontiac had a collection of murals dotted about the town. They were one of the best things we saw today.

We were lucky to see a local classic car event in the small town of Atlanta. A live band were setting up to play underneath the town's giant holding a hot dog. It was great to see a small town enjoying their fourth of July weekend.