The F/2 Chicks are Andie Smith & Holly McCaig
We invite you on our travel journey through our photographs.
On September 23rd, the first journey begins. As Holly & Andie embark on a road trip from St. Louis, Missouri to Santa Monica, California via Route 66. Bookmark our blog and site and watch every day as we post videos, images, and more.
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Holly and I made sure we stopped at The Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. The Wagon Wheel was a complex that included a cafe and filling station when built in 1936. It is constructed of Ozark native stone and first called the Wagon Wheel Cabins. In 1946, it was expanded from 9 to 14 units. It once also featured a Standard Oil Station and a cafe.It is on the National Register of Historic Places (added in 2003).
The Afton Station will hold fond memories for me . Before we left Ron left us a message that we had to stop buy the station and meet Laurel Kane, the owner. So I e-mailed Laurel and told her when we were coming to see if the station would be open. It would be and if we were running late she gave me her number so we could call and she would stay late for us. That was my 1st contact with Laurel…and should have known when we met I’d just want to hug her. She is one of the nicest people!
When we got to the station (JUST before they closed) Ron greeted us. What a pleasant surprise that was! One of the things i was excited about on this trip was meeting the people who work and live on the route!
We stayed at the station for more than an hour…and feel in love with Ron and Laurel…and the building. We met other travelers that were so interesting and nice! I am not kidding. The cars and the building was heaven for me.I want to drive back up there just hang out with them again. Of course now I would love a Packard. Can you imagine me driving around Plano, Texas in a Packard (love that image!).
Laurel can tell you more about the station than i can so go to her site.
Over the next few months Holly and I will tell you about the people we met and places we saw. Our intention was doing it from the road, but with one computer long driving days, and no energy at night (oh and did I mention spotty internet?) we found it near impossible. In no way are we doing this in order of importance…At least I am not, Holly may be.
Day 7 brought us to the Midpoint of Route 66, in Adrian, Texas. At the midpoint there is a the bent door, and midpoint cafe. The midpoint cafe is famous for the “ugly crust” pie. When we stopped in it was a tad early for pie…okay it is never too early for pie but we had coffee and pastries at Starbucks in Amarillo, and thought that diabetic shocks wasn’t a good idea.
We metioned Fran and Tommy breifly before. When we stopped in we were greeted with a smile and warmth. I felt like I was walking into my grandma’s kitchen (right down to the great tables). If you are ever in the area, please stop in and meet Fran and eat some of her ugly crust pie!
FYI to everyone that donated to our postcard fund, we are busy going through images and preparing the ones we want to include. We’ll keep you posted when they are complete! THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!!!
My goal for this trip was to write everything down, never forgetting one moment; even the bad ones. I’m no writer, I don’t claim to be. But, my words, my feelings, my stories. That’s what’s important to me. I figured, maybe I can write one post per day of our adventure. And, since I’m not able to get through all my photographs at the moment (my business work is calling) I will start with my own hometown.
I live in St. Louis County - in Missouri. It’s on Route 66 actually. I’ve lived here since 1993 and really wasn’t too interested in the history or architecture of our city until about two years ago. When I started venturing out to other small towns of Missouri, I discovered Route 66 State Park near Eureka off I-44. It’s in my back yard. Well, almost.
You can learn a little bit about the history of Missouri, by clicking here. The city of St. Louis was about 150 years old when Route 66 came through it. Sadly, that meant lots of changes to the route throughout the years. One thing we discovered on this trip was that the map for Missouri itself, was difficult to navigate. You see, Route 66 isn’t on just any old map anymore. It’s not considered a real route. So, the maps we found were these. And, even this guy gave us a hard time. But, we’re still in St. Louis.
Most St. Louisians are familiar with the Eat-Rite Diner…which every latenight, after hours event should end with. Of course, if it isn’t too late, you’d want to hit up the famous Ted Drewes, for its amazing frozen custard. This place is typically standing room only.
It’s on the corner of Prather and Chippewa. And, if you live here and haven’t been…what are you waiting for? We had to get up early to photograph this place, or there would be people in every shot. It’s on the list of Rte 66 Roadside Attractions.
Lining the streets of Watson Road are some amazing old motels and signs. Remember real motels?
Neon lines the streets on Route 66 in the cities it routes through. If only we had more time to photograph many of them at night, like this one:
If you’ve ever taken the Amtrak in Kirkwood, you’d see this:
Spencer’s Grill has been around for ages. Andie and I went to Kirkwood which is just really close to me and visited with our friend, Tammy and her daughter. The history of Kirkwood and the wonderful community spirit really makes me long for living there. The funny thing is that the counter girl at the Sprinkles (cupcake bakery) in Dallas was from Kirkwood. Small world.
I realize there are so many things in this city to photograph and yet, I just need to make the time. We have our own, wonderful history, right here. I look forward to going through more of my photos and sharing them! Until later!
Hey everyone! I’m back in St. Louis officially! But, exhausted. This weekend is going to be my “vacation” so I can gear up for Monday’s catching up.
I really wanted to post and say thanks and give updates.
One thing we didn’t count on happening to us with this trip was only having one laptop (my Baby Mac was in the shop and the big Mac would NOT have been fun toting around), and we had some sporadic if little Internet connections at times. The iPhone helped, but sometimes we had no service or the application I used to post images didn’t want to work. Here I thought we lived in a completely “connected” world! LOL But, it’s all good. I’ve journaled about my days, have my images ready to tell the stories and we promise to share more with you in the weeks to come as we recap the adventure we took across the country.
We spent a day with my friend, Audra and her family in Phoenix, and really just used it as a good, relaxing, hanging with friends time. Once we left Phoenix, we drove through and past El Paso to a small town outside of Odessa, TX. Finally stopping off to crash in a hotel for the night. Leaving us with about 5 hours to get to Dallas. I never really realized how big Texas was even though I was born there and lived there as a child. Heck, to me, it was even bigger then!
After we got to Dallas, Andie and I trekked to IKEA so I could purchase some furniture to take back with me. We are unfortunate to NOT have an IKEA in St. Louis (and that makes me sad). Dinner, Texas BBQ style, and in for the evening before I would have to make the 9-hour drive back to St. Louis.
I chose to leave early, only because I really wanted two full days of down time when I got back - and of course, because I missed these guys!
Yeah, I was pretty sure they forgot about me, but that wasn’t the case. Sleeping in my own bed and running out this morning to pick up Baby Mac and a few Halloween decorations to add to our already insane decor of the house each year.
I’m happy to be home.
Road Trips are a lot of fun, so many adventures, and stories. So much to see, but the sight of your house sure can be a welcome. Even if you come home to a stack of mail that makes my heart beat and forehead break into a sweat. Yeah, I’m back!
I am home. Holly is somewhere between Dallas and Saint Louis. I am a bit sad that the road trip is over…the people we met and the things we are saw are incredible…I can not wait to tell you all about it all…but I need some sleep. I’ll write my thoughts very soon!
A
This morning, we headed out to Hollywood Blvd. before it got crowded, did a few shots, stood in the footsteps of celebrities, and gawked at the novelty of the entertainment lifestyle there. Then, a stent through Rodeo Drive (drooling). Finally, the drive down Pacific Coast Highway to our hotel in Newport Beach. We’re staying here tonight, getting up early to shoot some sunrise pictures and then off to Phoenix. If we have time, we’ll be hitting up Joshua Tree. Hopefully we will! It will be so good to see Audra again.
Those are awesome pictures and love the Packards!! Hope you get to make it back there someday!
I love all of these shots, Andie!
Very very cool!!