At Wilmington, Illinois we encountered the Gemini Giant who is one of the old 20 foot fiberglass Muffler Men which show up occasionally on Route 66. At one time these huge statues advertised mufflers. today they appear as various other characters. As you can see some are astronauts. The Gemini Giant is located at the Launching Pad Diner.

We stopped in the Diner to eat – some of us had catfish platters and others the classic "Fish & Chips"– all deep fried with a side of slaw and fires. But the service was grand and certainly gave us the flavor of the Road.

The Staff of the Lauching Pad Diner

You wouldn’t think that a carnivorous animal could make good friends and adapt to the road. But Carnie is quite the gentlemen and seems to be a pro when it comes to navigating the curves of the mighty 66.

In Joliet he took to liking two strange men in black suits, white shirts and black ties. Really strange characters but Carnie can make friends with anyone.

Carnie has always taken a liking to large women and when we got to a particular car lot in Bloomington,Illinois Carnie struck up a conversation and now has a new phone number in his address book.

Being a proper gentleman, Carnie asked Jere to be a Chaperone so that the meeting would be proper and honorable.

Chicago is not the best place to navigate especially in rush hour traffic. Unfortunately, we did not get to the starting gate at Lou Mitchell’s restaurant in downtown. So we missed the free Milk Duds and doughnut holes. The good news is that we made it out of the city to begin the adventure on the Mother Road.

It wasn’t until we were in Joliet, Illinois that the Road felt like a reality. When this sign appeared, we all knew that Route 66 awaited us ahead.

Joliet is about 40 miles SouthWest of Chicago and is famous for steel, stone and a canal. But what most remember about Joliet is Joliet Prison which was closed in 2002. It was here that the Blues Brothers served time for their iniquities. Of course we had to stop at the Joliet museum and catch the history of this All American town.

From here we were on our way to see muffler men and renovated gas stations.

And the Polk-a-Dot Drive In Restaurant below located in Braidwood, Illinois.

These are only a few of the sites we visited. Wish we could post more pictures but not enough time to post, sightsee, eat and sleep. I’ll try to cover some more as we progress down the Road. John, Van, Jere and I are holding up pretty well and are still good friends!! Looking forward to Springfield and possibly St Louis tomorrow.

Here’s to the Mother Road!

Merle

Joliet Prison, IL

It’s no fun to travel unless you can take the flavor of your roots with you. It give me great pleasure to introduce to you "Carnie the Dinosaur"..

Since Pittsburgh and the Carnegie Museum is noted for its dinosaur bone collection, we felt it was only appropriate to invite a companion for our trip. You will see along our trek that Carnie is a camera hog so be on the lookout as we post various pictures.

Plus he loves to drive cute cars:

Now instead of "Where’s Waldo?" you may want to ask yourself "Where’s Carnie?" Make no bones about it!!

Well, our trip started swimmingly with breakfast at King’s in Wexford, Pa and off to Cleveland to pick up a rental convertible. I was particularly excited because the car was going to be a Mustang. I had the confirmation in my hand which said "Mustang Convertible or similar" and twice called to make sure that this preference would be noted on the reservation. To some "similar" would be a Chrysler Sebring or another substitute that would be exotic like maybe a Jag or a new Chrysler Crossfire. BUT WE GOT THIS —

Yes –you guess it – A PT Cruiser Convertible!!!

Not exactly a manly man vehicle compared to the others. And don’t make us cringe by saying that it is "Cute". We men hate that. The good news is that it has more room and drives fairly well for a cute car –UGH. So the next time someone says the phrase "or similar" watchout!!! You may get a hot dog instead of a steak or a Vespa instead of a Harley. Go Figure?

We arrived in Chicago at about 7:00PM their time and Yes was off to a game in Wrigley Field. What a great experience to see this old ballpark especially the houses overlooking the outfield outside the park itself with spectators on their roofs.

Wrigley Field and the Outfield

Tomorrow we tackle Route 66 which starts right here in Chicago and the adventure continues.

On the Road Again,

Merle

P.S. If you add any comments to this Blog please don’t say "Cute Car" – Double UGH !!

DAY 1

Day 1 began with a little breakfast and the introduction of a new friend:

Day 1 - Dino-mite!

On the schedule today: driving and more driving - 478 miles from Pittsburgh to Chicago (and a stop in Cleveland to pick up the Mustang) with only the glimmer of hope for a Cubs game when they arrive.

View Larger Map

Route 66 is but a day away. Everyone wear your seatbelts!

A variety of sights and sounds on the trip. Many have gone before, leaving breadcrumbs for us to follow. Jay Crim and Shekar Davarya have created an oral history of their trip, called America’s Highway: Oral Histories of Route 66. They also created a really cool Google Map, with pictures of a lot of the things they saw, and a lot of things we’re excited to see:

View Larger Map

We have another addition to our trip across the country and that is Van Cowden

Who is Van Cowden? Van is the older brother of Jere and is a 1957 graduate of Hickory High School (before Avella was formed). He is the CEO of Van Cowden Electric with his wife Bonnie serving as President of the Company. Van has two sons Eric and Mark and is a resident of Cross Creek on Cowden Road (seems like every family in Cross Creek has a road named after themselves like John Stolze on Stolze Road).

What Trivia do we know about Van? Van once raced his 1952 lime green Studebaker Champion on the back roads around Hickory. To teach Van a lesson, his father alerted the police to be on the lookout for the Studebaker. Much to his dad’s shagrin, poor old dad was pulled off and given a ticket after he had borrowed the car from Van. Some years later the old lime Studebaker Champion became the farm car and turned into a modified truck like the old El Caminos. Of great interest is that Van was a member of the Hickory Cross Country High School Team which won the State Championship in 1955. Quite an accomplishment for a school much smaller than its competition!!

High School: Hickory High School, Hickory, PA — 1957

Poor Peck’s Pub - This is the site of our final planning Non-Planning meeting. Jere, John, Van and me discussed final preparations for the trip that will commence August 29th. Needless to say most of the conversations were about the old days seeing that Peck and his wife are related to either Jere, John or Van. I felt somewhat of an outsider. The day consisted of not much planning but more of hoisting brew (or a coke) and listening to the many stories and jokes told by Peck.

Here’s Peck as the Presiding Officer of the Non-Planning Meeting:

I guess we’re ready? The crew spent two hours of telling stories and 10 minutes focusing on the trip. But fun was had by all. Could this be a sign of things to come? The Non-Planning Committee confirmed that the best way to see Route 66 was to experience the road and adjourned with nothing more than our first destinination is Chicago and a  baseball game at Wrigley Field..

Here’s Part of the Committee Jere, Van and John - The diet coke is mine!!

So as you can see this is going to be an amazing trip and I’ll keep you posted on all the stories.

 Please Continue to Pray for Us!!

Merle

You need to understand that I’m very anal retentive when it comes to planning. I like to know where I’m going, what I’m going to see and how long I’m going to stay. I plan out breakfast dinner and lunch including restaurants and menu selections. So when Jere and John cancelled all planning for this trip and fired me as Planning Committee Chairman, I kinda lost it. You see, I’m left brain and organized –Jere is right brain creative and spontaneous .. and John is just along for the ride. All I got to say "this is going to be some trip!!!"

But after lots of reading and careful thought, I decided I will give up to the Mother Road and let it do the planning. These are the words that convinced me by Drew Knowles in his book "Route 66 Adventure Handbook":

"In a nutshell, I urge you not to plan to take charge of your Route 66 experience too precisely; instead, plan for the adventure on Route 66 to take charge of you. As much as possible, I encourage you to simply ‘go with the flow.’ Don’t set an itinerary which requires you to make it to a city ‘X’ by a certain day. Keeping to such a schedule will inevitably cause you to hurry through certain portions of your journey, and there’s no way of you knowing how much you’ll miss by doing so. Move as the spirit moves you; pause and take in the sights and sounds of your adventure as they present themselves to you. Your reward will be a trip like no other."

So with a long sigh and a HI HO Silver, I think I’m ready for the Adventure. Remember us on the Mother Road as we experience the history of the Highway called 66.

And Please pray for me!!!

Got Jere’s Corvette and will be picking up this Rental in Cleveland to begin our trip.

Let’s Just Do It!!

Merle

A great big thanks to the corporate sponsors who have contibuted to KidsVoice on behalf of Kicks for the Kids:

• WESCO International, Inc.
• Innovative Process Administration, LLC
• David J. LoCascio of LoCascio & Associates
• Jade Group, LLC
• Radelet McCarthy
• The Hartford
• Benefits Consulting Services, LLC
• Kapp Communications, Inc.

Thanks to our supporters, who have donated their time to our project:

• Cowden Associates, Inc.
• Wordwrite PR

Jere in his new (old) Corvette.

Turning age 60 is not that exciting but when you consider the alternative it ain’t bad. Some of us like to call this the beginning of a midlife crisis (for those of us who think we may live to be 120!!). Jere Cowden, John Stolze and Merle McGee felt they weren’t going to let this milestone go by without kicking. Therefore they started to plan an excusion across the United States in convertibles toward Chicago and onto Route 66 toward LA. Being mindful of their past and the infamous TV show Route 66 with Tod and Buzz.

FLASHBACK -Remember Tod Stiles’ (Martin Milner) father dies and leaves him a shiny new Corvette but little money; he and his buddy Buzz Murdock (George Maharis), who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, take off in the car to discover America, in search of adventure and enlightenment.

With that said Jere, Merle, John and friends will begin their great adventure beginning August 29th and ending September 16th when they expect to end their trip in Seattle via Route 1 up the coast. Sounds like fun doesn’t it!! Jere has just bought an ‘87 corvette for this adventure and Merle will rent a Mustang convertible. To all you High School Class of 1965 graduates – pretty crazy stuff but it’s us.

To give this trip more purpose than our own whims, we decided to also make this a fund raiser for a non-profit organization called KidsVoice. KidsVoice was founded in 1908 as the Legal Aid Society of Pittsburgh, and provides full-service advocacy for abused, abandoned, voiceless and vulnerable children. Go here to find out more http://www.kidsvoice.org/about.aspx

If you want to support this cause we would welcome your contributions. All checks are to be made payable to KidsVoice. No monies will go toward the expenses of the trip (though we are looking for restaurants or motel chains to give us discounts).

We will be making daily updates to this Blog as to where we are on our trip. All large donors will be listed on our Blog and we would be willing to wear logos and take pictures for any contributor. This is a dream trip for us and it will be fun getting our Kicks on Route 66 and raising funds for KidsVoice. That’s why we called this site "Kicks for the Kids".

May God Bless You and Our Trip,

The Boys

August 8, 2007

KidsVoice proud supporter of Kicks for Kids!

Each year KidsVoice is able to represent more than 5,000 abused and neglected children in Allegheny County thanks to our many supporters. We are pleased that Jere Cowden and friends have found an innovative way to support our efforts and spread the word about KidsVoice through Kicks for Kids.

Kicks for Kids promises to be an exciting and memorable time in the lives of Jere and friends and we wish them the best on their journey. They are demonstrating to our clients through their generosity, that the community recognizes and supports them.

We need and welcome not only their support, but also your contributions to continue our important work. Your gift to KidsVoice through Kicks for Kids would help KidsVoice to provide a voice of hope and advocacy for children who can’t always speak for themselves. Together we can make a tremendous difference in the lives of children and our community.

Thanks in advance for your support.

In the struggle for children, I remain . . .

Very Truly Yours,

Scott M. Hollander
Executive Director

See the original letter (pdf).

Who is John Stolze? John retired as a manager for the PA State Highway Department. He currently lives with his wife Mary near the old homestead in Cross Creek, Pa. Not many people have a road named after him but sure enough, John resides on Stolze Road. Jere and John were born in the same hospital only six days apart (Cannonsburg General Hospital). Jere says that they became good friends at age five and the relationship has remained solid for 55 years. Both Jere and John have farming roots and John still raises sheep on the back forty. He says it’s a hobby because he has consistently lost money at it.

What Trivia do we know about John? John played High School football in his Freshman and Senior years. Unfortunately he had the dubious honor of playing back-up to Ralph Cindrich. Ralph Cindrich played for Pitt and eventually went on to be a linebacker for the Houston Oilers in the early 70s. Currently Ralph is one of the premier Sports Agents in the United States and Canada. John still believes that Ralph owes his success to him, since John gave Ralph some well earned rests many a game.

High School: Avella Area High School, Avella, PA — 1965

Who is Jere Cowden? Jere Cowden is the President and CEO of Cowden Associates, Inc., a leading independent actuarial, compensation and employee benefits consulting firm located in Pittsburgh. He is a 1969 graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Jere’s roots began working his father’s farm through his tender years. His parents were both teachers who set him on life’s course with sound principles of hard work and honesty.

His wife Sharon is a pediatrician, his daughter Alissa is an intern at Children’s Hospital and her husband, Andrew is a radiology intern at Mercy Hospital. His other daughter is a 2007 graduate of Westminster College, his son, Michael works as a journalist in the metal trade industry and his wife Alice Yao, is a University of Michigan Ph.D candidate in Ancient Asian Culture.

What Trivia do we know about Jere? Jere was a football star in both his Junior and Senior years. He had such strength and stamina from working the farm that he played both defense and offense on the team. In his early years he modified a ‘56 Pontiac and turned it into a stock car, which he raced. His most fond memories involved his Kawasaki 125cc motorcycle. He decided to enter a 110 mile endurance race but after 22 miles, bruises, a broken rib, and other pains, the judges disqualified him. "It was the best thing that ever happenned to me", says Jere. "If I wasn’t disqualified for being so behind in the race, I would have killed myself on that fool bike!!"

High School: Avella Area High School, Avella, PA — 1965

We’ll be posting our schedule details and updates here. Right now we’re studiously examining Google Maps. Check back soon!

View Larger Map

Who is Merle McGee? Merle McGee is vice president of client services at Cowden Associates, Inc. Merle earned a masters of arts degree in Religion from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. He also holds an associate of arts degree in electrical and electronics technology, Pennsylvania State University, and a bachelor of arts degree in general studies, Shepherd College. He’s pretty balanced with left brain and right brain abilities. He previously worked for a large utility as both an engineer and later as an Human Resources Manager. He also has ministry experience after just completing a term as Interim Pastor for Woodland Valley Church in Mars, Pa.

Merle resides in Gibsonia, Pa with his wife of thirty-seven years, Gyngr. He has two children — Noah, a Carnegie Mellon University Creative Writing graduate and Anna who recently graduated from Syracuse University with an Acting Degree.

What Trivia do we know about Merle? Merle was once President of the Mason Dixon Sports Car Club in Thurmont, Maryland and auto-crossed a 510 Datsun Sedan and a Datsun 240Z. Unfortunately his wife Gyngr walked away with all the trophies. He also ran three full Marathons — which he now believes is silly. He states, "If you’ve done it once why do it again? Just check it off your list and try something else!!" He too, like Jere, had a motorcycle at one time, a Suzuki 250cc Street Scrambler.

High School: Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School, Hollidaysburg, PA — 1965