I drove out Chicago over Chicage Ave. Unlike it said on my map, you can indeed, (as I guessed,) drive it out all the way west until wherever. And if you do it on Sunday morning, you can actually make a lot of speed.

That I did until I reached the historical first home of famous American architect Frank Loyd Wright. As the son of an architect, I have always kept some interest in the field, and having missed Alesin, I was glad that in Chicago I could attend the only day in the week the home is open to the public. I thought the "living house", always adapting to changing circumstances, was very interesting, more so than a single design build to blue prints.

From Wright's home I went down to I 55, to get on Route 66. Here I need to set things straight. The otherwise excellent "Road Trip USA" by Jamie Jensen tells you to skip Chicago and join Route 66 late. But as soon as you take the Joliet Rd exit from 55, it is all good. This are the roads a Miata is made for. Sometimes I was within sight of I 55, driving parallel to it. But I had my road to myself, without big trucks thundering by and SUV's tailgating in my dead spots. And the expanse of asphalt was a lot smaller.

Moreover, the directions for Route 66 so far are excellent. Early notifications of turns with follow-ups at the turn itself are standard. I found only one weak spot. Even I did not lose the track. This is very different from my experiences with the Great River Road. One thing though: there are several Route 66 tracks; I will be trying to follow the 1930s one. I went to I 55 to find lodging and there I saw another 1940s route. It looked a lot less good than my Route 66.

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