Rt. 66 adventures

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In April of 1953 my Dad was drafted into the US army. Young and in love and not wanting to be separated , he and my mom got married and packed up to go to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

I found all these images in an old scrapbook that my mother recently gave me

It was the first time either of them had been away from home.

They loaded up Puddles the dog and drove south from their small Illinois town to connect with Rt. 66 near Bloomington, Illinois.
It was a 450 mile trip that waa slowed by all the small towns they had to travel through.
It likely took over 12 hours

The trlp took them through the rolling prairies of central Illinois, eventually crossing the Mississippi River into the Ozark foothills of Missouri.

Luckily the war in Korea ended a few months later and instead of being shipped off to fight, at Fort Leonard Wood, soldiers received various types of instruction, including basic infantry, advanced engineer, and engineer specialist training.
The specialized courses offered included construction and earth-moving equipment operation (such as the crane shovel),

Class #3 Crane Shovel Course ~ 6th Armd. Div. Trains.
Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. 2 Oct. '53
Capt. Morris W. Head Supt.

If was a career that he worked at until he retired.

They both had fond memories of the time they spent in Missouri and I had fun looking through the old scrapbook and knowing it has been safely digitized.

hive-14396 rt66 missouri army 1953 archon pob pimp oneup waiv
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23 comments
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Back then, photos really had to be developed or printed because we couldn’t see them otherwise. It was almost a necessity to have them developed, unlike today, when very few people print their photos.

Photos is definitely better. That’s the beauty of having a photo, it’s something we can look back on anytime. Even though it happened a long time ago, we can still show our children or grandchildren the events from our past, when we were still kids.

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Old photos are fun to look through, but they take up a lot of space! I like having them saved digitally.

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How fun to find old photos. We lived about an hour or so from there, and had a cabin on the river near Ft. Leonard Wood we spent time hunting and fishing there. Great smallmouth fishing.

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My folks retired to Northwest Arkansas, so I did a lot of trips across Missouri. It is a unique part of the world!
!INDEED

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Awesome bit of personal history :)

Good thing you digitized it. Keep the hard copy safe!

Nice one, M <3

!PIMP

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Thank you for sharing that family memory.

It has a touch of nostalgia, and it shows that change can bring good things. Although I was worried about him being sent to Korea back then, it was good that he received an education that opened up a career path for him for the rest of his life.

!LUV !ALIVE !BBH !HUG

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The funny part is that his dream was to become a chef.
Very different to becoming a heavy equipment operator.

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Sometimes dreams align with our reality, but other times they take very different paths. But as long as things turn out well, everything is alright.

everything is alright GIF

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A very nice story with wonderful images. I like this kind of story; I enjoy them because they are real and have happy endings. Greetings, good friend @melinda010100. God bless your family.
!ALIVE

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Great post! love the retro pictures and bits of retro ads (maybe post cards?) I love Route 66. I found a couple of my posts from Route 66. I know I've also been on Route 66 in Missouri and Arizona plus I've been at the termination on Santa Monica Pier. But couldn't find anymore of those photos. Thanks for a good excuse to go through lots of old photos 🙂

https://ecency.com/hive-163772/@steven-patrick/kansas-route-66
https://ecency.com/hive-184437/@steven-patrick/ted-drewes-route-66

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(Edited)

I've been on the AZ segment, too.

This sign is in Chicago.

I've heard of Ted Drewes ice cream and would love to visit there.

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Awesome! I love the nostalgia of the small, family run hotels and restaurants. The chessy roadside attractions. The small towns that the highways later bypassed. It was really a big part of America's love affair with the automobile and the open road.

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