At noon, we made our annual visit to the Cozy Dog, and I once again made my yearly attempt on the home invention (the corn dog, known here as the cozy dog). Like last year, my Cowlifornian enzymes just aren’t quite up to the task of these Midwestern deep-fried canines…but I’ll work it out, nothing some serious swingin’ won’t cure.

Chris was on duty and generously took good care of us, this is ground zero for any route 66 sojourn and we already made plans for our return. It is part diner, part museum and all gathering spot, fun fun fun! Check out some of the pics, Jackson showed his artistic side…both on and off the bandstand.

Then we met up with Flynn Hanners, (another example of the amazing fortune one has when one leaves themselves open to it) who is a Master Sergeant with the Illinois State Police Academy and he brought us out the Illinois State Police Heritage Foundation, on Route 66, where we saw an original 1966 cop car, in full working order…what memories, not that I have any personal experience with one of these, mom, I swear I wasn’t driving that day, no matter what the eyewitnesses say, ten-year olds all look alike!

The foundation has a variety of cool stuff and the new Museum looks to be yet another must-see on the storied road. At this rate, we’ll be lucky to make the state line… but at least we know someone in high places.

This just in from Stefan Youngs, manager of the Cow Bop newsroom:

FLASH - COWBOP 2005 TOUR AVERTS EARLY DISASTER
AP News
From E.I. Addio Music Correspondent

As celebrated swing band Cow Bop started off on their Annual Route 66
Tour, bandleader Bruce 'Axe' Forman faced a potentially disastrous
situation.

Flighty songstress diva Pinto 'Patsy' Pammy had forgotten one of her
stage hats! She'd left it in one of the specially constructed sheds
back in Carmel Valley.

'Without the hats, Pinto is lost' claimed Forman 'the gal tries her
best of course, but hatless she's clueless'.

So Bruce called up an old buddy from his infamous Hell's Angels days,
when he made his reputation with outrageous heavy metal riffs
standing on his Harley as it roared along Highway 1.

'I was real happy to oblige' said tattooed Mad Pig McSweeney ' once
an Angel always an Angel, we're always ready to help an old brother,
even one who’s gone soft and cuddly like Bruce. I just packed the hat
in an old sheet and set off down the road'.

There it is, all the news that’s fit to print! Back to 66:

Turasky’s, a killer steak house way out in the three grain silo town of Dawson was where the evenin’s festivities took place. We ate, hung, then swung in 4/4 time to the clinking of dollar beer, and the Cardinals—their local team, the White Sox just clinched, and now with the Cards leading and looking likely everybody’s happy and really into it, but hey, we dealt with the playoffs in gold country last year, and what’s more American than baseball? Cow Bop! Jazz and Cowboys…come on!

Uncle Lew graced us with some tunes, and a particularly hip version of Caravan, it had an Illinois twang to it that would have made Abe sit up and take notice. His pal Kenny Rogers (that Kenny Rogers?) sat in on the drums and rode the set like a veteran hand, I think he’d done it a few thousand times before.

Well, we’re off to the catsup bottle in the am, it’s a good thing, feelin a bit french-fried at this point…adios!

A gentle reminder: We are doing this to support JazzMasters Workshop, a no charge music-mentoring programs for kids. Please consider a per mile pledge, we’d appreciate it. You can do it right from this site! Thanks!