Hello Everyone,
Before Bloomington, Illinois, is a little town called Towanda. There is a Mystery Geocache along the Route, but not having confidence in solving puzzles, I skipped it. If you have the time and energy for puzzles, I suggest you try RT66-IL: Towanda (GC1DHNC, hid by wvhillbilly59, 5 favorite points).
There is another geocache in town at neat park called Boyd-Wesley Park. There is off street parking and a short walk to the cache. The geocache is called, To Wanda on Route 66 (GC6611X, hid by DebbieG, 1 favorite point). It is also a great place to picnic if you need an eating break in your day.
When I prepared for geocaches in Bloomington, I studied the two paths Route 66 took over the years I couldn’t find any geocaches that was Route-Related for my trip. I put a couple of sounds-sort-of-interesting geocaches on my list, but lost interest as I drove through town. There is a population of over 75,000 in Bloomington, but being totally Route 66 friendly, it is not. One of the reasons my interest receded was that Bloomington didn’t seem to embrace The Mother Road and it’s history. If you look up Bloomington, Illinois on Wikipedia there is only one mention of Route 66 when it talks about their McLean County Museum of History. The feeling I got as I drove through town was this was a college town and they don’t need Route 66.
After Bloomington, Route 66 clips the small town of Shirley and has a fun little geocache called, Shirley there’s gotta be something here! (GC3E42C, hid by pawprintlogic1, 4 favorite points). A neat little place to find a geocache and works as a warm up for finds in Funk’s Grove.
Here is what it says about Funk’s Grove on theroadwanderer.net .
"Funks Grove is a pleasant place amidst a hectic world. In the stillness of the grove it’s hard to believe that the Interstate with its frenzied traffic is just a couple of miles away. You are in a different world here. But now you know all about the less traveled road that will take you to yet another magical place. A place to rest and gather your strength. I would have to say that Funks Grove is one of my favorite places along Route 66 in Illinois. There’s timelessness about this place that goes back almost two hundred years. It has a fascinating history too.
In 1824 Isaac Funk found a large stand of native Maple trees growing on the Illinois prairie here. Being a foresighted man he located his farm in the grove and set about building a family business that has lasted almost 180 years! Little did Isaac know that a hundred years later a celebrated highway would pass by his front door! I would hazard to say the Funk's family business just might be the oldest family business along all of Route 66!
In the early years, Isaac and his sons started making maple sirup for personal use. They cooked the sap down in kettles over a fire. In 1860 Isaac's son, Isaac II, took over production of the maple sirup. Arthur Funk, Isaac II's son opened the first commercial sirup camp here in 1891.
Lawrence, Arthur's brother, took over production in 1896. The reins of control were passed to Hazel Funk Holmes in the 1920s. It was during this time period that Route 66 was finished near the sirup camp. Foresight must run in the Funk family because Hazel arranged for her timber and farmland to be protected by a trust insuring that the Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup would be around for generations to come. In this same trust she expressed her wish for the traditional spelling of sirup with an "i" to be used. In her honor the Funk family still uses that spelling today. See I didn't misspell sirup at all!
In 1947, Stephen Funk, son of Lawrence, and his wife Glaida, took over the operation. Stephen and his son Mike formed a partnership in the late 1970s. Stephen and Glaida retired in 1988 and Mike and his wife Debby took over the business. The sugar house now being used was built in that year and continues to serve as the heart of the operation as well as a great little gift shop too. Debby and Mike Funk continue the fine family traditions lay down by previous generations of Funks at Funks Grove.
The famous grove is one of the prettiest places along Route 66 in Illinois. Even the Illinois DOT realized this when they built the Interstate for they located a rest area in Funks Grove also. The Illinois Route 66 Association has set up a fine exhibit on Route 66 at the Funks Grove Rest Area too. If you must travel the super-slab at least you can stop at the rest area to savor the atmosphere of the place and check out the cool Route 66 exhibit to boot."
I went the place where they make the sirup but it was getting late and everything was closed up. Did get a couple pictures though.
The geocache I found nearby was Curvy 2, or Funks Grove - Country Road Series (GC1N1G0, hid by wvhillbilly59, 2 favorite points). It’s worth the stop.
Further down the road is a series of geocaches called, Sugar Grove Trails. I didn’t stop for these. It was getting late and it was getting close to finding a place to stay.
That’s it for now. Next time I find a cache in McLean and find something big in Atlanta.
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I had the time of my life on Route 66. I think you would too. But don't take my word for it...Go Experience It For Yourself.
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