Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

On Wednesday, we took a walk across the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge that connects Madison, IL with St. Louis, MO over the Mississippi River.

The bridge was built in 1929 and was part of old Route 66. It was open to vehicular traffic for about 40 years, and in 1999 became a pedestrian bridge. At about a mile long, it looks like it goes on forever! I guess you don’t usually think about how long bridges are when you’re zipping across them in a car!

But if you look closely, you’ll notice the most remarkable feature of the bridge…a 30-degree turn that was added to the design to make the waters below easier for boats to navigate.

It’s a truly impressive bend…I can’t really imagine actually driving across it!

One of the reasons the waters of the Mississippi are tough to navigate at this point, besides the eponymous “chain of rocks” under the water, are the two “castles” (originally water intake towers) adjacent to the bridge.

There are a few references to Route 66 along the way:

It is an outstanding example of engineering!

There are gates at each end of the bridge that are presumably closed from sunset to sunrise:

We walked from one state to another…and back!

This was our first Route 66-themed field trip for this year’s summer school…I have a few more planned that I’m also really excited about!

Chickadee Thursday

One last look at our trip to Chicagoland…this time, at the Umbrella Sky Project in Elmhurst.

And a first glimpse at this year’s Route 66 Centennial-themed summer school, with a field trip to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge:

Graduation Gallery

Now that all five of the children have had one form of a graduation or another, I updated the photo gallery on the wall going up our stairs to reflect their achievements. Here’s a look at the pictures I chose:

  • Turkey–BS in Mathematics, UMSL, 2026
  • Bunny–BA in History, WKU, 2025
  • Moose–Belleville West High School Class of 2024
  • Ladybug–Veritas Academy High School Class of 2025
  • Chickadee–Veritas Academy Junior High Class of 2026

10 Years of Combo Breaker Family Photos

I didn’t know what a huge part of our lives Combo Breaker would become back when we went for the first time in 2016, but we still took a family photo while we were there, and we’ve taken a similar photo every year since. There are two less images than there should be, since the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, but we took four pictures at the old Pheasant Run, and this year broke the tie, with five at the Renaissance in Schaumburg.

These pictures rival our Christmas and Easter photos for the ones that mean the most to me every year…Combo Breaker has become a huge part of all of our lives, and one of the top events on our yearly calendar!

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2026 Getaway–Day Seven

Last Monday we had to get all of our stuff packed in the car so we could head home…but first, Chickadee and I had one last Red Bull toast:

It was hard to say goodbye to the place we had called home for almost a week!

I had one short detour planned for our trip home…we stopped by the Umbrella Sky Project in Elmhurst. It was the first time we all got to see the umbrellas in the open position, and the first time any of us had seen the installation in sunlight instead of clouds and rain!

Just like we did on the way up, we stopped at Wally’s on the way back:

And of course we had Portillo’s for lunch:

We even stopped at a Jewel in Normal…it’s funny to me to see one so far outside Chicagoland!

The rest of the trip was quiet, and soon we found ourselves back home, with our memories of Combo Breaker 2026 fresh in our minds!