By the 1920s, the automobile picnic outing had become a national phenomenon. Cars allowed people to escape crowded cities, and rural residents also took advantage of the increased mobility furnished by the automobile. The Sunday car ride and picnic became a favorite family pastime, and the Ford Model T proved durable enough to handle rough country roads. People who had never traveled more than a few miles from home began to explore the American countryside. This area had been a transportation crossroads since Isaac Funk arrived in Funks Grove in 1824. One of Isaac's sons led a campaign to build the first hard road in McLean County, and to drive on it, a grandson built the county's first automobile. Situated almost midway between Chicago and St. Louis, Route 66 ran through Funks Grove beginning in 1926, and John Steinbeck later immortalized Route 66 in his book The Grapes of Wrath.