I Got My Kicks on Route 66

If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!

Swa Frantzen

For those old enough to remember, there was a show on television called Route 66.  And it was about two guys, Tod and Buz, in a red corvette who traveled Route 66.  There was a different story every week about their adventures along the way.  It was on TV from 1960 to 1964.

Route 66 earned the title “Main Street of America” because it wound through small towns across the Midwest and Southwest, lined by hundreds of cafés, motels, gas stations, and tourist attractions.  It is also quite often called the "Mother Road".

Store near Kingman, AZ

Beginning in the late 1950s and continuing gradually over the next 25 years, old Route 66 was bypassed section by section as the high-speed Interstate highways were completed. Finally, in 1984, when the last stretch of freeway was finished, Route 66 was officially decommissioned; the old route is now designated Historic Route 66.  You can drive the entire byway in four or five days, but to enjoy it, plan for several days per state.  Not all of Route 66 is accessible, as the new highways were sometimes built right over the old road, so now in order to drive the entire route, some of it will have to be done on major freeways.  Interstate 40 covers quite a bit of the old Route 66.  You should also get a good map that shows where the bypasses to 66 are.  AAA carries a nice guide map to Route 66, it is in their bookstore section and there is a charge for it.  The road goes from Los Angeles, California to Chicago, Illinois, over 2400 miles.

During the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of farm families, displaced from the Dust Bowl, made their way west along Route 66 to California.  After World War II many more families came west on the "Mother Road" to find jobs in sunny Southern California.  Today, the charm, the history, and the atmosphere that make up Route 66 bring travelers from all over the world to experience America the way it used to be. 

Cadillac Ranch

Route 66 passes through a marvelous cross-section of American scenes, from the sunshine of Los Angeles, past the Grand Canyon and the Native American communities of the desert Southwest, to the streets of St. Louis and Chicago.  Along the way there are many sights to see.  In Missouri there are the Fantastic Caverns where you are driven through the caverns in a car/train type vehicle.  In Amarillo, Texas you can visit Cadillac Ranch.  There you will see a line of old Cadillacs half-buried nose-first in the ground.  It is visible from the highway, and though it is located on private land, visiting it (by driving along a frontage road and entering the pasture by walking through an unlocked gate) is encouraged.  In addition, writing graffiti on or otherwise spray-painting the vehicles is also encouraged, and the vehicles, which have long since lost their original colors, are wildly decorated.

Winslow, AZ

In Arizona there are many sights along Route 66, including the Petrified Forest, The Meteor Crater, and the Grand Canyon.  You can stop and spend the night in a concrete Wigwam, or have dinner at the Road Kill Cafe.  And why not stop and stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona - reminscent of the old Eagles song.

There are many other sights along the way, and lots of diners and cafes that have stayed in business over the years because of the popularity of the old highway.  The road ends at the Santa Monica Pier.

Whether you are motivated by an interest in its history, feel a nostalgic yearning for the good old days the route has come to represent, or simply want to experience firsthand the amazing diversity of people and landscapes that line its path, Route 66 offers an unforgettable journey into America, then and now.

Here are a few websites that will help with planning a driving trip on Route 66:
www.historic66.comwww.drivingroute66.com
http://www.national66.com/
http://www.route66.org/
http://www.oklahomaroute66.com/
http://www.missouri66.org/
http://www.bygonebyways.com/

Remember the old Burma Shave signs along the highway?  They are all along Route 66.  This one says - Big Mistake, Many Make, Rely on Horn, Instead of Brake, Burma Shave.  As a kid I always loved reading those.