Across the USA - Route 66

We realized quickly into our trip that Route 66 - that famous highway across America - was part of our route! As we were leaving Branson, we hit Hwy 49 south and then hit Interstate 40 which would take us all the way west. We realized as we were driving past Oklahoma City on the way to Weatherford, Oklahoma, that we were ON Route 66! My job of course as the passenger was to "entertain" the driver. I downloaded the Route 66 turn-by-turn app which was invaluable on this part of our road trip. I learned that there are reasons one can no longer drive the entire "main street of America". In most cases, travel was made more convenient, safer and faster by building multi-lane interstate highways and less large but none-the-less faster state freeways. Those who remember the old Route 66 television show would think that the two-lane road stretching across America was a well-traveled, somewhat romantic way to go west with all sorts of road-side attractions, hotels and gas stations. Probably was back in the 40's - 60's and possibly even into the 70's before travelers become accustomed to driving the new super highways. Little known

fact - there are three actual "Route 66" roads, one route popular in 1926-1936, another upgraded road 1936-1964 which was actually decommissioned in 1985 and the current route which uses a lot of freeways and was designated "National Scenic Byway" in 1987. As we drove, Route 66 was actually on the frontage road moving along side I-40. Sometimes the road would move off into less traveled towns, some of which are no longer there. Parts of the the earlier road are also no longer there - some is impassable due to neglect and disrepair and some has disappeared, like the portion in Kingman, Arizona, where they built the airport over the original mother road! We were in Amarillo, Texas, for a few days and were able to walk on a portion of the historic road and, using the app, were able to get an idea where the original sites may have been. Our favorite part was in Kingman, Arizona. We spent five nights there before we needed to be in Vegas and we spent two full days driving the actual Route 66. To the North was a two-lane portion driving through small almost

non-existent towns but those that were left made the most of their popularity. Southbound, out of Kingman toward Oatman, was the scariest part of road I've ever been on. It was so twisty and turn-y, up high mountains and around hair-pin curves with nothing on the down side but air. Parts of Route 66 felt like we were driving into rocks and other parts felt like we would fly off the edge. All along the way, we were reminded of the allure of driving to nowhere - we kind of felt like that, too. With no particular destination in mind, we understood how the dreamers of the 50's and 60's felt like their destiny was the west.

Some day, if you can, pick up Route 66 in Chicago. Somewhere downtown is a marker indicating the start of the famous highway. And, if you can't drive it all the way to the ocean in Santa Monica, California, put the top down, grab a malted and drive as much of Route 66 as you can. You won't be disappointed!!

I had to add this one last photo - while this was taken along Route 66, it was such a testament to the beautiful scenery we saw in this part of the country. The beautiful color of the rocks was unexpected and completely engaging!