John Steinbeck called Route 66 the Mother Road. Of course, since John Steinbeck coined the term, it stuck. This road connected America, running from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. It was a way for every American to see America. It was also founded on the path that people used to escape their parts of America. The “Okies” who came from pretty much any Middle America state to California were escaping the Dust Bowl. Others were escaping the poverty of the Great Depression in hopes that somewhere down the road was a better place. #JohnSteinbeck, of course, wrote about this in the wonderful book, #TheGrapesofWrath.
And, then interstates happened. I-40 now takes you from North Carolina straight across the country to California in an unwavering, arrow-straight line. Newsman Charles Kuralt said, “Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.” Route 66 was curved, winding, going from interesting place to interesting place, town to town. Because of this, it’s also known as Main Street USA. And, back in the 50’s, when America was filled with wonder of space and dinosaurs and a desire to beat world records, so many fun things were added to this amazing street’s roadside. Many of these roadside attractions stand strong today and beg to be seen, visited. From giant dinosaurs to aliens to Tee-Pee motels and old style hotels and burger joints, it has everything. I say “burger joints” not fast food stops. No. These are chrome covered, neon-lit, diners! Movies don’t have scenes in McDonalds and Burger King, nope, they have scenes in burger joints…because they are cooler!
Sometimes, don’t take the straight shot when going somewhere. If your destination allows, make the time to hit this well-travelled memorial to America’s past and America itself. Today, it’s a bit harder to follow Route 66 as it now overlaps with other, newer roads and much of it is in decay. But you can find maps on how to best follow it, and some of the most preserved areas are well marked. These maps will show you that when you’re on highway whatever or I-40 that you’re ALSO on Route 66. And, everything from small towns to big cities will have markers proudly displaying their sections of Route 66.
I’ve never driven it all the way from Chicago to Santa Monica, but in 4 different trips, I’ve driven much of it in every state that it’s in. People pick their favorite sections. Their favorite towns. Their favorite scenery. Their favorite kitschy blasts from the past aka Americana. And, that’s just it, there are so many reasons to enjoy this road. In Missouri, you go through the Ozark Mountains. In Arizona, you go through the desert. See the Route 66 Museum in Kingman, Arizona, the #Powerhouse Route 66 Museum. Stay in the #WigwamVillageMotel6 in Holbrook, Arizona. See a rebuilt old-style gas station and cabins, #CoolSpringsCabins, as it would’ve been found on historic Route 66 in its heyday in Oatman, Arizona with the Black Mountains in the background. See the #ApacheTradingPosts in Lupton, Arizona including the world’s largest tee-pee! You can also jump off the road as needed to venture out short distances to natural wonders like the #GrandCanyon, #AntelopeCanyons, #PetrifiedForest, or the #PaintedDesert.
Jump over to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the world’s largest hot air balloon festival, #AlbuquerqueBalloonFiesta and see the many Route 66 highlights of that city, such as #KellysBrewPub (which used to be a car dealership and still very much looks like it used to), #Route66Diner, El Vado Auto Court Motel (and a number of other motels from back then) and #KimoTheater. #Roswell’s aliens, while not on Route 66, have a home with the Route 66 road trip and is a short drive off the road and filled with kitsch! Stay in the famous Route 66 hotel in Gallup, the #ElRancho, that hosted Hollywood’s elite back in the day, including everyone from John Wayne and Ronald Reagan Betty Grable to Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart and Doris Day and Spencer Tracy. This list goes on and on and on.
In Oklahoma, you can see the #NationalCowboyandWesternHeritageMuseum, complete with a rodeo hall of fame and a great Dust Bowl exhibit. In Missouri, in a town called Cuba, you can see the World’s largest Rocking Chair at a nice little roadside, Route 66 shop.
But, one of my favorite stops in near Amarillo, Texas, the #CadillacRanch. An art group called The Ant Farm created this public art installation in 1974, which is free to see. A number of Cadillacs have their front ends buried in the dirt with their back ends sticking up out of the ground. The leaning angle of the cars is supposed to match the angle of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The cars have been spray painted constantly by visiting tourists over the years (don’t worry, that’s what’s supposed to happen). So, when you go, take your spray paint and paint whatever you’d like on the cars. Most, like us, paint their names. We didn’t take a paint can with us, but, luckily, there was enough half emptied cans around the cars for others to use. So many people visit this place daily that whatever you paint in the morning has probably been painted over by that evening!
The sights to see are endless. Join the millions that have followed this historic path and see what you’re missing when you go straight. See what you’re missing when you are only thinking about the destination. See the journey.
