Route 66- Mission Accomplished

[RoadDog]

After 13 days on the road, well 12 actually as we spent one full day in Springfield, Il., 3000 miles, lots of gas, lots of motels, and lots of good old road food, we accomplished our goal. We drove Route 66 from End-to-End.

There were sidetrips, backtracks, and many times, we were just really lost. But you see things you wouldn't have when you're lost. As long as it is not in a questionable area, and that happened a few times as well.

Along the way, we attended two festivals, the Route 66 International Festival in Springfield, Il. and the Standing on the Corner Festival in Winslow, Arizona, you know, Standing on the Corner in Winslow, Az..

We met lots of 66 people including Michael Wallis, Bob Waldemire, Dean Walker, Jim Conkle, and Scot Piotrowski. We toured the Painted Desert and Grand Canyon, and got taken at the Meteor Crater. There were people in bars, waitresses, bartenders, diners, gas stations, and other tourists to talk to.

Ran into and had a nice discussion with a busload of English tourists at Ted Drewe's in St. Louis. They couldn't understand why the bus was going back to Springfield after leaving Branson. They though it was back to Springfield, Illinois, where they had been earlier that day. They couldn't imagine two towns in the same country having the same name.

Then there was the big group of Germans on motorcycles that we ran into out at the Grand Canyon and later in Williams, Az. There were also smaller groups of foreign tourists that we met in other places. Lots of Europeans were on the road, no small wonder with exchange rates being what they are today.

There were blinding and beautiful sunsets as we headed west, including one at the three end points in Santa Monica. There were inquiring burros in Oatman, a ghost hunt in Williams at the Canyon Club, classic motels like the Munger-Moss in Lebanon, Mo. and El Rancho in Gallup, NM.

We drove through deserts and across mountains. There were big rivers and small creeks as well as a lot of dry rivers and washouts out west. At times there were only a few feet and NO wall between us and a several hundred foot drop. We visited many great museums and talked to lots of interesting folks.

Then there were all the stops to play NTN and the interesting people we met in those places. There were ruins and resurrections, old places and new ones. Route 66 is definitely not a dead road. It continues to grow and evolve. We lose one thing and gain another, the new Lucille's in Oklahoma.

We left on September 22nd and drove into Chicago and went by all the starting points. We arrived in Santa Monica, after the hardest-to-drive 80 miles of the trip, on October 4th.

I had hoped to make a faster trip, but you just have to stop and talk to people.

All 66ed out, but will do it again...in a couple years.

Keep on Down that Two Lane Highway. --RoadDog

[Mark Sedenquist]

After 13 days on the road, well 12 actually as we spent one full day in Springfield, Il., 3000 miles, lots of gas, lots of motels, and lots of good old road ]food,

Congratulations! Thanks for the field report. Sounds like it was a great trip -- glad you got to meet all of those well-known Route 66 folks, wish I had known you were in the "neighborhood" I would have driven down and met you at some point. I was in Amboy a couple of weeks ago and have been scouting other sections of the local Route 66 recently.

Thanks again,

Mark

[lhuff]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I really enjoyed your report.

Foreign Tourists - reminds me of when I lived in New Orleans. I took the streetcar in to work every morning my final semester of college. I have one of those faces that screams "Trust Me". So I would often get asked for directions by tourists (one guy even paid me a dollar once). Anyway - I wound up escorting a group of about 15 tourists from Israel from the Streetcar line all the way down to the Cafe Du Monde one morning because no one in the group spoke enough English for me to just give directions. I was kind of scared leaving them there alone, but figured that they could at least find their way back to the streetcar line and their hotel.

[wizzkitt]

Congratulations on the trip, RoadDog - I'm very envious because, much as I'd like to, I doubt I'll ever be able to do the full length, or at least all at once.

I was in Amboy a couple of weeks ago [/URL]and have been scouting other sections of the local Route 66 recently.

Has the new owner started any work on Roy's? It was in a fairly parlous state when I passed by last November.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Has the new owner started any work on Roy's? It was in a fairly parlous state when I passed by last November.

I don't think anything has changed on the property in the last 2-3 years.

Mark

[RoadDog]

The whole town was bought (possibly on E-Bay) by Albert Okura, who owns the Juan Pollo restaurant chain in California. We couldn't see that anything had been done to it although he reportedly does have plans for it.

He also owns the site of the original McDonald brothers restaurant on San Bernarndino, quite a businessman. At least, on the face of it, he seems to have a genuine interest in retaining some of the old roadside stuff.

Yes, that was quite the trip. Something we've been wanting to do since we got interested in old roads back in 2002.

Keep on Down that Two Lane Highway. --RoadDog

Missed that shoe tree though.

[PNW Judy]

Hey Roaddog! Thanks for the trip report.

It's possible I might be doing Route 66 in June 2007 with a car club. There are many guides out there to the Mother Road. Could you share which ones you used the most and thought were the most helpful?

And any other hints for a great trip would be appreciated. And, of course, I'm going to be searching the archives here for other helpful info. Thanks!

[RoadDog]

We used Jerry McClannahan's "EZ Guide to Route 66" which was very helpful. Lots of maps, written directions, and information about must-see places. Also, he has a scavenger hunt which was fun to do.

Plus, I highly recommend David Wickline's "Images of 66" book. This is a remarkable collection of pictures. You really don't even need to bring a camera to photograph places as he has most of them right in his book, along with informative information on them.

We had people sign the book as we went along.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Could you share which ones you used the most and thought were the most helpful?

For armchair travels,this guide compiled by Guy Randal is about the best there is. And, of course, we have a few more resources online here.

Mark

[PNW Judy]

It's nice to hear from folks who have actually been out on The Mother Road and like the resources they used. I'll check out the EZ Guide a bit more.

And, Mark, I've read through Guy's site and it IS amazing. Lots of good stuff. Makes me wish I had a laptop to take with me. I'd hate to think of printing all that out. And this site has lots of other great Route 66 resources. Believe me, I've been pouring over them.