In 1966, four of us guys took a trip from Wisconsin to California to see the surfing and cruising scenes that were so popular. We wanted to cruise on Colorado Boulevard, see the Little Old Lady from Pasadena, and run my 65 Chevelle against somebody’s 409. Well, we accomplished most of that stuff, and had a great time doing it, but part of the fun was getting there. At the time, Route 66 was just the road to take to get there. We weren’t aware of the significance that road was having on the country, and couldn’t imagine the importance it would still carry today. I have wanted to take a trip out west on as much of old Route 66 as I could for many years. I knew many sections of the old road are still in use, and most western states mark the historic road pretty well. There are businesses such as motels and restaurants that date back many years that are still in business, and some really cool buildings and neon signs out there. The scenery is breathtaking in some areas, and unique in others. A year ago last November, I bought a 1996 Buick Roadmaster station wagon to make the trip, and have been trying to schedule it ever since. Finally, in April I was able to get away, and the trip lived up to my expectations in many ways. Since Route 66 was officially decommissioned as a federal highway in 1984, and it disappeared from “official” maps at that time, so I bought road maps from antique stores that were printed earlier. I started at home in Dallas and drove to Shamrock, Texas to connect with Route 66. Shamrock has restored the Tower Café and U-Drop Inn that was built in 1936, and they have a restored Magnolia brand service station. On the other side of Texas, Glenrio is a ghost town. And the Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo is in between, as is the center of the 2278 mile route from Chicago to Los Angeles in Adrian, TX. There’s even a rest area on eastbound I-40 dedicated to Route 66. Vega, TX also has a restored Magnolia service station, and this one used to be a stop on the Pickwick Stages bus line in the 1930s. New Mexico provides a great map at their tourist stops, showing how the old road interacts with Interstate 40 all across the state. They have done a great job marking the road and maintaining it. It winds through all of the larger cities in the state, including Albuquerque. An older routing of the road went through Santa Fe, also, but not in recent time. There are several towns of ruins in eastern New Mexico until you get to Santa Rosa. There is an awesome car museum there called the Route 66 Auto Museum. Allow a couple of hours to see all of the rare original and restored cars and memorabilia. Joseph’s Restaurant, operating since 1956, is a great place for lunch or dinner. Gallup has the El Rancho Motel, founded in the 1930s and still serving travelers today. Many famous people have stayed there, but it was sold out when I stopped. Arizona is home to many original buildings that are still operating businesses. Holbrook has the world-famous Wigwam Motel. It was built in 1950, and they still rent out two of the wigwams. The rest have vintage cars parked in front of them. The “corner” in Winslow, Arizona, made famous in the song “Take it Easy,” sung by The Eagles, is on old Route 66. The Museum Bar in Flagstaff has been going since 1931, and is said to be haunted by some previous owners. Shirley and I were snowed in at the club in 1992, but it was 88° this time. Seligman has the famous Snow Cap Drive-In that was started in 1953 still going strong. It is also the point where you turn north to follow a section of the old road that is very well maintained, but goes away from I-40 to connect Peach Springs and Hackberry to the rest of the world. The Hackberry General Store, fronted by a 1957 Corvette, is worth the trip alone. All along the way I kept meeting interesting people living their dreams doing the same thing I was, and this was the “collector” where everyone stopped. Kingman was the planned end of the road for me. I stayed the night and turned around and started home the next day. I drove I-40 back to Shamrock, Texas and then picked up what I could of the old road in Oklahoma. It isn’t marked as good and it isn’t maintained as well in this area, but with the old maps it can be found and traveled on. In fact, some of it is still the old concrete with the expansion joints that makes the “bumpa bumpa bumpa” noise on your tires that many of us remember from our youth. There isn’t much restoration in this part of the state. Most of the older service stations and motels are in various states of disrepair and neglect. Most are closed. The Sand Hills Curiosity Shop (the old City Meat Market) in Erick, OK defies the norm, as it is open selling whatever they can sell and entertaining travelers with a song. Elk City has the National Route 66 Museum, a fascinating place to visit, and it is in a complex of other museums that are just as interesting and complete. Clinton also has a Route 66 museum, but it wasn’t open when I went through. Hydro, OK has Lucille’s classic gas station, and a compelling story of a family making a living selling gasoline on Route 66 since 1941. I had dinner in Yukon, OK at the Fat Elvis Drive-in. A burger smothered in fried onions, french fries, and a tea was less than $5.00! The burger reminded me of the Chatter Box and the fries tasted like Sowatzke’s Drive-in from my home town. Unfortunately, I had to turn south in Oklahoma City and head home to get back to work. I came home after 2600 miles with over 300 pictures, and as many memories. But I’ll be back to do the rest of the old road in Oklahoma as soon as I can. Then, maybe on up to Chicago… Bill Hartley
*sigh* i wish,. i have 2 similar caprice wagons, and 1 rusty winterbeater roady, but there is never enough money to "get away' like there used to be,. The old conversation starter, "if i won a lottery,.." i,d spend a good long time driving route 66 from start to finish, complete with video,. well done and good for you,.nice story, a link to the other 295 pics or so?? Nick
Always wanted to do whole thing. I did some of it in 1991, and a bit more in summer of 1999. Maybe someday. Thanks Bill. Look forward to more great shots.
Thanks for the trip, TG! It's not like the good old days but your trip was fun to follow. I may want to do it again but I always thought that the old stuff would be gone.
We're (GF and I) doing the 66 right now. Started the USA road trip 3 weeks ago in Flint, MI... visited the Buick Performance Group Nationals in OH and after that we headed for Illinois to get on the 66 near Staunton. At this moment we are in CA and today we almost had our fifth thousand mile on the odometer since the start. Traveling not in a station wagon unfortunately, but in a 68 Buick Wildcat. A couple of days ago in a ghost town (Two Guns):
Great write up toy guy. Thanks so much posting it. I've always wanted to take a couple of weeks and cruise the ol' Rte 66. It's such a slice of historic Americana and was the quintessential example of our love for all things with 4 wheels. I'm glad to see they've kept a # of those old businesses going; it would certainly make the drive worthwhile. 75Riv, keep us updated on your progress. You've got a great land yacht in which to travel. My Dad had a '68 4 dr Lesabre very similar to the one pictured below. His had a black vinyl top and was a sedan, not a hardtop. That color was called burnished saddle, as I recall. I don't know of a more comfortable car to take a long drive. Enjoy.
Hey, we did something very similar in late June. Our son lives in Los Angeles, so rather than just doing a quick in and out to visit him, my wife and I made a week-long trip of it, flying into Phoenix, spending a week knocking around Arizona, Nevada, and California, seeing a small part of old Route 66, Las Vegas, Death Valley, the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains from Mono Lake south (including Bodie, California) to L.A., took in an Angels/Rockies game with our son, and then went through Palm Springs, Joshua Tree National Park, and Twentynine Palms before returning to Phoenix to fly home. On our first and second days out there, we drove from Phoenix through Prescott (lovely town, need to retire there) to Kingman via the portion of Route 66 that parallels I-40 starting at exit 139 and swings north through Peach Springs and catches a corner of the Indian reservation before heading back down to Kingman. On the second day, we went southwest out of Kingman along old 66 through Oatman to Topock, where we took a quick detour to Lake Havasu City to see the London Bridge (hey, we were there, what the hell) before turning north to Las Vegas. Route 66 continues into California for a while, dropping south of I-40 for most of the way between Needles and Barstow. We didn't get to drive on that. I've posted some photos of the route 66 portion of the trip on Picasa if anyone cares to take a look. http://picasaweb.google.com/1079454...authkey=Gv1sRgCNmJlvTY96_a1gE&feat=directlink The portion of 66 between Seligman and Kingman was scenic but uneventful. We did find a neat little piece of history a few miles out of Seligman where an old bridge over railroad tracks was left in place, rather than being torn down, when a new bridge was put in. Old 66 pavement is visible there along with the bridge itself, which is in very good shape. Photos are in that link above. Between Kingman and Topock, though, is a different story, with the section between Kingman and Oatman very winding and twisting for the last half with speeds no better than maybe 25 mph possible and no way large tractor-trailers could get through. To reach Oatman, they would have to come from the south or the west. I've been to the "Standing on the Corner" park in Winslow that toyguy refers to three times since 2006. There's a website, of course. http://www.standinonthecorner.com/index.htm I wouldn't make a special trip to see this "park" (really, a street corner), but if you happen to be passing by on I-40, it's definitely worth a stop, since you probably need gas, anyway, and Winslow is as good a place as any to get it. Here's a photo of the "guy" standing on the corner, complete with guitar.
nothing unfortunate about that rob!!!! you should have told me you were looking for a wildcat. buddy of mine has a 66 convertible with a 401 in it. i dont know how much he would want, but he would sell it!
Working sure gets in the way of alot of great stuff! Sounds like you had a memoriable trip. Before we begin our coast to coast tour of our great country. We would like to follow the Nascar tour one full season and see your great country. Yes we're Nascar fans! However, before we start all this touring around we have a daughter in college, a mortgage and Fannie...guess working comes in handy after all.
