Welcome to my Route 66 Road Trip and a Journey Into Our Past. Some of you may not know the history of Route 66 so I will provide a very brief introduction. Route 66 is also known as "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road". It was the predecessor to our current interstate system and connected the East to the West. It was true Americana, connecting many small towns along its route and giving rise to many Mom and Pop shops including restaurants, service stations, and stores.
Today, much of the highway has been replaced or renamed but I am told as much as 85% of the route is still drive-able . This is not as easy as saying I will just drive down a road. Parts of the original Route 66 are now part of our interstate system, have been renamed, or carry a street name as it flows through cities and towns.
The Highway System and most guide books has Route 66 starting in Chicago, IL and running to Santa Monica, CA or East to West. I will be doing the route from West to East which adds a little bit of a twist in following guide documents. In other words, I will finish before I get started. Just call me "Backwards Dave"!
The official length of Route 66 was 2,448 miles when it was established on November 11, 1926. It passes through 8 states. A number of realignments have occurred to the highway through the years which has altered the mileage in many publications. It was not completely paved until 1938 and was decommissioned as a US Highway in 1985.
I will be using multiple sources to drive on as much of Historic Route 66 as possible. They include:
EZ66 Guide for Travelers, 4th Edition, Jerry McClanahan
Greetings from Route 66, Voyageur Press
Google Earth
Google Maps
My car GPS
... and of course, just plan ole Google
You are welcome to continue to follow me on a map of my retirement journey by right clicking here and clicking "Open link..." Note that the map is a general idea of where I am as software limitations prevent me from plotting an ideal Route 66 map. I will be making periodic updates at the bottom of the blog, separated by state.
The journey begins here...
California (completed, last post April 23, 2019)
The official end to Route 66 is the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Olympic in Santa Monica, CA. Finding this as somewhat of an unexciting end of the road, it was unofficially extended to Santa Monica Pier and the Pacific Ocean that lies underneath. I began my journey on Good Friday at Mels Drive-In (the apostrophe was added to Mels by Hollywood) which sits right on the corner of Lincoln and Olympic. Traffic out of Los Angeles to Las Vegas is gridlock on a Friday night so I needed to start my trip a little later. After having a grilled tuna sandwich and fries at Mels, I headed out of town around 7:00 p.m. on Santa Monica Blvd., Sunset Blvd., Colorado Blvd and... well, I think you get the picture. The only way one knows these roads are part of the original Route 66 is through maps, documentation, and maybe an occasional historic marker.
Did you wonder why I was driving at night? The lights are much brighter! Chris's Burgers in Rialto, CA.
Not all towns survived when the Interstate System diverted traffic away from small towns. Amboy, CA is one of those towns (photos top left and lower right below). Needles, CA continues to move forward with some existence in the top right and lower left photos. Notice the mileage difference on the wall mural (2,448 official mileage versus 2,278 on the mural).
Oatman, CA is now noted as the town with the burros. After WWI, gold was mined here but at the beginning of WWII the miners had to be diverted to mine for copper so the mines where shut down and the burros were left to roam the streets and hillsides. The guy (or gal, I didn't check) in the lower right appears to be waiting for the store to open.
Driving out of Oatman towards Kingman, AZ was a very interesting experience. I am not one for heights, roads along cliffs, hairpin turns, and no guide rails but that is exactly what I experienced. The speed limit was posted at 15 or 20 miles per hour along the way. I did wonder who in the hell would make a national road like this! I did get a little anxious and I did pray. I later learned in Wikipedia...
"Several places were dangerous: more than one part of the highway was nicknamed "Bloody 66" and gradually work was done to realign these segments and remove the dangerous curves. However, one section through the Black Mountains outside Oatman, Arizona, was fraught with hairpin turns and was the steepest along the entire route, so much so that some early travelers, too frightened at the prospect of driving such a potentially dangerous road, hired locals to navigate the winding grade. The section remained as US 66 until 1953 and is still open to traffic today as the Oatman Highway.'
And no, I didn't stop for pictures!
Arizona (completed, last post May 7, 2019)
Kingman, AZ uses Route 66 to attract tourism into the town.
Mr. D'z in Kingman. Of course I had to stop with my name beginning with a "D". It was a patty melt and fries here. I had to get a tee shirt too but all they had left in my size was a deep pink. Oh well. As my nephew told me, I wear the color well. I think he was being honest...
I have taken a little detour off of Route 66 to head to Summerlin, NV (west side of Las Vegas) to spend Easter with my sister and her husband. I will be back on the road on May 1st for a day and then at my daughter's wedding from May 2nd thru May 5th in Sedona, AZ. I will be back on Route 66 heading East on May 6th.
I'm still on the detour to Summerlin, NV but I thought I would share some photos from the area, including Las Vegas, before I leave for Sedona, AZ. I found the below picture on my bed when I arrived at my sister's home. I guess I have my own bedroom there now and I am always welcome. At least that is what I took from the picture being there.
Clockwise from top left: Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada sign, Eiffel Tower, and Harrah's.
Clockwise from top left: The Venetian, The Bellagio, The Mirage, Treasure Island.
Evening in Vegas, minus the people, except the one in the top right.
Bone graveyard for old Vegas neon signs that are now starting to be preserved by a non-profit organization. Notice the photo on the left advertises "Refrigeration" for air conditioning and the photo on the top right advertising "Steamed Heat".
The Hard Rock guitar has now been donated to the museum as the Hard Rock Casino has been purchased and is being refurbished and re-branded. The guitar stands 83 feet high. Due to the expense, most neon signs are leased (and not purchased) by the casinos for 10 years and then returned to the creator after the lease period. The creator in many cases will reuse as much as they can from the old signage and then toss the rest in a "graveyard" behind their business.
A light show to "Las Vegas" music is conducted by the museum at nighttime using numerous old signs that are no longer in operating order. The signs come to life with the use of lights and lasers, with a laser beam representing one of the old light bulbs on the sign.
Scenes from the Bellagio Observatory with the theme of "Japanese Spring".
One more photo of the observatory and some other photos to show that I was actually in Vegas (lol).
There is another side of Vegas that is calm and peaceful off of the strip. We actually had rain, thunder, and lightning on my visit which is highly unusual. I captured the below photos as the storm was rolling in.
I have some other pictures from Fremont street in Las Vegas that I am unable to publish here but if you bump into me and would like to see them, let me know. Some things have to stay in Vegas and some things have to stay in the camera! I will be back to Route 66 shortly.
Back on the Road
It's been a pretty fast paced week since I last posted so I will try to do some catch up here. I put Las Vegas in my rear view mirror and headed for another day of Route 66 exploration but to do so, I first needed to get back to where I left Route 66, in Kingman, AZ. I saw this rock formation with a cave entrance along the way so I decided to stop and explore. There wasn't much to the cave, no rattlers or scorpions, so I was a bit disappointed (well not really). I noticed some desert flowers on the hike.
After jumping back on Route 66 where I left off, I stopped by the Ramada Motel for some photos of this historic motel.
I drove through Peach Springs and then on to Seligman, AZ. I was getting hungry about this time so I stopped at the "Roadkill Cafe" for a late lunch. The food I ate was better than what I would expect for roadkill but come to think of it, I stayed away from the meat entrees.
An old police car and Volkswagen van in Seligman.
Tow truck in Silegman and a truck in Williams, AZ., my next stop along Route 66.
More cars outside a restaurant in Williams. Isn't the pink great? If only I lived back then (lol, or am I serious?)
You remember the grade school exercise. Here we go again. Which one is not like the rest?
If you said the lower left, you are correct! All the rest have somewhat normal skin tones. Heading out of Williams to Flagstaff, AZ., I captured this scenery. Again, pictures don't do it justice.
The Galaxy Diner in Flagstaff. I ate here twice, once for breakfast and once for lunch when I was taking my son back to the Flagstaff Airport. He said it was the best Apple Pie a la Mode he had in a long time!
Sedona, AZ Side Trip
From Flagstaff I took a side trip to Sedona, AZ for some sightseeing and my daughter's wedding. I drove Route 89A out of Flagstaff which started as an easy trip through the Coconino National Forest but soon became a drive of hairpin turns and switchbacks as I descended from the over 6,000 feet elevation of Flagstaff to the 4,000 feet elevation in Sedona. No vehicle over 50 feet is permitted on the roadway which posts a speed limit of 20 to 25 mile per hour for obvious reasons. To get back to Flagstaff, I took Route 179 and Interstate 17, a much calmer ride. Sedona is completely surrounded by the Coconino National Forest which causes the town (population 10,000) to be landlocked and real estate to be very expensive.
The red sandstone formations and canyons where absolutely amazing to see and there is no wondering why my daughter and her now husband fell in love with Sedona. The entire area was at the bottom of the sea 330 million years ago (not my estimate, scientists did that one) and different events through time created the layers and coloration in the rock.
I took a two-hour off-road Pink Jeep Tour which was a lot of fun and a worthwhile experience. I definitely would do one again and maybe even have it be more difficult as the tour operator offers varying degrees of ride times and challenges. Below are just a few of the photos I took while on the tour.
The morning after the wedding, instead of going to Disney World, I took a flight in a helicopter over Sedona. Here are a few video clips...
The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic chapel built into the buttes of Sedona and is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. The chapel, which was completed in 1957, is open to all regardless of creed for meditation and reflection. No services are held in the chapel.
Oh, in case you wanted to see a couple of wedding pictures...
Grand Canyon, South Rim, Side Trip
After dropping my son off at the Flagstaff Airport for his continued vacation on to San Francisco to visit with some friends, I decided to head up to the Grand Canyon since I was only about 80 miles away. The radio (1610 AM) said the National Park entrance was a 30 minute wait so I decided to guess what, take a helicopter over the Southern Rim! Little odd for a guy afraid of heights to ride in a helicopter twice in the same day but, I love helicopters. I left these pictures as singles for better viewing. There was a little reflection off of the glass.
Maybe the following clip will give you view of what it is like to go over the rim edge...
After leaving the Grand Canyon area, there was a prescribed burn (intentionally set fire) occurring in Coconino National Forest that I took some photos of while driving on the interstate. It was very colorful at night and right along the interstate in some areas. According to Inciweb, fire is a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem, and a restoration tool that cannot be replaced by any mechanical means. Forests need frequent, low-intensity fire to remove accumulated smaller fuels and recycle nutrients into the soils to promote healthy vegetation and wildlife habitat. A healthier forest is a safer forest for firefighters and residents when wildfires inevitably occur.
Back on Route 66
My next stop on Route 66 is just an intersection but it was made very famous by the Eagles (the band). Written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, “Take It Easy” was The Eagles' first single, released on May 1, 1972. It peaked at #12 on the July 22, 1972 Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Well, I'm a standing on a corner In Winslow, Arizona And such a fine sight to see It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford Slowin' down to take a look at me"
Yep, I was standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona... pretty early in the morning to capture a "people-less photo"... and I was not a fine sight to see!
From Winslow, it was on to Holbrook, AZ where one of three remaining Wigwam Motels (or "Wigwam Villages") is still entertaining guests. There is another Wigwam Motel along Route 66 in San Bernardino, CA and the third is located in Cave City, KY. There were originally 7 motels in the chain. The Holbrook location was built in 1950 with 15 wigwams. On the National Register of Historic Places, this site was staged with period automobiles outside all of the wigwams.
Petrified Forest National Park/Painted Dessert Side Trip
Close to Holbrook, is the entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park which includes the Painted Dessert. You are not permitted to remove any petrified wood from the park and there is a car search checkpoint at the end of the scenic route in either direction.
The wood has not been cut. The settling of a heavy quartz log causes cracks and eventually breaks. Because it is the shortest distance for the crack to grow, the logs break perpendicular to their length, like a piece of brittle chalk. The repeating perpendicular breaks make the logs look like they were sawed or cut. How long does it take a tree to petrify? The initial stages may only take decades, but it takes millions of years for the silica's molecular changes to result in colorful crystalline quartz. (courtesy of the National Forest Service)
Blooms in the Petrified Forest...
The Painted Dessert...
I zoomed in on this photo to create a painting effect...
New Mexico (completed, last post May 12, 2019)
Built in 1936, the historic El Rancho hotel in Gallup, NM was home of the movie stars who filmed Westerns in the area throughout the late 1930's and the 1940's.
After leaving Gallup, I encountered threatening skies that formed a nice backdrop for some photos. Fortunately, the storms stayed to the North.
The Hiway House motel in Albuquerque, NM continues to operate today. The motor hotel chain was founded in 1956 by Del Webb, a construction magnate who owned the New York Yankees and later created the Sun City retirement communities. The Albuquerque motel was built in 1958. For other motels, like the Zia Motor Lodge, all that is left is a deteriorating sign. Car parking spaces, that had carports to stay up with the competition, can be seen but the structures had become home to druggies, criminals and traveling street people so they were demolished. It is a common site along Route 66 but in many cases there are still structures that are being destroyed by the elements and time.
The Whiting Brothers gasoline station chain, at its peak, had more than a 100 filling stations with more than 40 on Route 66. Sal Lucero's repair garage in Moriarty, NM is the last active station to still display the original Whiting Bros. signage. The chain offered stamps (similar to S&H green stamps - remember those?) to be pasted in a booklet and redeemed for discounts or items in their stores. The businesses began to decline in the 1970's due to fuel shortages and a drop in traffic at its locations due to the Interstate highways. Restoration of the two signs at this often photographed Route 66 station used a matching grant from the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. (source: Wikipedia).
In the lower right, a Magnolia (today known as Mobil) station that didn't make it. Between 1920 and 1930, the number of gasoline stations in the United States increased from approximately 15,000 to approximately 124,000. Cars needed to stop about every 70 miles for gas as the tanks in the cars were much smaller than today.
The Sun 'n Sand Restaurant and Motel in Santa Rosa, NM. Serving American and Mexican food, the restaurant continues to be in business today with hours from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., 7 days a week. Sadly, the motel is no longer in operation.
Russell's Travel Center on Route 66 in Glen Rio, NM offers a free museum not only of cars, but many other items that will bring back memories for many of us. I can't begin to capture all of the items in the museum but if you are ever in the area or are close to it on Interstate 40 in Glen Rio, I strongly recommend stopping by and checking it out. There is also a diner and snack bar in the travel center.
Some of the items that have been restored and are located in the museum.
I think I remember that stamp machine. Another Elvis and now there is Marilyn!
Does anyone not remember "Big Boy?"
Some of the 100's of photos in the museum. Okay, I am a fan of the Westerns so I had to include a photo of Dale, Roy, and Big John.
I want this car but could I have it in red please?
Texas (completed, last post May 12, 2019)
I reached the mid-point of my Route 66 trip in Adrian, TX - 1139 miles to Chicago, 1139 miles to Los Angeles. Of course this is after road re-alignments since we know 1,139 is not half of the 2,448 original miles. One of the realignments that removed Santa Fe and Las Vegas, NM from Route 66 (yes, there is another Las Vegas besides the one in NV), reduced the travel time from Chicago to Los Angeles by 4 hours.
I arrived at the Mid-Point Cafe at 3:00 in the afternoon so I just had a piece of Coconut Cream pie. As traditional in the cafe, you get a sticker and photo if you lick the plate! Could I have a piece to go please?
Built in 1936, at a cost of $23,000, the "Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Cafe" in Shamrock, Texas is one Route 66 establishment that has been restored and converted into a visitor center, chamber of commerce office, and historical museum. The restoration was funded using a Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant and local fundraising.
I met a young woman at the "U-Drop Inn Cafe". I noticed her checking me out when I was reviewing the picture on the left below. I thought I would go over and introduce myself. She was dressed like she was going to Woodstock but I figured what the heck. She had very firm skin and a nice complexion. She didn't say much but she was a great listener. I thought she might want to join me for a bite to eat but the cafe was closing and I didn't have any room in my car to take her anywhere. It would have been nice to learn more about her, how old she was, who helped put her together, etc.
This completes the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Join me for part III of my Retirement Journey in a follow-up post.
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