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Published: June 25th 2017
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Route 66
Route 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Geo: 41.5248, -88.0851
"If you ever plan to motor west,Travel my way, take the highway, that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66.
It winds from Chicago to L.A.
More than 2000 miles all the way,
Get your kicks on Route 66."
Technically Route 66 starts somewhere in Chicago but we're going to join it in Joliet (just south of Chicago) but we're not planning on doing too many of the larger cities (either because we've already been there or are planning to visit later) so we picked Joliet so we could visit the prison home of Jake of Blues Brothers fame (I think Chris G spent a couple of days here as well).
Thanks to the song and a bunch of movies, most people have heard of Route 66 but it doesn't really exist anymore so you have to put the various pieces together which makes for a fun adventure. And since much of the old Highway has been bypassed, you end up with a number of street scenes that invoke a nostalgia particularly for its heyday in the 60's. U.S. Route 66, also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System. Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). it was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985 after it had been effectively bypassed by major Interstate Hwys.
Apparently some people make an entire vacation out of driving the entire length of the old highway (going as far as to rent a 60's era convertible), but we are only looking to do it in segments with a number of extended detours. And although I also pushed for a convertible there's just not enough trunk space for all of the shoes and wardrobe changes you need on a roadtrip (according to DH), and although a mean looking Charger or Challenger has more space, DH was concerned that buying one of these might be the start of a slippery slope into a full on second childhood for me (she's always looking out for me).
So we settled on an eminently sensible Grand Cherokee SUV with plenty of space and all kinds of safety features- I was allowed to pick out the license plate covers so we do have some tough looking plates. She also somehow secured the naming rights on this sporty variation of a soccer mom vehicle, and she named him 'Billy'. For the first couple of months in Toronto Billy was in the shop a number of times so I proposed toughening him up by giving him the more masculine name of ‘Thunder'. Somewhat surprisingly he hasn't been back in the shop since but the Princess wasn't giving up on her naming choice so we now have a vehicle with a complete Christian name- ‘Billy Thunder'.
DH, me, and Billy Thunder are ready to rock n roll.
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carolcooke
non-member comment
I'm not sure about the Route 66 trip, it looks more like DH is missing the policing days! I'm looking forward to seeing your next Route 66 experiences as you cross the country!