Although I prefer to fly to most destinations I've said previously that driving and getting a little dusty and sweaty on a road trip can be a very illuminating and liberating experience. My friend George and I have driven the entire Route 66 (in two different trips) and from it I learned quite a bit about the people and the world we live in and discovered a treasure trove of insights about friendship and who I am and what I'm capable of.
Route 66 runs through six US states and although there are interstate highways available there is a certain charm of getting off the beaten path... and it takes a little longer but you have the opportunity to see and experience so much more than what is available on vast stretches of eight lane interstate routes... I only wish that cell phones and GPS navigation had been invented... but then again getting turned around or walking to a pay phone to call AAA for roadside assistance are both part of the memory of those trips.
One of the best pieces of advice I could possibly give you for this trip is do it during the summer when the weather is nice and there are more hours of daylight... and to make advanced reservations for lodging along the way... we sort of flew by the seat of our pants the first time and did not always get our first choice of motels (but in our defense there was also no internet in those days either)
So with the combination of the two trips it started in Chicago and ended in LA. and along the way we stopped to eat at Dell Rhea Chicken Basket in Willowbrook IL and it was one of the best baskets of fried chicken I've ever had...
One of the charms or nightmares of the time was that i-pods and satellite radio were non existent and you had to rely on finding radio frequencies along the way... sometimes there were none to be found... thus the importance of having a traveling companion you liked and had something interesting in common to discuss during the radio silence.... our first real stop was Carthage MO I was really interested to see the town because a friend of mine had relatives there and spent many summers visiting... I was charmed by the ambience and that there was a Drive-In theatre that we decided to pass on and instead get a good nights sleep and an early start the next morning.
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| Boots Court Carthage MO |
We were pretty stocked with food and snacks and beverages so we cruised through Oklahoma except for a fuel stop and sang rousing renditions of OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain during the periods of no tunes available on the radio... speaking of tunes most of the diners we stopped at for lunch and all the motel lounges had a juke box (a place with a juke box will always hold a special place in my heart)... and speaking of those charming roadside diners and corner cafes... there is likely to be a waitress with a name badge that says Dot (short for Dorthea) and she will likely say something to you like "more coffee hon?" make sure to say please and thank you because good manners and kindness will do more for you on the open road of life than you may realize. One of our biggest requirements for lodging was a place with a pool since it was summer during both trips and one of the most memorable things was the intense heat on dark dessert highways.
On the trip that we had no room reservations waiting for us at the end of the day we sometimes had to drive off the highway a few miles on dusty roads to find something... (The only place we called ahead and made a reservation was Santa Fe NM where I had a prior visits and experience) Finding a vacancy sign was like winning a prize...
We saw The Cadillac Ranch and stopped so we could feed and water ourselves in Texas
We stopped for The Petrified Forrest mostly because of the Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart movie... we drove a couple of hours out of our way to take a peek at the Grand Canyon, it's really amazing and awe inspiring but if you ever have a chance to see it from the bottom at the Havasupai Indian Reservation I can't recommend that trip highly enough it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited... but that is a trip all by itself.
Along the way you can actually sleep in a Wig-Wam... we did not... but you can if you want...
The end of the second trip brought us to the Santa Monica Pier where I have before and since spent many wonderful hours but the memories of that that trip stick out most in my mind.
So with all this the sights and sounds of summer are calling my name and I'll be taking to the road and living on the Summer Side Of Life hopefully on Carefree Highway (I love Gordon Lighfoot's songs on road trips)... I'll be back in September. Have a fun summer!
