Route 66: Drive-by shootin’

Here it is!  This is the first post in the series of blogs that accounts our own amazing experience of travelling original parts of Route 66, eastwards.  

There are lots of blogs specifically covering Route 66 by experienced enthusiasts who give the turn-by-turn directions with photos of historic points of interest supplied.  Well I won’t be doing any of that!  What’s the point?  It won’t mean anything to you, will it?    My aim is to share the highlights of our wonderful trip as best I can with you.  I'm definitely no expert and a total USA newbie so some stuff won’t be new to you if you've been States-side.  I will be writing about specific places we stopped at, items of my own observation and some key points we learnt along the way that I’ll be posting on the forums we've been tapping into during our preparation.    I know the pictures won’t do the scenery justice; I can’t promise my written skills are the best; I've mentioned that I'm no expert on traversing a continent and I'm so un-well-travelled that I have to video posh hotel rooms and actually listen to the in-flight safety briefings.  I merely hope you will enjoy reading my posts and maybe even learn something new like I did and share them with others.

H and I started the actual route in California from Santa Monica Pier and finished up on Jackson Boulevard in Chicago, within a stone’s throw of the Navy Pier on the shore of Lake Michigan.

We spent 13 days driving various alignments of the route, through 8 states (9 including a detour for a visit to Nevada) and covered over 3,000 miles.  We took thousands of photos (I'm still wading through them!), stayed in 12 separate overnight locations and our trusty steed for the duration was a black 2012 Ford Mustang convertible.  

Although it’s possible to cover the route in 2 weeks, it’s generally accepted that one needs a month to do it comfortably, taking time to smell the coffee and get a free re-fill, stopping off to check out the famous landmarks along the route and those intriguing lesser-known gems  that make the route so fun and memorable.  

When you’re travelling up to 300 miles a day (not on the Interstate) where the speed limit could be an average of 40 MPH, the road surface is questionable and the bends catch you unaware  it’s not possible to stop at every historic gas station and capture it for the album.  This means a lot of our photos were drive-by shootings ..hopeful snaps from the front passenger seat (sometimes the drivers – Shh).  H was more successful in this task due to his stature and arm length for over windscreen views, avoiding the sun visor, wing mirror, headrests and the ability to use his camera properly.  I wasn't so lucky but some of mine came out ok!  Additionally, we had low sun and long shadows to contend with the whole trip because of the time of year so this had an impact on taking a good photo.  Please appreciate them for what they are.  We’re not trying to win any awards here!

People have asked me what the best bit was.  There are so many great moments and memories it’s hard to choose.  It may seem hard to understand, having seen so many great things and places, but it was the driving.  

That’s what we went there to do.  After all, it was a road trip more than a holiday.  With a straight road that disappeared into the distance, desert and tumble weeds to the left and right and that same straight, travelled road disappearing into the horizon behind us...that is my enduring memory.  

Oh yeh...and you may have noticed...I finished the shirt in time! ;-)