Roadtrippin on Route 66

Old Jun 24th, 2017, 09:43 PM
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Roadtrippin on Route 66

My husband and I are planning a trip out west. Really not sure what way to take from Michigan. We were wondering about Route 66 and the sites we can see along the way. Does anyone have any suggestions? We have also been told a good way to see some of the sites is to fly into Vegas and go from there. All comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you!
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Old Jun 24th, 2017, 10:37 PM
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How much time do you have, maximum? And what time of year? Until early October, Las Vegas is 115 degrees so not a great idea.

Flying into one city and flying home from another usually works well, once you decide what exactly you want to see and do on the west coast.

If you drive out, well, don't forget you have to drive back too. Combined with all the driving you'll have to do in California and Nevada......that's a lot of car time and gasoline and probably a new set of tires.
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Old Jun 25th, 2017, 04:58 AM
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These days Route 66 is more concept than location, though there are those who love to drive the stretches still accessible and business/restaurants who cater to them. There are guides that can help you decide if the idea of cruising the Mother Road is something that appeals to you enough to seek out those particular parts. Check your library or here:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...words=route+66
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Old Jun 25th, 2017, 05:43 AM
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Depending on how much time you have, fly to Oklahoma City and head west on I-40. The town of Clinton OK has some of Rt. 66.
Continue west and visit Albuquerque. Central Avenue was 66.
DW and I spent 2 nights in Albuquerque in the Rt. 66 Hostel in a pepto pink room.
In Arizona you can drive the old highway from just west of Ash Fork all the way to Kingman.
Of course, you should drive north from Williams to go see the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
In California, you can turn off onto the National Trails highway not far west of Needles. The town of Amboy was the model for the town of Radiator Springs in the movie Cars.
There is a Route 66 Museum in the basement of the train station in Barstow. The National trails highway from Barstow to Victorville was the old 66. There is also a small museum in Victorville across the street from the train station.
There is a lot of the west to see other than Rt. 66 on the way back to Oklahoma City to turn in the car.
Since you live in Michigan, you should visit the east end of 66 at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Blvd. in Chicago.
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Old Jun 25th, 2017, 06:07 AM
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My husband was a park planner for the National Park Service who sent him with a team to do a survey of all of Route 66 they could find. He gave me a blow-by-blow of their adventure, done in 2 parts, and of finding themselves, for instance, on old parts of it no longer in use that would just end. But few try to do what they did, instead head for the parts that are kept alive by the nostalgia buffs. He's an artist and did some very fun watercolors of motels still operating with "atomic" themes from the 50s.

One of the guides in the link above would be worth the investment to help you get a grip on where the best parts are, separate the marketing from the real thing, so you can plan from there.
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Old Jun 25th, 2017, 04:19 PM
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South of Kingman there is a section that goes through the town of Oatman, AZ. That section really gives you an idea of what it must have been like and Oatman is a hoot.
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Old Jun 26th, 2017, 01:32 PM
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You really need to find a Rt. 66 guidebook that you like and decide what sites look most interesting to you. The route ran from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, so there are lots of possibilities. Tomfuller has good suggestions for a western trip, although there are some cool things you would miss in the Tulsa area if you started at Oklahoma City and went west. I have not yet done any of the route east of Oklahoma, but I want to.

There are very old as well as mid-century versions of Route 66, and you can get creative and see things most interesting to you if you take the time to study up on them.

Having a guidebook helps you spot sites that you otherwise might totally miss.

I LOVE Route 66 and your trip sounds awesome.
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Old Jun 27th, 2017, 10:20 PM
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Hey everyone! I can't thank you enough for all of your reply's. They are all very helpful. To expand a little more on our trip, we will have approximately 3 weeks for our trip and we will most likely go in June of 2018. We both are really so indecisive on where we want to go but all of your information will really help us make a good decision. One thing I did read on road trippers was an article called the best 100 things to see and visit on Route 66 and to be honest, there wasn't a single site on there that appeals to me. Eh gads!!��
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Old Jun 28th, 2017, 07:38 AM
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We did portions of Route 66 last summer and it wasnt anything that I would recommend. I had followed Roadtrippers and picked up some ideas from them and by and large, nothing exciting other than the well known places mentioned above.
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Old Jun 28th, 2017, 07:43 AM
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That's pretty much what I meant by "kept alive by the nostalgia buffs". If you'd enjoy it you probably know all about it already and, if you're like most of us, there's probably more interesting things to do with your days.
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Old Jun 29th, 2017, 07:50 AM
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If nothing appeals to you, don't bother. It seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it thing.
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