My husband and I are from Sydney, Australia and we are planning a road trip on Route 66 from Chicago to LA with, perhaps, a detour to Monument Valley. Does anyone have any good advice and general information on great things to see along the way?

It's ALL right here:

Get a 3-ring ring notebook, plenty of printer paper, an extra ink cartridge and go to town...

http://www.historic66.com/

Alas, there is little of good old Rt. 66 left anymore. You can check the website for what there is. And various states have literature on a few things. I can remember way back when it was being built and in middle Illinois was three lanes! But there is lots to see in that long journey you are to take across country which will be on interstate with your side trips. Drop in on us in Springfield, Missouri, if you wish.

Ozarksbill [email protected]

You might consider the time of year you plan to do this, as weather and driving conditions vary greatly along the route.

Deb

Thank you to everyone for their helpful advice - especially the great links which we will be thoroughly researching. Have a great day!

Read all you can find on the route. Get as many maps as possible. We tried to follow The Mother Road (US-66) thru parts of IL, MO and OK. It can be difficult at times following thru some of the medium size cities in the mid west considering the road way is not well marked. Still it was a fun trip just trying. We make a 'game' of following some of the older US highways. To do this we use an old 1967 Rand McNally Road Atlas that shows the now old roads as the way to go...

http://www.us-highways.com/

http://www.interstate50th.org/index.shtml

In response to DebitNM's reply, what would be the best time of year (in relation to weather and conditions) to undertake the Route 66? We want to spend some time in NY prior to departing from Chicago, therefore, we were thinking around late August.

That's the hottest time of the year!

Just guessing, but I would think you would want to make the trip in May or in late September/early October to optimize weather.

To me, having lived in both NY and now in the southwest, September and October are the best times to be anywhere in US.

August, well, it is really hot and lots of where you want to go, will be desert hot or mid west humid and hot.

May or early June would work as my second choice.

Deb

I recommend a visit to Erick, Oklahoma to see Harley & Annabelle "The Mediocre Music Makers" and their Sandhills Curiosity Shop.

A documentary about them has just been released on filmbaby.com at http://www.filmbaby.com/films/4471