EVEN TODAY, the National Historic Route 66 Federation receives letters and e-mails from people around the world asking if they risk being attacked by Indians in the West. This misconception seems to stem from early western TV shows and movies that are still playing in many countries depicting Indians as wanton savages—a gross overstatement even in the heyday of the cowboy-and-Indian feuds. Suffice to say that travelers are not in danger from Native Americans, although they may lose some money in one of their many gambling casinos along the route.
The surest way to enjoy a trip along Route 66 is to do your homework and plan in advance. Strangely, a bewildering number of people blithely fly to Chicago, rent a car, and start looking for Route 66. But the route is not on ordinary maps and it is poorly signed. This is not to discourage those who prefer some serendipity in their traveling—people who like to roam as the moment strikes them rather than having a firm schedule. Regardless of your preferences, you will want, at the very least, the EZ66 GUIDE for Travelers by Jerry McClanahan. Without it, serendipity likely will turn into frustration.
As the architecture of Route 66 businesses reached out for the tourist dollars, so did road signs for businesses. The signs lined the roadside, some repeating for many miles, growing more urgent as a motorist drew closer to the establishment. After hundreds of miles of signs for the Jack Rabbit Trading Post west of Joseph City, Arizona, this was the last.
Route 66 is not on ordinary maps and there are not many road signs. So, it is important to get the right materials and do some preplanning before starting out on the legendary road.
If you want the freedom to “do your own thing,” have back-up information available while you are doing it: The Route 66 Dining & Lodging Guide is a good source.
For instance, let’s say you are traveling west and want to stay outside Los Angeles and explore the city the next day. It’s late when you arrive in San Bernardino, and you discover there isn’t a room available from there to Los Angeles because the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana is holding its annual National Hot Rod Association drag races. So, you can get out the guide and call a motel in Victorville to hold a room.
Such spur-of-the-moment planning may not be ideal, but it can be the price of freedom. This kind of freedom may be liberating, yet it also means that you may miss opportunities to stay at some of the more unique and popular places because they are booked, particularly during the busier months.
One particularly alarming story was reported by the National Historic Route 66 Federation a few years ago. Many auto enthusiasts from around the world fly or ship their classic cars over to tour Route 66. A group of Swedish buffs flew their 1950s American cars over, gathered in Chicago at a hotel, and left early the next morning to travel Route 66. Before they left, they asked the hotel manager where Route 66 was, so he directed them to it. Incredibly, all they really knew about the famous road was that it went from Chicago to Santa Monica. They found it but became immediately lost, so they stopped and asked at a gas station who called the Federation to get directions for them because there were no “Route 66” road signs for them to follow. Over the next week, they would call periodically to get directions. Several times their calls came from many miles from the route.
The Painted Desert Indian Center still beckons tourists to watch for them and turn in to browse through their Indian souvenirs.
Geronimo, another Joseph City, Arizona, Trading Post, uses their signs to promote “wondrous” sights.
The sign “Mountain Lions” advertises a long-gone mountain lion pit in Arizona. These once-common wildlife attractions do not exist anymore because they would be judged inhumane by today’s standards.
Meramec Caverns, southeast of Stanton, Missouri, also has signs along Route 66 for hundreds of miles in both directions, the major difference being that they were all painted on barns. This avoided the costly process of continually replacing stolen and damaged roadside signs.
Certain times of year are better than others to travel the route. Two factors are in play here: weather and geography. No matter what time of year you travel, you will not run into heavy traffic or throngs of people, except possibly in several of the major cities. If you have the choice, you will find either spring or autumn the most comfortable seasons along Route 66. Summer can get very hot in the Mojave Desert. Winter can produce considerable snow and ice in the Midwest and the higher elevations of Arizona. However, many people do drive the route during these times because that is when they get their vacation time. If winter and summer are the only choices available to you, be prepared. Make sure to drive a well-maintained vehicle with operable heat and air conditioning. Allow a little extra time in midwinter because it is very possible you will get snowed in for a day or two in the mountains near Flagstaff.
This sign sculpture on Route 66 for Red Oak II advertises the curious village northeast of Carthage, Missouri, which was accumulated, restored, and built by noted artist Lowell Davis.
People travel the route in and on many different types of vehicles, but we recommend that you don’t drive a recreational vehicle for one good reason: You will miss much of the essence of the legendary Mother Road. Route 66 was and is a commercial entity that was constructed to carry travelers across the country and developed to provide services and entertainment for them on their trips.
Today, vintage motels, diners, stores, and attractions have come to symbolize the route to people around the globe. Fortunately, many of these icons of a bygone era remain today and have been restored to their original condition. In keeping with the early days, their owners offer old-fashioned hospitality and their prices are usually considerably lower than chain operations off the interstate highways. If you drive a recreational vehicle, you will have little or no opportunity to, for example, sleep in a wigwam or enjoy a pony shoe sandwich.
This Route 66 “sign” advertises nothing. The leaning water tower is outside Groom, Texas, and the name “Britten” is simply the last name of the wealthy rancher who owns the land it is on.
If driving a recreational vehicle and camping along Route 66 is, however, your dream vacation, you will want to explore the Route 66 RV Campground listings at http://rwarn17588.wordpress.com/campgrounds and http://www.facebook.com/US66Travel or get one of the Woodall RV Guides or Trailer Life RV Guides and cross-check it with a Route 66 guide or map in order to find campgrounds.
Other travelers opt for more organized trips along the route. Bus tours of Route 66 can be problematic, however. There are quite a few available, most arranged by brokers in countries other than the United States. Unfortunately, many of these tours tend to spend most of their time racing down interstates, only occasionally skimming the actual route. Because most bus tour passengers are from non-English-speaking countries and have only a cursory understanding of Route 66, it is likely many such travelers rarely see the original road, let alone some of the most interesting and scenic stretches. This is certainly a deceptive practice, but organizers often argue they have to keep up a brisk pace to be profitable. An additional problem the tour operators face are the many smaller villages along the route that do not have facilities to accommodate a sudden influx of approximately sixty bus passengers.
If you have a choice, spring and autumn are the best times of year to travel Route 66. Although today’s air-conditioned vehicles are built to withstand extreme heat, the desert is still not the best place to be in the summer months.
A few years ago, the Smithsonian Institution and a major tour company ran several excellent Route 66 bus tours that featured noted authors and historians. However, the cost of dining and lodging for the span of the tours made them very expensive, so they were discontinued only after a few trips. The situation is unfortunate because a well-prepared bus tour is appealing to many. Someone else does the driving and planning and takes care of reservations and luggage. If you are considering a bus tour, get personal recommendations from passengers who have taken a tour that interests you.
There are several high-quality and very successful guided driving and riding tours of Route 66 conducted by entrepreneurs and organizations from an assortment of countries. Most of them are motorcycle tours that require you to bring your own motorcycle or rent one.
The most popular mode of traveling the route is a personal vehicle. A car, truck, or motorcycle can provide unmatched freedom and flexibility. You can stop and go where and when you want. But is it better to drive your own vehicle or rent one? If you are considering driving your own, you will want to consider wear and tear on it, and you will need the time to drive both directions.
Renting is very popular but can get expensive. Not so much because of the daily rental and mileage rates but the drop-off fee. If you return the vehicle to a different location than where you began, chances are good you will be charged a hefty drop-off fee. However, this fee can be avoided if you return the vehicle to its original location. The best thing to do regarding rental cars is to go to the websites of the major international car rental agencies (Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, Thrifty, etc.) or try www.carrentals.com and compare. Rates are very erratic and change constantly. Contrary to popular belief, with the exception of small local agencies, which you will want to avoid, no single agency is consistently cheaper than another. It all depends on when you will be traveling, your departure point and destination, how long you will be gone, the type of vehicle you would like, how much they want your business at the moment, and so forth. Because of all the Route 66 travelers renting cars and driving east to west (the customary direction), the agencies have many more cars in the West. So, when you make comparisons, you will find the drop-off fee for your car will likely be less if you drive west to east.
The National Historic Route 66 Federation regularly gets requests for information about renting classic cars for Route 66 trips. Many of these inquiries come from people who want to relive the life that Buz and Todd once did in the TV series Route 66 and rent an early Corvette. Unfortunately, no one rents classic cars anymore for long-distance travel. The insurance and maintenance costs are simply too high.