TRACING ROUTE 66
TIME CONSIDERATIONS & GETTING THERE
COSTS
TRACING ROUTE 66
TIME CONSIDERATIONS &
GETTING THERE
COSTS
Since Route 66's U.S. Highway decertification, Route 66 is marked as a state route with its 66 designation in only occasional, random sections. In most areas it is marked as a local road, some other state highway number, or just "Frontage Road." In addition, in some areas, there are several choices you can make for various alignments (or loops, dead ended side trips and so forth). In yet other areas, the Interstate was paved directly over Route 66 and older alignments broken off. With all this, following Route 66 can be confusing. However, thanks to the efforts of various Route 66 associations and researchers, who must have labored over many old maps (as well as Jack Rittenhouse's Guide to Highway 66), Route 66 (and its various alignments over the years) has been traced and presented to travelers in the form of various books, guides and maps. There are a great deal of resources available to guide the Route 66 traveler and I believe it is very necessary to use them.
I used a combination of the following Route 66 sources:
1. Illustrated Guidebook to the Mother Road by Bob Moore &
Patrick Grauwels; Pictures by Yannis Argyropoulos. I
ordered it through Amazon.com,
here. This book describes the trip in detail, turn by turn, mile by mile, with
notations and stories on various Route 66 highlights. Absolutely excellent, but some
tricky spots in towns and cities, where he does not detail some local roads. Also, there a
number of typographical errors and just a few mistakes. Some of the typos are
inconsequential misspellings, but others involve directions. I have noted a few of
these areas in my narrative.
2. Here It Is - The Route 66 Map Series Also has text directions, as well as a basic map overlaid the present Interstate.
3. Route 66 Traveler's Guide and Roadside Companion, by Tom Snyder. This book is also excellent, though the directions are written less strictly than the Illustrated Guidebook. It has excellent maps showing the route in relation to the present day Interstate as well. Much good information on places, with humorous stories and anecdotes.
I mainly relied upon and followed the Illustrated Guidebook to the Mother Road, which I will refer to as "the Bob Moore book" in my narrative. I would also consult the impeccable text directions on the maps I referred to as "Here It Is maps," although I kept them handy at all times anyway, so I could have a visual orientation as well; for example, so I could make sure I was on the appropriate side of the Interstate, when 66 would run parallel.
During the trip (I believe at the Dixie Truckers Home, but I'm not sure), I purchased the colorful map, HISTORIC ROUTE 66. It also nicely shows the route marked in red as it exists in relation to most of the major roads in each state, and clearly designating by name, in cities where the road is comprised of local streets. So I added this resource to my collection, and used it frequently. Believe me, it is quite dog-eared now! The map is published by Pro-Map, 2331 (D-2) E. Ave. S, Suite 170, Palmdale, CA 92550. ISBN 0-7834-1749-7.
I also had on hand current AAA maps for each state,which included
city maps (not fully detailed, but enough to just make it). The city maps were
crucial, because cities such as St. Louis, Springfield (both Illinois and Missouri),
Amarillo, and especially L.A., it was easy to get bogged down.
Depending upon your circumstances, whether or not you intend to drive all of Route 66 (or only a part), and in which direction, there are many ways to drive the road, and get there. This information is based upon my experience.
The point of Route 66 is not to "make time," and I didn't want to just get to
L.A. In that case, I could take the Interstate and make it in no time, at 75 miles
an hour! Or better yet, fly directly to L.A. This trip was Route 66
- to enjoy the road and all
the towns along the way. Even though there was nothing some people would consider special
or fun to do on a vacation, what appealed to me was seeing the towns, the sites,
landscape, climate, and the people unlike those of the northeast.
I had a tough time gathering any information about how long was necessary to drive the
full length of the route and at a pace sufficient enough to enjoy attractions along the
way. That is understandable, because everyone is different in how they drive, what
sites they want to see, shopping, eating and how long they plan to take doing these
things, etc.
I had two weeks (15 days, actually), starting on Saturday, August 12, 2000 and ending Saturday, August 26, 2000. I wanted to drive the entire length of Route 66, one way ONLY, in the historical direction, east to west. I also wanted to spend the last two days in L.A. and see the sites there. I was flying home Saturday morning, so that day didn't count as a day to do anything. Therefore, my plan was to drive Route 66 in 12 full days (my last Route 66 driving day was Wednesday, August 23, 2000), spend Thursday and Friday sightseeing in L.A., and leave Saturday. My experience is that 12 days is a decent time (the minimum) to drive Route 66 and take time to see things along the way, not at an extremely hurried pace. Yet, unfortunately, I still had to be somewhat mindful of the time and adhere to a schedule. Obviously, with more time, you could go slower, see more things, and so on. In my narrative, I describe our days and the things we saw, and in the TRIP LOG you can see the mileage and time information detailed. Above the trip log is the TENTATIVE DRIVING SCHEDULE I planned. If you compare this to the actual trip log, you will see that for the most part, I followed the schedule; though some days I wasn't able to do so!
Again, personal circumstances will dictate what's the best way for you to get to your desired start point. Being from Connecticut, and in consideration of the above-mentioned time limitations, I decided to fly to Chicago, rent a car, drive one way to L.A., drop off the car at LAX Airport and fly back home. That plan would make best use of the time I had.
 | Airfare I traveled with Southwest Airlines, flying directly
from Connecticut's Bradley International Airport to Chicago Midway. On the way home,
I flew from LAX to Bradley, with a connection at Nashville. The total cost was
$338.00 per person for this itinerary in August 2000. |
| Auto rental Many people drive Route
66 using their own vehicles (including RVs or even classic automobiles or motorcycles)
from home to Chicago or some other starting point. I needed to rent a vehicle, and
while renting a classic car would have been nice, I would have to stick with something
practical! The best rental car price I found was with National. If finances allow, you
might want to consider renting an SUV or other 4 wheel drive vehicle, so you can make some of the more difficult, old
alignments suitable for those types of vehicles only (or which make driving the
rougher areas more comfortable). Unfortunately, that wasn't in my budget range, and I have a new Plymouth Neon, so I am used to a compact
car. So, I had to stick with something similar, and received a quote for a one way rental of a compact car (Chevy Cavalier), picking up at Chicago Midway Airport and dropping off at LAX, for the above
travel dates, was $409.00 per week, plus taxes, which came to $871.00. They didn't
have quotes for a few taxes, so the actual total was $923.00, and that included the fuel
service option to return the car empty (I just wanted to avoid the hassles in L.A. - now
that I know, next time I might not take that). Anyway, I digress - back to the other rental car companies...they may be competitive with National for local rates, but on a one way rental, no other company even came close. First, many companies don't offer one way rentals; those others that do, quoted prices such as $325.00 per week (sounded good), gave a subtotal, then informed me of the $1,000.00 one way drop off charge!! $1,650.00 total for two weeks (not including taxes and fees)?? I don't think so! Believe me, National is definitely the best way to go for a one way rental! Additionally, I don't know about other companies' policies on this, but during the trip, I had to replace a tire. I was in Kingman, Arizona, and an observant gas station attendant noticed a 1 inch split in my front driver's side tire. I called National and they said to take it to any Firestone or Goodyear store and have it replaced at no cost, but there are no Firestone or Goodyear shops in Kingman! Alternatively, they said I could pay to have it replaced and they would reimburse me, but the customer service rep did not know the reimbursement policy. The last thing I was going to do was risk our lives over a $150.00 tire! I knew the next section of the trip would be to Oatman, Arizona, through the Black Mountains (the sharp mountain cliffs and hairpin turns!) then onto Needles, California and then the Mojave Desert. The first chance for a tire store would be past the Mojave in Barstow, which was out of the question, so I paid for the tire. I was not going to worry about reimbursement now! It turns out that National credited the cost right off my bill when I returned the car at the airport. I did not have to file any claims, wait for reimbursement, etc. What a relief! |
| Lodging There
is plenty of good, clean and extremely reasonably priced accommodations along
Route 66. The following is a list of the places I stayed and the total prices,
including tax: |
DATE |
HOTEL/MOTEL |
TOTAL PRICE |
| 08/12/2000 | The Innkeeper Motel, Hamel, IL | $40.00 |
| 08/13/2000 | Super 8 Motel, Eureka, MO | |
| 08/14/2000 | Rest Haven Court, Springfield, MO | |
| 08/15/2000 | Super 8 Motel, El Reno, OK | |
| 08/16/2000 | Motel 6, Amarillo, TX | |
| 08/17/2000 | Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari, NM | |
| 08/18/2000 | Leisure Lodge Motel, Grants, NM | |
| 08/19/2000 | Super 8 Motel, Winslow, AZ | |
| 08/20/2000 | Route 66 Inn, Williams, AZ | |
| 08/21/2000 | Motel 6, Needles, CA | |
| 08/22/2000 | Days Inn, San Bernardino, CA | |
| 08/23/2000 (3 nights) | The Wyndham Hotel at LAX, Los Angeles, CA | $40.00 (through Priceline) |
For more information, go to my References & Links page. I have some other motels listed, and links to other Route 66 resources which should lead you to further information as well.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, April 13, 2005