Category Archives: Route 66

Back on Route 66 through Illinois

  By Anne Patrone | January 18, 2011 - 11:10 am | , , , ,
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Historic Route 66 in Illinois

Traveling Route 66 is a lot like going back in time to an era when things were slower and a trip wasn’t about going from Point A to Point B in the most efficient (or in other words, boring) manner.

I’ve already mentioned that hubby is a big fan of Route 66 (see my blog entry:  Getting Our Kicks on Route 66), so when we saw the signs just outside of Collinsville, IL for Historic Route 66, I knew we would again travel the “Mother Road.”

The scenery and experience is so different from Arizona.  Farms instead of Indian reservations and grassy farmland instead of desert landscapes.  But the relaxing, winding path was the same and not difficult to follow.

Our car somewhere in Illinois

In case there are any Route 66 purists out there, I’d better mention that we followed the 1926 – ’30s route, not the later post-1930 version which is little more than an access road next to Interstate 55. Our route zig-zagged back and forth through little towns like Gillespie, Carlinsville, and Chatham until we reached the outskirts of Springfield.

You might think the kids would have been upset with us for “taking the scenic route” after a long day of airplane travel and visiting not one, but TWO of the “500 sites,” but you’d be wrong.

The drive gave them a chance to unwind and talk about what they’d seen, not to mention laugh at mom for her silly Arch-phobia!  We stopped at a local restaurant instead of a fast-food chain, so they didn’t have to gulp down greasy food.  And best of all, they got to chat with some of the locals and compare baseball teams.

So hooray for Route 66 – the perfect way to slow down a vacation!  

Side Trips on the Way to Sedona

  By Anne Patrone | November 11, 2010 - 4:28 am | , , , , , , , ,
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Wigwam Village Hotel

With wild wind and I-40 in Arizona still closed, it’s fortunate we still had Route 66 open as an option to travel on.  We passed the famous Wigwam Village Hotel on our way out of Holbrook, AZ then wound our way over to Winslow, AZ.

I’m pretty sure my boys were embarrassed by their parents’ off-key rendition of the famous Eagles song “Take It Easy” which features the lyrics:



Well, I’m a standing on a corner 
In Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl, my lord,
In a flatbed Ford
Slowin’ down to take a look at me.
that we sang as we drove through town, but they were suitably impressed by the flatbed Ford the town installed as a tribute to the song.
  By the time we got back to the interstate – yeah! – they had reopened the highway and we zipped to our final stop before heading down to Sedona.
And where did we go?
Meteor Crater
Meteor Crater, where for a hefty entrance fee ($15 – adults, $8 – kids) we looked at the enormous hole (one mile across and 570 feet deep) created when a meteorite hit the earth.  The wind was still intense, so there were no tours around the crater’s rim, but the guys were able to go outside and look at . . . a really big hole.
Inside, we wandered around the museum devoted to meteors and space.  The best was a cool computer simulation where you could pick the size of the object and its speed and the computer would show you how the earth would look after it hit.
Our side trips were an enjoyable diversion from the boring sameness of the Interstate and I’m curious:  Anyone have special quirky places they’d like to share?

Wild and Windy Weather at Petrified Forest & Painted Desert National Park

  By Anne Patrone | November 8, 2010 - 10:51 am | , , , , , , ,
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Painted Desert

Our Arizona Adventure was filled with wacky weather (c’mon snow in April?) but the windstorm during our visit to Petrified Forest & Painted Desert National Park was unbelievable.  How bad was bad?

Let’s see:
1.  So bad that as we got out of the car, the wind ripped the car door out of my hand, swinging it wildly out (thank goodness there wasn’t a car next to us – it would have smashed into it).
2.  So windy that the kids barely made it across the parking lot because they kept getting blown from side to side (not so with heavier Mom & Dad, so they held onto us).
3.  So strong and dangerous that they closed Interstate 40 going both ways.  As in no traffic, sit in your cars and wait it out.

Thank goodness we were in the park during that time and taking back routes.

Old car marking Route 66

Needless to say, as we slowly drove through the Painted Desert section of the National Park, I would occasionally tell my DH:  ”Okay, stop the car and go take a picture.”

I’m not kidding when I say that the wind was so intense, we were worried our boys would be blow over the edge of the lookouts.  As it was, DH stood VERY far back from the edge as we listened to the wind howl through the car.

As we crossed under the empty interstate, we passed a marker designating the remnants of Route 66, along with an old-timey car.  I shuddered as I imagined making the trek from Illinois to California in one of those autos.

The wind didn’t ease up as we passed into the Petrified Forest section of the park and I was frantically sifting through maps trying to figure out an alternate route to Sedona, our stop for the night.

We reached the end of the park and I knew if nothing else, I had to have my guys touch petrified wood.  So we climbed out, learned that yes, the interstate was STILL closed, and took a short walk on the Rainbow Forest trail behind the Visitor’s Center.

The sand pelted our face and we were squinting half the time, but we made it around the short trail.
Yeah!

As we left the park, our car making strange noises from the sand blown into its engine, I hoped that after a leisurely lunch and a drive along old Route 66 into Winslow, AZ (our next stop), the wind would die down enough to have them reopen the interstate.

So as we checked off another off our “500 List,” (making it 31 visited), I have to wonder what other wacky weather stories are out there.

So, please share:  What’s the worst weather your family has had on vacation?

Getting Our Kicks on Route 66

  By Anne Patrone | October 4, 2010 - 11:16 am | , , , , , ,
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Route 66 was the only request my DH asked for when we went to Arizona.  Actually, request isn’t the right term – requirement is probably more accurate.

And like a good wife, I made sure we traveled the longest continuous stretch of Route 66 still in existence (the rest has been replaced by interstates or the sections have to be pieced together like a crazy quilt).

Unfortunately, to get to Route 66 from where we had spent the night in Casa Grande, required a loooong road trip – about 235 miles just to get to Kingman, home of the Route 66 Museum, and our starting point  for the historic “Mother Road.”

So what do you do with kids in the backseat for that long?

Break up the trip with a stop for lunch in Wickenburg and play lots of car games along with listening to the soundtrack from Cars.


By the time we got to Kingman, we were ready to stretch our legs again and visit the museum.  The kids loved seeing the displays tracing the evolution of the vehicles which traveled Route 66.  From covered wagons to the “Tin Lizzies” of the 1930s to the winged cars of the 1950s, the kids learned something from each era.

They were particularly fascinated with the air conditioning of the 1950s – a fan mounted on the outside of a window!

Then, it was back in the car (DH insisted on a Mustang) to wind our way along Route 66 across the border to Needles, CA.

The winding road of Route 66

We made lots of photo stops, but avoided Oatman, where more tourists roamed the streets than their famous burros.

A quick trip back along the interstate and we were back in Kingman for dinner – at a classic roadside diner that served HUGE milkshakes.

The last section of our day on Route 66 took us to Peach Springs, AZ, tribal headquarters of the Hualapai Nation, and our stopping point for the night.

So what did the kids think about Route 66?

They loved it, but then again, they loved the entire concept of Cars - slowing down to enjoy life.

I’m not sure if I could have survived an entire week of driving Route 66 – it’s definitely a slower pace than what I’m used to.  But for a day, our family enjoyed the drive as a destination and not as a way to get from point A to point B.

And that, as they say in the credit card ads, is priceless.