ON THE ROAD: Route 66

I love traveling along old Route 66 in the West. It brings back nostalgic memories of a road filled with excitement, thrilling views, and warm, fuzzy feelings about the way life was back in the 1950s and 1960s, before the Interstates were built.

Not that I have many memories of Route 66! I had never made a road trip West until 1964, when I first drove the road. By then, it consisted of part-Interstate 40 and part-Route 66. Still, I do remember the old television series, “Route 66,” with Buz and Tod finding adventure to spare in Buz’s shiny Corvette. It was almost like being along for the ride with them as I watched each week while they traveled from place to place, finding people to help while learning about themselves. I identified with them, never mind that I was female. And I was determined to repeat their adventures, although it was not to be in a Corvette. My journeys were in a Volkswagen Van, an Opel station wagon, a Volvo station wagon, a motorhome, and finally, an ordinary sedan. We did have a young guy in a Corvette caravan with us, along with another young man. They were both traveling West at the same time we were in the mid-seventies, and we met on CB radio. We then shared meals along the way and swapped stories until we finally separated somewhere around Flagstaff.

This week we made a journey to Williams, Arizona, looking for a memory-evoking experience in a 1950’s diner. We found it on a corner on old Route 66, in what must be a converted gas station. The food was just like the 50s, including the chocolate malt that we shared, since we have to be concerned with calories. In the fifties, I wanted to put on pounds. Things have certainly changed!

Most of our fellow diners were middle-aged, but then a family with two teenage girls walked in. They spoke in a foreign language, probably Italian, but they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. The younger moved to the beat of the old-time music, which obviously still has universal appeal.

When we exited the diner, an older woman, a young nun, and three kids were just about to enter. Another lively fifties tune started up on the loudspeaker in the parking lot, so the older woman began dancing. Then the nun grabbed the hands of a little boy and began dancing, too. What a fun, all-American scene it made, if a bit unusual to see a nun in habit boogying in front of a 1950’s diner on Main Street USA. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera, and gave a quick slap to the head when I got in the car and remembered that we could have taken photos with the cell phone. The diner was an all-around enjoyable experience. I even picked up a book on the TV show, “Route 66,” which I promptly devoured as soon as we got home.

There are lots of interesting shops along old Route 66 in Williams, and also the Grand Canyon Railway is located a couple of blocks from the route. There are a couple of RV parks right in Williams, including near the Railway.

Our plan was to head up on Hwy. 64 towards the Grand Canyon to an aircraft museum, but the weather suddenly changed (it is monsoon season), and we decided to get off Route 66 and I-40. We even encountered a little snow (or maybe it was sleet?) on the ground along I-40 on the way to Flagstaff. I don’t remember Buz and Tod driving through snow/sleet, but then that was a long time ago. Wonder what they would have done about filming, since the top always seemed to be down on their Corvette?

A while back, we had gone through Kingman and took old Route 66 to the old mining town of Oatman, Arizona. What an adventure that was, with the wild burros roaming the main street! The road twisting through the mountains near Oatman is as narrow as any road I can recall. Luckily, we had left the motorhome parked somewhere in Kingman while we took the dinghy to Oatman.

There are so many interesting little towns along Route 66 in both New Mexico and Arizona, many of which promote their Route 66 heritage to tourists. A fun trip would be to travel as much of Route 66 as still exists through those states, but that will have to be done when time is not as precious as now. There are still older motels along the route that have been refurbished, and plenty of RV parks along the way where tourists can pull in and spend the night, or stay for a long, educational visit to the outlying areas. Summertime is the best time, since the elevation is quite high along most of the route, and the weather can turn nasty, particularly during fall, winter and spring. Still, for wintertime visitors, ski slopes are one of the main attractions.

The thought of an endless road beckoning to me still appeals as much as when I was young and untraveled, no matter that I have traveled so far since then. There are still so many treasures and experiences to be found.