(Photos courtesy of the Puget Sound Early Birds)
When five Seattle-area couples set out to drive Route 66 last month, they expected it to be a fun -- and maybe weird -- road trip. What they got, they say, was the trip of a lifetime, in which they found an Americana they thought was long lost.
The group stopped at the kitchy Big Texan Motel in Amarillo. (Photo courtesy of the Puget Sound Early Birds)
The group, all members of the Puget Sound Early Birds, set out from Chicago. They traveled more than 2,400 miles to Santa Monica, Calif., behind the wheels of restored Ford Thunderbirds. Their aim was to stay as true to the original route as possible.
"Several times we found ourselves totally alone, top down, playing '50s songs, singing along, with no freeway anywhere near and no modern cars to spoil the sense that we had gone through a time warp," says trip organizer Gordon Thorne.
Thorne says the group was surprised that the original route was still drivable for the vast majority of the trip. It now goes by a lot of different names, but if you know where to look, you can still find it, he says.
More than one-third of Route 66 parallels Interstate 40. When the interstate was built, it bypassed many small towns, leading to their demise. "Most are hanging on by their fingernails," says group member Judy Thorne.
If you go
- The Puget Sound Early Birds' tips for Route 66:
- • Drive only 160-175 miles per day to savor the road and enjoy the weird, fun and historic places along the way.
- • If you have limited time, drive the section from Oklahoma City to Rialto, Calif. (The club took almost a month to do the whole thing.)
- • The club used these guides for the trip: Jerry McClanahan's "Route 66: EZ66 GUIDE For Travelers," "Route 66 Dining and Lodging Guide" and "Route 66 Adventure Handbook" by Drew Knowles.
- • For more on this trip, visit onthemotherroad.blogspot.com.
Those towns, however, exposed them to the Americana, kitsch and new friends that Route 66 is known for.
In Western-themed Oatman, Ariz., they visited saloons, walked the boardwalks and fed the wild burros that roam the streets.
In Amarillo, Texas, they visited Cadillac Ranch, where a row of old Caddies are buried nose-first in the dirt. They joined the thousands of road warriors before them by decorating the cars with spray paint.
At The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, they witnessed a guest eat a 72-ounce steak with potatoes, salad, shrimp and rolls. (The meal is free to anyone who can do it in under an hour, but only 10 percent of customers succeed. This man did.)
The group dodged torrential rain, hail and tornadoes. They encountered boil-overs, unbalanced wheels, generator failure and a clipped fender. On several occasions, they received mechanical help from a network of T-Bird owners and enthusiasts.
Group member Duane Niemi, of Indianola, Wash., found a member of the High Plains Thunderbird Club in Texas to help him fix a window that was stuck in the up position. The good Samaritan volunteered to help him install a new motor and allowed Niemi to use his garage and tools.
"Would we do it again? In a heartbeat," Judy Thorne says. "It is a remarkable asphalt ribbon that is a mecca for nostalgia buffs worldwide who want to catch a glimpse of automobile travel in America as it was 70 or more years ago."
Leave a comment