<div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always"><p id="1"></p><div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always">I &rsquo;ve always been enticed by the call of a Route 66 road trip, but put off by the specter of fake-&rsquo;50s nostalgia with imagery of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and finned Cadillacs at every turn. Finally, eschewing nostalgia phobia, I took the plunge, and my boy and I spent 12 days on The Mother Road from western St. Louis to Barstow, California. It&rsquo;s probably my greatest road trip (in competition with the time Rick P&eacute;w&eacute; and I drove a stock WWII Jeep from Phoenix to Fairbanks, Alaska).<div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always"><p id="3">Repellent &rsquo;50s clich&eacute;s were more scarce than expected and I did a surgical job of avoidance. I also discovered that the road and its relics aren&rsquo;t about the &rsquo;50s&mdash;cool remnants of neon excepted&mdash;but more so the &rsquo;30s and &rsquo;40s. New Mexico&rsquo;s crumbling adobe throws back to the early 1800s. So it&rsquo;s not Monroe, Dean, and Harley Earl that chafe&mdash;it&rsquo;s Tow Mater. I&rsquo;ve praised Cars as a premium car flick, but its collateral damage is that trucks violated with windscreen eyes and buck teeth are pandemic on Route 66, outnumbered only by newly minted weed dispensaries. After the first two or three dozen Mater wannabes, a gag reflex develops.</p><p id="4">However, there&rsquo;s incredible gratification for lovers of abandoned or repurposed gas stations, garages, parts stores, bars, motels, and drive-in theaters. The guidebooks don&rsquo;t mention most of this stuff, focusing instead on the spectacular neon signs, tourist attractions past and present, and places where Jesse James supposedly hid out. The route map of choice is <i>EZ66 Guide for Travelers</i> by Jerry McClanahan, which I supplemented with half a dozen other pubs. If time is too limited for backtracking, I advise following McClanahan&rsquo;s paths for the &rsquo;37-earlier roads (rather than the newer alignments) as they seem to have the most neglected towns and therefore the least gentrification and the most pure artifacts. The exception is the &rsquo;37-earlier route through New Mexico; in that state, I&rsquo;d stick to Route 66 near I40. </p><p id="6">Here&rsquo;s more advise for like-minded gearheads, with the caveat that I never ran from Chicago to St. Louis. I found the segment from St Louis to Oklahoma City to be the most rewarding long stretch. I&rsquo;d skip Oklahoma City and Santa Fe, New Mexico entirely if I were to do it again. My favorite town for density of great oldness is Tucumcari, New Mexico. Unless you&rsquo;re traveling in a fragile hot rod, you should take all the old sections of ratty pavement and even dirt. It&rsquo;s worth it.</p><p id="7">One disappointment is that, since my first road trips in the &rsquo;80s, I&rsquo;ve noticed a distinct cleansing of the old cars formerly strewn upon the countryside. They are rare on 66, except in overpriced rust collections. The last quality iron in the wild seems to be longbed pickups and vintage tractors. </p><p id="8">Nevertheless, a Route 66 adventure is absolutely worth it, but for a rubble-loving gearhead like me, it&rsquo;s for entirely different reasons than what society has sold me for decades. Urgency is key, as many of the remains I photographed yesterday could collapse tomorrow. It&rsquo;s all disappearing by the day. So do this, and do it now. </p>

Route 66: Worth the Kicks?

English

Spanish(español)

Bengali(বাঙালি)

Gujarati(ગુજરાતી)

Hindi(हिन्दी)

Malayalam(മലയാളം)

Tamil(தமிழ்)

Telugu(తెలుగు)

Hot Rod

What Is Pro Street?

Pro Street in Pure Vision

THE GAS ERA LIVES ON

MOTOR HEAD FOR LIFE

BRINGING BACK PRO STREET!

SWEET ASPIRATIONS

Making Bad Decisions Badder

ART PROJECT

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Making Connections

Download your favorite titles and read them offline, anytime and anywhere

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines and newspapers from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from {{magCount}}+ best-selling international titles.

Name

Please fill out this form if you need any help regarding publishing your content on Magzter

Since we launched, Magzter has been committed to partnering with global organizations to provide the greatest possible newsstand technology & service to our customers. Whether you are looking to offer magazine subscriptions to your customer database or just want to learn more, Magzter is committed to helping your business grow. To find out more, please fill out the questionnaire below: