Whether you are looking for retro travel in the USA or want to enjoy wide horizons away from people, Highway 66 is the place for you. Along the winding roads, you will see some of the most striking sights in the United States - both the Grand Canyon and the Mississippi River, the Colored Desert (Painted Desert) in Arizona, Petrified Forest National Park, and at the end - the Pacific beaches of sunny southern California.
Other Highway 66 highlights: vintage museums full of wondrous wonders, Norman Rockwell-inspired sparkling water kiosks (Norman Rockwell), eateries for the whole family, functioning gas stations, as if dropped out of films with the participation of James Dean, ghost towns on the edge of the desert.
Route 66 will open your eyes. Forget the preconceived notions of provincial American life, experience the pleasure of changing places.
Illinois farmers and country and western stars in Missouri. Legends of cowboys and Indians in Oklahoma. Native American tribes and modern Indian settlements in the southwest. Traditions of the original peoples of the United States. Then in the footsteps of miners and daredevils - to the very heart of the Old West.
When to go
The best time to travel on Highway 66 is from May to September: the weather is warm, and you can enjoy the outdoor tourism. Be careful when traveling in high summer (July August): The heat is unbearable, especially in desert areas. Not worth traveling in winter (December to March): Snow is dangerous, obstructs movement.
Highway 66 Map
Route 66 MapThe story of "Mother Roads"
Route 66 gained its importance during the Great Depression, as migrant farmers fled along it from the arid western regions across the Great Plains. Later, during the post-World War II baby boom, this newfound prosperity inspired many Americans to travel and have fun on Route 66.
However, as soon as the road became significant, everything changed almost immediately. Glittering stone-paved new interstate highways began to compete with Highway 66. Family eateries, soda stands, posh motels were emptied. Forgotten railroad towns and stations for travelers. Entire cities began to disappear.
Highway 66 was officially decommissioned in 1984. However, a fan movement emerged to preserve Mother Roads. Today you can still entertain yourself as you follow the gravelled country roads and blue-lined highways through the heart of America. It's like a leap in time - places where the 1950s seem to have arrived yesterday.
What to take care of
- Join the car club (www.aaa.com or www.betterworldclub.com): its members are provided with round-the-clock emergency technical assistance on the roads and discounts on accommodation and tourist pleasures; some of the international clubs have made mutual agreements with the US auto associations: take your membership card from home.
- Check for spare tire, tool kit (jack, connecting cable, ice chisel, tire gauge) and emergency equipment (flashing lights); if the car is rented and the items you need for safety are not included in the kit, buy them.
- Take some good cards with you (for example, you can take it in tourist centers or in the office of motorist clubs) especially if you are traveling off-road or away from the highway; Do not rely on your GPS device: it may not work properly, and in remote areas, deep ravines or dense forests, it may even fail altogether.
- Always bring your driver's license and insurance with you.
- If you are a foreign tourist, familiarize yourself with the traffic rules in the United States, find out what dangers await on the way.
- Refuel often: on the scenic uncrowded roads of the United States, gas stations are rare and far from each other.
Route
Start from Chicago, on the western edge of Michigan Avenue, and drive approximately 3800 km through eight states. The finish line is in Los Angeles, near the Santa Monica pier. Endless construction work is underway on the road: old sections are opened or closed, which is associated with a change in the routes of other key roads.
Illinois Route 66
America's "Mother Road" originates in Chicago on Adams Street (Adams St), west of Michigan Avenue (Michigan Ave)... Before heading out, refuel at Mitchell's Diner, located just outside Union Station, which is 482.80 km from the Missouri border.
Unfortunately, much of the original Highway 66 has been replaced by the I-55 road to Illinois. But the old road still exists in the form of scattered sections, often running parallel to the federal highway. Look for the brown signs "Historic Route 66" (Historic Highway 66) that suddenly appear at key intersections and show the way.
The first stop is cornfields 96.56 km south of Wilmington. Here stands Gemini Giant, an 8.53-meter fiberglass astronaut. He guards the Launching Pad Drive In (810 E Baltimore St (Baltimore Street); burgers $ 2-6; 11.00-19.30)... To get there, take I-55 onto Juliet Road (Joliet Rd) and head south until you find yourself on Highway 53, which leads into the city.
Drive 72.42 km forward to Pontiac (Pontiac) and a hall of fame full of all sorts of unexpected things of Route 66 (Route 66 Hall of Fame; Tel: 815-844-4566; 110 W Howard St (Howard Street); Free admission; 9.00-17.00 Mon-Fri, 10.00-16.00 Sat)... Then another 80.47 km to Shirley (Shirley) and Funk Groves (Funk "s Grove) (Tel: 309-874-3360; www.funksmaplesirup.com; call for opening times, which vary depending on the season), a pretty 19th century maple syrup farm and nature reserve (exit 154 off I-55).
After another 16.09 km, you will reach the old village of Atlanta. Stop by the Palms Grill (Tel: 217-648-2233; 110 SW Arch St (Arch Street); main dishes $ 4-9; 0 8.00-17.00 Sun-Thu, until 20.00 Fri and Sat) where thick slices of pies with gooseberries, sour cream and raisins, as well as other pies prepared according to old recipes, look at you from the window and seduce you. Then walk down the street to take pictures of the High Floor (Tall Paul)- a tall statue of Paul Bunyan clutching a hot dog.
In the state capital, Springfield, another 80.47 km away, there are three attractions: Shea's Petrol Station Museum (Shea "s Gas Station Museum), Cozy Dog Drive In and Rout 66 Drive In.
Farther south, a stretch of old Route 66 runs parallel to I-55 through Litchfield. (Litchfield) where you can fork a chicken steak while chatting with the locals at the 1924 Ariston Café (www.ariston-cafe.com; S Old Rte 66 (Old Route 66); main dishes $ 7-15; 11.00-21.00 Tue-Fri, 16.00-22.00 Sat, 11.00-20.00 Sun)... Finally, before arriving in Missouri, exit I-270 at Exit 3. Take Highway 203 south, turn right at the first traffic light and continue west towards the 1929 Chain of Rocks Bridge. (9.00 - before sunset)... Today, the bridge is only open to pedestrians and cyclists - a mile-long stretch across the Mississippi River at a 22-degree slope (this fact has caused numerous accidents, and that is why cars are prohibited from entering here).
Route 66 Missouri
Missouri will unveil a long strip of Mother Roads in front of you. Get familiar with the road in St. Louis. Ted Drewes has served generations of travelers on Route 66 in the Chippewa St. There are a couple of historical routes through the city with ample signs.
Follow MAI-44 (interstate freeway built around Highway 66 in Missouri) west to Highway 66 State Park (Route 66 State Park; www.mostateparks.com/route66.htm; I-44 exit 266; 7:30 am after sunset), with a tourist center and a museum (admission is free; 9.00-16.30 March-November) inside a roadside hotel in 1935. While the exhibits showcase ancient landscapes from across the St. Louis County, the real intrigue lies in the city of Times Beach, which was once located on this very site. It was contaminated with dioxin, and in the 1980s the government was forced to completely destroy it.
Head Southeast on MAI-44 to Stanton (Stanton) then follow the signs to the family-friendly Meramec Caverns (www.americascave.com; adult / child $ 19 / 9.50; 8.30-19.30 in summer, reduced hours the rest of the year), interesting both by the history of the Civil War and by the stalactites. And the magical Jesse James Wax Museum (Jesse James Wax Museum; adult children $ 6/3; 9.00-18.00 June-August, reduced hours the rest of the year) which tells the story of how famous criminal Jesse James faked his death and lived until 1951.
Route 66 Museum and Research Center (www.lebanon-laciede.lib.mo.us; 915 S Jefferson St; admission free; 8.00-20.00 Mon-Thu, 8.00-17.00 Fri and Sat) in the library in Lebanon (Lebanon) has a collection of memorabilia of the past and present. Ready to take a nap? Head to Munger Moss Motel, 1940s (Tel: 417-532-3111; www.mungermoss.com Outdoor cinema for motorists 66 Drive-In Theater
Abandon the freeway west of Springfield (Springfield) taking the Hwy 96 towards Carthage (Carthage) Civil War period with its historic town square and outdoor cinema 66 Drive-In Theater (www.66drivein.com; 17231 Old 66 Blvd; Adult / Child $ 7/3; Fri-Sun Apr-Oct)... In Joplin (Joplin) still recovering from the horrific tornado of 2011, continue down State Highway 66, turning onto old Highway 66 (until 1940s), before the Kansas border.
On the Route 66 Association of Missouri website (www.missouri66.org)- a huge amount of information.
Legendary road
Today at the Roadside Bar we have the story of the legendary Route 66, the road that ran through the heart and history of America.
The path of fugitives and rebels, the beginning of all American roads, the first real highway in world history - four thousand kilometers, which connected two opposite shores: the Pacific Ocean and Lake Michigan. For many Americans, the symbol of the country is not the Statue of Liberty, but the iconic Route 66, the Mother Road, as it gives all travelers what they need most: the spirit of travel and freedom. It contains a secret that other highways have never possessed.
A deserted road that crosses the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, a highway for which a whole train of rumors, mysterious and creepy stories stretches: about ghosts, about a girl in white, waiting gullible drivers, about a soul gatherer who votes on the night road, about a truck engulfed in flames, which suddenly appears on the highway and just as suddenly disappears, about a dead boy who wakes up guests who dared to spend the night in a roadside hotel in the morning, and about much, much more.
You will have to start again from afar, otherwise it will not be clear what all the fuss is about and why this track is so famous. So you have to make a little historical excursion. :).
Route 66 appeared in the 1920s. It passed through eight states, covering the routes of the first settlers, Indian trails and country roads under its asphalt. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, hundreds of thousands of ruined farmers and displaced workers flocked to California in search of a better life. Dust storms of 1934 tore off another 210 thousand settlers from their places. They were mainly farmers, residents of rural America. The earth no longer fed them: there had been no rains for a long time, a terrible drought ruined the harvest, and storms began. People abandoned their homes and hit the road on Route 66. They said, "If we get to California, we will survive."
Route 66 was just a two-lane highway that sometimes stretched across desert and prairie. A long journey could turn into danger for refugees, torment along the way, curses and tears of people, hungry, frightened and depressed. They were waiting for snowstorms, miles and miles of desert, and, quite possibly, death awaited them ahead, because not everyone made it to the blessed southern state. But the travelers stubbornly moved forward, westward, towards the sea, towards their hope.
“Federal Road 66 is the path of fugitives, the path of those who are fleeing from dust and impoverished land, from the rumble of tractors and their own impoverishment, from the slow advance of the desert to the north, from crushing winds blowing from Texas, from floods that not only do not enrich land, but they steal from her the last strength. People flee from all this, and on Route 66 they are carried by tributaries of side highways, narrow country roads, rugged roads in the fields. 66 is the main track, this is the path of the fugitives "- this is how John Steinbeck began his book" Grapes of Wrath ". He talked about a farming family driving an old car along Route 66, hoping, like everyone else, to get to California.
Steinbeck published his book in 1939.
A year later, the novel was filmed.
Bobby Trope, pianist from the famous bluesman Tommy Dorsey's band, wrote the blues about this road "Get your kicks on Route 66" and the words from his song became the hallmark of the track. They were written on cars and signs, on T-shirts, jackets, and even on menus in roadside restaurants.
For millions of Americans, Route 66 was the road to a better life.
Gradually Route 66 became an iconic road. She developed her own roadside culture: hundreds of gas stations, cafes, hotels, restaurants, gift shops. She is mentioned in many films about bikers, because every year thousands of American bikers and their foreign counterparts rush along this road, recognizing the places they know from their favorite films.
In the 60s, the television series Route 66, in which two heroes set off in search of adventure along the legendary road in the equally legendary Chevrolet Corvette, added to the popularity of the track.
But time passed and the old highway had to give way to modern highway.
In 1970, it was more convenient and faster to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles on other highways, and in 1985 Route 66 was removed from the list of existing roads.
Roadside shields were removed along the entire route, barriers were installed at the entrances and the road was empty: no one else looked here. But until recently it was noisy and lively here: cars were rushing, travelers were turning to roadside restaurants, truck drivers were stopping at long-familiar motels - and suddenly it all stopped.
The road was doomed to be forgotten. It was the end of an era, the end of Route 66.
But hundreds of thousands of people, for whom the words "Route 66" were not an empty phrase, did not let their beloved road die.
A public association was formed that forced state governors to recognize Route 66 as historically significant. And just as the sailors put the famous ships at an eternal anchorage, so the Americans put their favorite road at rest.
She continues to live now, and the local authorities make sure that the road itself and all buildings are preserved in their original form.
Route 66 ranks with the Grand Canyon, New York skyscrapers and Yellowstone National Park, becoming one of the symbols of the United States and received the status of a "historic route". The very name "Route 66" has become one of the most widely promoted world brands.
Now the road has turned into a place of a kind of pilgrimage.
It is considered obligatory for every biker to race along the legendary track at least once in his life. Route 66 set the scene for Dennis Hopper's Oscar-winning film Easy Rider. For many tourists, a trip along Historic Route 66 has become the best way to get to know "the real America" and join the "spirit of freedom". Hundreds of thousands of travelers take the California highway every year, following the route of those who once drove this road in search of a better life.
During its existence, Route 66 has been overgrown with legends and rumors, just like a huge sea ship overgrown with shells.
They say that it is dangerous to travel here alone, you never know what can happen!
It is said that one man was driving late at night on the highway - the road was deserted for miles around. Suddenly, he saw a truck rushing down the middle of the road, engulfed in flames. The truck was going so fast that sparks flew out from under its wheels. The traveler hastily pulled over to the side of the road, and the flaming truck swept past and disappeared.
I also tell spooky stories about the Street Bridge in Pasadena, California.
It is called "the bridge of suicides", however, the first death on this bridge was not at all deliberate. When the construction was in full swing, one of the builders fell into a vat of concrete. It was not possible to save the man, moreover, they could not even get his body out of the vat. Now it rests forever in one of the pits, in which the supports of the bridge were installed, and soon after that the workers first noticed a ghost that was wandering near the construction site. Since then, an invisible curse has hung over the bridge.
The first suicide occurred on November 16, 1919, followed by a number of others. During the Great Depression, more than 100 people committed suicide by jumping over the railing of a bridge. One of the most memorable cases was a double suicide: on May 1, 1937, a mother threw her little daughter off a bridge, from a height of almost 150 feet (about 45 meters), then jumped herself.
The mother crashed to death, but the child miraculously survived. The girl fell on the tree branches and they softened the blow. In order to avoid such incidents, metal mesh was pulled on both sides of the "Suicide Bridge", and although the number of suicides has decreased over time, there are still dire rumors about the place.
At night, you can hear screams coming from the canyon, and very often a woman with long flowing hair is seen on the railing of the bridge. She seemed to hesitate, as if gathering courage, and many motorists, seeing her, stop cars and rush to help. But each time they are late: the woman rushes down, but the next night she can be met again on the famous bridge.
... If you suddenly decide to take a ride on this road, you must remember one more thing.
Never, ever ride Route 66 alone!
An uninvited passenger may suddenly appear in a car speeding along the road at full speed. It is a skin walker indian spirit. He knows how to control the will of birds and animals: crows, coyotes, wolves. Obeying his order, the animals suddenly jump out onto the road in front of the car, provoking accidents. That is why it is recommended to ride on the track with a large company, so that the skin walker cannot squeeze into the car. However, this is unlikely to help: after all, they know how to control human consciousness as they want and can force the driver to do whatever they want.
But in any case, it is better not to go at night, because it is at this time that a "girl in white" - a ghostly fellow traveler - may also be encountered.
Ghost Travelers are the most famous ghosts that have ever appeared in the United States of America. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this ghost fellow traveler is a girl or a young woman. It appears late at night, on the edge of a deserted road, right in the headlights.
As a rule, drivers willingly stop to give a lift to the girl (and she always, always needs exactly the same city as the driver). The fellow traveler sits in the back seat. She usually hardly speaks, except that sometimes she can give her name. Remember, just in case, her name is Risen Mary.
Try not to bother her with conversations and do not annoy her at all - she is a ghost, and jokes with ghosts are bad.
When the driver arrives at the address that the girl needed, he turns back and sees that the girl is no longer there!
He begins to look for her, knocking on all the nearby houses and always stumbles upon those who tell him the story of a girl who died on the highway, at the very place where she met her driver. On every anniversary of her death, the girl tries to return home, but every time something bothers her.
But the Risen Mary is not always so harmless!
There were also such cases on Route 66: a female figure suddenly appeared right in front of the car and then, in order not to knock the girl down, the driver sharply turns to the side and ... falls into an abyss or crashes into a rock.
So if you happen to drive along Route 66, just in case, do not pick up fellow travelers on the track!
But on this track you can meet not only ghosts-people, there are also
ghost cars. But on this track you can meet not only ghosts-people, there are also ghost cars there. Engulfed in fire, they suddenly appear on the road and rush towards them at great speed. There is no one behind the wheel, and oncoming drivers, trying to avoid a head-on collision, try to dodge - and this usually ends tragically. After all, ghost cars appear exactly in the place where the accident happened and they appear precisely in order for another one to occur.
At night, in June 1994, a traveler from Alabama drove along the famous highway. Suddenly he saw that a bus was rushing towards him. The young man managed to turn to the side of the road, and when he got to the first motel he came across, he learned from the owner that he was still very lucky. This bus has appeared on this section of the route for many years, and due to its fault there were a lot of accidents. A ghost truck was also seen on Route 66, which also forces drivers to turn off the road. In 1960, a minibus, trying to avoid a collision with such a truck, overturned, but the driver survived.
If you have to stay overnight in one of the hotels, then you must bear in mind that almost all of them have their own "ghostly" history.
For example, at the Monte Vista hotel, early in the morning, a guest may be greeted by the ghost of a robber who was shot dead long ago. Once, during a raid on a bank, he was seriously injured by a security guard, however, the robber, together with his friends, got to the hotel bar, where they decided to celebrate the successful robbery and have a good drink. Alas, the short-lived unlucky raider was the owner of a tidy sum of money earned by someone: he died of blood loss right next to the bar. However, even after his death, he did not want to leave the institution, so since then guests have often heard bottles jingling and chairs moving by themselves in the bar, and when the ghost is in a good mood, he greets people and offers to skip along a glass.
Another roadside hotel in Arizona also has a ghost - the ghost of a deceased Irish miner. The death of the Irishman came from constant excessive drunkenness, so his ghost is constantly tipsy: he likes to wake the guests up early in the morning with the sounds of bagpipes.
Roadside motels also keep their secrets. When you get to Missouri on Route 66, make sure to spend the night at the Blue Rooster Roadside Motel.
Of course, the motel also has a ghost: a little boy who rings the bell on the porch early in the morning. And, perhaps, you are lucky and you will occupy the very room in which children cry at night and the rocking chair creak. Experienced travelers advise without further ado to move out of this room and ask for another. Well, they probably know what they are talking about. :)
But this is not the most important thing. Ghosts and Resurrected Mary - you will not surprise the visitors of our Road Bar!
Most importantly, on Route 66 you can meet a man named Auger Grant.
No one knows who it is (people who are fond of fantasy and mysticism seriously consider him a modern wandering magician).
Auger Grant is blessed with an amazing ability - if you ask, he can change your destiny.
And you will get a completely different life: better or worse - but a different one.
You can only meet this person here, on Route 66, but where exactly is unknown. How to recognize him from the thousands and thousands of those who travel along the legendary road is also unclear. It will be recognized only by those whose fate the time has come to change.
So, if you want to try your luck - go on the road on Route 66!
And somewhere in a roadside restaurant or at a gas station, in a souvenir shop or a motel, you will meet someone who can give you a different destiny.
If you ask him about it, of course. :)
Traveling on the roads of Arizona and Nevada, we could not help but notice the signs along the roads, which are almost more common than speed limit signs.
These were signs with the name of the road Route 66.
It would seem a road and a road, what's wrong with that? Nevertheless, we were very interested in the inscription Historic Route which meant that the road was of historical importance.
What it was, we learned much later, but the constant flashing of such signs made us feel the importance of this symbol for the Americans.
And just a few kilometers after we passed the Hoover Dam, we stumble upon the stunning Museum of Route 66, which was simply teeming with rare exhibits that make any lover of antiquity squeal with delight ...
From the side of the road, the museum (aka a souvenir shop) looks like an old gas station.
You can choose regular gasoline (regular) or even premium (premium).
True, I would not recommend refueling there, since it seems that everyone who refueled here parked their cars here forever ...
This is how the faithful war horses stand, abandoned in the hot desert of Nevada, on the side of the historic road 66.
And what is she famous for, you ask? And the thing is that Highway 66 is the first high-speed highway across America, something like the automobile TransSib, which made it possible to get from Chicago to Los Angeles very quickly (by the standards of that time) and connected the western and eastern parts of the United States between yourself.
The opening of this road took place in 1926, although it was completely covered with asphalt only 10 years later. The use of this expressway was promoted and supported in every possible way by the authorities of the country, but there was no particular need for this, the highway was for the most part straight and convenient and very quickly gained popularity among the US population.
Over the course of its existence, Highway 66 has become iconic and has been mentioned in many songs, movies and literary works. But progress did not stand still, and the end of the dawn of Road 66 came in 1956, when US President Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act and set aside $ 25 billion to build an intercity expressway network. This was necessary to increase the country's defenses, but it significantly influenced the popularity of the trans-American highway at number 66.
Many segments of the road were abandoned and unused for a long time, but already in 1990, Highway 66 was declared a historical landmark and its restoration began. Along the way, special signs were installed (see at the beginning of the post) and many small museums were created, one of which we accidentally got into.
So what did I say about cars there? And, yes, that's how they stand, abandoned, a whole, one might say collection.
This car, which looks remarkably like a victory, is actually an American car of a brand unknown to me.
This is what his symbol looks like, maybe who knows what kind of beast?
Particularly rare examples are in a garage full of various rare devices dating back to the Second World War.
There are also agricultural machinery, small and compact, albeit used :)
In general, there is a lot of car junk here, especially in the backyard, where not all tourists reach. Apparently the owner loves to delve into the insides of cars at his leisure, in his free time from idleness.
This is borne out by the best and most beautiful exhibit in this impromptu auto show, right outside the store entrance and apparently still on the move ...
In addition to cars, I really liked the surroundings of the museum as a whole, which was created by numerous old plaques and inscriptions. For example, here is a real sign for store visitors.
The caption reads: "Hippies must come in through the back door.".
The famous emblem of a well-known company.
Caution Rabbit "Jack"!
And of course I could not pass by this comfortable American toilet ...
And here in my face you can clearly see how sorry I am for the cow ...
Still life "wheel in cacti" (desert after all ...)
the store sold a huge variety of all sorts of things, both antiques and modern souvenirs. For example, for $ 5 you could easily buy an old license plate. But I did not dare, I was afraid that they would be taken away at the border.
And the store's surroundings were no worse than outside. There you can just wander and stare around. The prices are human, my will would buy a bunch of junk ... :)
For example, here is a wall with money from all over the world. The map shows where exactly.
This is probably all that I wanted to tell you about this wonderful place, which made one of the strongest impressions on me during our entire trip.
If you follow our route, be sure to check it out ...
To find it on Google.maps, search for it:Hackberry General Store, East Highway 66, Hackberry, AZ, United States
With whom we packed our bags the night before, quarreling about whether we need an electric kettle (why?), And stuffing sleeping bags, leggings and bathing accessories in the dank trunk of his car. In an hour we leave Detroit for Chicago, where our big journey will officially begin.
We will have to live on the road for the next two weeks. The childish idea of drawing a route in red on an old US map and steadily going from point A to point B in an old Honda still seems wild and unbelievable. Ahead of 9000 km on the road.
At six in the morning I climb into the back seat, wrapped in a blanket that will replace all the usual comfort of a stay-at-home, and fall asleep, pleasantly, however, excited by Gabriel's short conversation with a smartphone: OK, Google! Navigate to Chicago.
Where to start
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Once you have a visa and a car, you are almost ready to zip through the United States of America. Traveling by car implies her presence: if friends who live in the United States are not traveling with you and are ready to use their own vehicle, you can rent or buy a car. Renting is often more expensive than buying a good used car to survive the journey, but buying a car will be more difficult and take time to sell at the end point. Choosing a car (if there is such an opportunity) is based on three criteria: it should consume gas sparingly, be comfortable for a long stay in it (ideally, it should be convenient to take a nap in the back seat) and not raise doubts about its reliability. You don't want to get up in downtown Oklahoma and spend three hours wondering what's broken. This, by the way, is a reason to check in advance all the fluids in the car and the serviceability of vital parts. The budget needs to be planned so that you have money for unforeseen expenses. |
Before traveling, you need to arrange a brainstorming session. You will have to start by planning your route. Think how many kilometers a day you are ready to drive without being heroic: being sleepy driving home from the supermarket is a sin for many, but highways in foreign states are a matter that does not tolerate driver fatigue. After that, figure out which cities you will be spending the night in, check their population and appearance on Google, and decide if there is anything in them that your group of travelers would like to see. Your plan will change anyway during your trip: you might not like a booked hotel, you might want to stop at the fire engine museum, or hit a wheel. That is why you can book hotels on site or use the services of Airbnb.com. |
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Think over the little things. You will need eye drops, paper towels, warm socks, a cigarette lighter charger, an umbrella. Despite this, it is generally not worth taking everything with you either: there are several dozen cities ahead, in which there are pharmacies, gas stations and supermarkets. Buy on the road. It is also worth checking weather forecasts, state laws, and differences in traffic rules. All routes in the USA are occupied by truckers, who have their own views on traffic situations (as a rule, quite reasonable), so read about etiquette on the highway. Answer all the questions that arise in advance: you do not know how to communicate with the cops (for example, in America you cannot get out of your car until the policeman has given certain instructions to do so) - read. If you have forgotten the emergency braking technique, remember. All this will make the trip as pleasant and safe as possible. |
Decide with your companions how you behave. You are probably going on a trip with the most dear and beloved people. Unfortunately, this does not negate the increased risk of conflicts: in a spa hotel in Nice, you can change to a sun lounger on the opposite side of the pool to take a break from the monotonous company; this trick will not work in a car. Agree in advance on what topics you are not talking about, how you solve extreme situations, how you react to a partner who stops maintaining a conversation, how you have fun and what kind of music is played in the cabin. |
US Route 66 (Mother Road) is the most important highway in the American collective consciousness. This is the first highway to link Chicago to Los Angeles, that is, east to west, north to south, hundreds of cities in one garland, and the first to cut the entire continent in half. The highway was opened in 1926, when the country was just beginning to be covered with branches of the future road system. The track officially ceased to exist in 1985, when wide, safe roads were built next to it, smashing the entire route into pieces and distributing different numbers to new sections. The old people who refueled next to us somewhere in Missouri complained that once again the government spat into the depths of history, leaving only a meager cultural heritage from the 66th road: the book "Grapes of Wrath" and the cartoon "Cars". Meanwhile, the old 66th track flashed on the side of our road all the time. Along 4,000 km of the highway, we saw live scenery of old American films, listened to the pleasant accents of the Southerners, lay under the starry southern sky, crazy with happiness, drove through the Rocky Mountains and burst into the golden state of California. The first stop on the way was Chicago.
What to do in Chicago if there is only half a day
From Chicago we drove south. This is where the 66th road starts and so far we are not having much fun. Firstly, it's pretty cool, and secondly, these places are not at all different from Michigan.
Around are rickety farmhouses, classic red wooden barns, roadside diners and rare windmills. This is the America we all gaze at in theaters, regardless of genre: Nebraska, Forest Gump, and What's Eating Gilbert Grape in one landscape. You can buy a Route 66 magnet at every gas station, and 30-40 miles to any city, the routes are lined with self-made museums created according to the principle “I found all this furniture in my grandfather's basement” and antique shops. It's really worth going here for unique tables, chests of drawers and china: these are huge warehouses, converted into dusty and dry rooms, in which you can assemble a whole new house, the kind that no one else will have without losing in aesthetics and definitely not giving for purchases more than necessary.
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Our first day ends in St. Louis, the capital of Missouri, which makes us feel like Detroit: an old and dangerous city that is not a very pleasant first time on Saturday to Sunday night. Gabriel offers to look at the "Gate of the West" monument - a huge arch symbolizing the beginning of the road to California (in those days people went to this state mainly for gold, but for some reason the arch is still aluminum.) |
How to choose a motel on your road trip
(we do not suggest considering other accommodation options)
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If at the reception they ask you for documents for the night, do not give out the key, and generally raise your suspicion by all means, this motel is not suitable for you. Despite the fact that American cinema exaggerates the danger of roadside hotels dozens of times, it is still not necessary to dive headlong into a suspicious adventure in the care of a toothless motel employee with a gun in hand.
- We're in Texas! - Gabriel wakes me up, continuing to drive.
I open my eyes and try to figure out what's going on. The phone definitely does not keep in touch with external channels, the radio crackles. I lean out of the window to check the temperature overboard, and give an ultimatum that we urgently need to stop and get out of the car. Standing on emergency lights, we get out of the car, passing truckers honk unpleasantly, but we stand with our heads up: after the gray, dull northern sky, we see all the stars at once. We sit on the grass for 30 minutes until our necks are numb and a police car pulls up to us.
- Guys, are you all right? - I immediately start to get nervous and invent excuses, unpleasantly noticing the difference between my mentality and the mentality of my friend.
- We're from Michigan. And you have such a sky. Can we see? - Gabriel decides not to come up with more compelling reasons for emergency parking because eternity is overhead Is already a reason.
- Have a good travel! - the cop salutes us and leaves.
Four hours later, when Gabriel takes over asleep in the backseat, I drive into a small town on the border with New Mexico. “We have seven restaurants, three hotels and four gas stations,” a welcome poster flirts with me.
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5 applications, Hotel tonight An excellent application that will help you navigate and choose a hotel if you need it in the evening. Songza The app selects music for specific moments, such as “driving in the left lane” or “shopping in a vintage store”. Suitable for travel if you want to combine with the atmosphere even more by playing the right song in your headphones. GasBuddy How to find the cheapest gasoline, tell the users of this proposal themselves. On the road, this knowledge turns out to be key. Road Trip Weather The application, in which you need to score your route and the approximate travel time, will calculate what the weather is and where you are waiting for. Very convenient, considering that rain and snow greatly affect the quality of the road surface and safety. Field Trip The Field Trip app replaces all travel guides and the need to re-read Wikipedia for the answer to "What is this thing?" The application, having determined your location, will itself tell you which monuments and historical places are nearby, and will briefly tell you what is the essence. |
The next morning, we open a map on the table and stare in amazement at the red thread across the states: for the first time, we are closer to Los Angeles than Detroit. The southern states differ from the northern states in the same way as Mexico differs from Canada. Any area here looks unattractive for life, poor and unkempt, but people still walk around it happy. In stores and at gas stations, everyone congratulates on the approaching Christmas in the country - "Feliz Navidad" instead of "Mary Christmas". The walls of restaurants are hung with pockmarked porcelain skulls - Mexican dead, and the local remnants of the Native American tribes sell their simple trinkets: dream catchers, dishes and earrings. We are surprised by the contrast with yesterday's Oklahoma. Mountains rushing past us, on which there are almost castles, old, restrained and at the same time elegant in Latin American style, and fields from which cities are chaotically popping out of trailers. We turn off the main route for the first time in all the days on the road: we want to get to Monument Valley - the very place where red rocks-ships grow out of the ground right into the films of Clint Eastwood. Our last stop before California is in Flagstaff, Arizona. The next morning, I get behind the wheel and drive to the Grand Canyon while my partner sleeps in the back seat. Now one of my main dreams is coming true. I want to get to the canyon before sunrise, we leave the motel 20 minutes later than necessary, and in the forest I accelerate to 90 miles per hour: I really want to be in time, and I even think what to explain to a sudden policeman if he gets caught - the speech in my head is obscenely romantic. At the entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park, we get into a small car queue. Apparently, the fact that we slipped through the gate in 10 minutes, having paid $ 40 for entry, is a great luck. We park and wonder how cold it is. And then we go to the canyon and do not leave the cliff until the risk of frostbite becomes a real threat. |
Bagdad Cafe in the mojave desert in california
place of pilgrimage for history
and disgusting burgers.
What to do in California
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➊ Los Angeles In a city that has spawned global pop culture for over 100 years, you can relax, park your car in front of a motel or Airbnb apartment and mingle with the crowd. Everyone chooses the must-see places for himself. We limited ourselves to a walk around downtown, which immediately gave way to Boston, Chicago and New York in beauty and uniqueness, went to Venice Beach, to Hollywood, walked along the Walk of Fame and touched Robin Williams' handprints at the Kodak Theater, drove to Beverly Hills and looked at the famous Hollywood Montain. Los Angeles nightlife— an international hangout at the base of the Maslow pyramid, the pleasure of which increases several times, if you have the right guide: you need to know the places. |
➋ Rest of state California residents are proud to notice that they have it all in the state: snowy mountains, mirrors of lakes, palm trees, beaches, ocean and forests. If you don't have enough time for everything, but you want to stop by San Francisco, you should spend two days on Highway 1, which winds along the Pacific coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco. You have to drive carefully, because you constantly want to look at the ocean. The travel business has made sure that this is not the only entertainment on the road. There are forest resorts, quiet and chic, wineries where visitors risk picking up wine as a gift for their families, elephant seals that can be approached very close, horse-riding ranches, and coastal restaurants with fresh fish. ... Towards the evening of the next day, you can slow down in Santa Cruz, a small resort town, which is both fun and sad, and if you have a free day, turn off the road to Sequoia Park. |
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San Francisco San Francisco - home to beatniks, Asians, rhythmic and legendary residential architecture and rolling hills. This is perhaps the only large city in the United States where you have to walk like a museum: too beautiful. In addition to the urban landscape itself, attention should be paid to the Alcatraz prison, which has become a museum, the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects downtown with the picturesque living areas on the other side of the bay, the famous trams and bookstores. Any guidebook gives a good answer to the question of what to do in this city, but, as a rule, all newcomers are fooled by the charm of the place and never want to leave again. |
Here in California, you can finish your trip by returning your car to the rental office, hopping on a plane and returning home. Gabriel and I had to drive back and discuss whether we are ready to spend on the road and the next trip. Montana, Florida and Oregon won't see themselves!
American Highway 66 (Route 66) is a road with history. It was once called "the Main Street of America", "the Mother Road" or even modestly "the most famous road in the world". It was built in 1926 and became one of the first highways to connect the east and west of the United States - more precisely, the cities of Chicago and Los Angeles. Since then, a lot has changed: gradually new, wider, modern and straighter roads appeared. Some sections of the highway were rebuilt, others simply disappeared as unnecessary, and many were simply abandoned and unnecessary. In 1985, Route 66 was removed from the American highway system altogether and turned into a historic highway, museum road.
Route 66 on the map. Now the road does not look like this anymore - it is generally impossible to drive it entirely from start to finish. But on some sections of this legendary highway in the states of Arizona and California, we still managed to ride.
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Almost any town on Route 66 creates the feeling that time simply stopped running here decades ago. Well, or it goes, but at some unhurried pace. And this does not mean at all that the towns are abandoned - no, they live, they just got a little stuck somewhere in the 50s or 60s.
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In general, what happened to the towns on Route 66 is very clearly shown in the Pixar cartoon "Cars". It is just about one of these towns - how, due to the construction of a new highway, it turned out to be forgotten by everyone. Be sure to watch the cartoon if you haven't seen it yet! Well, or at least this excerpt:
Many of the roadside shops have also turned into museums. In any of them you can find a collection of old road signs, rusty car numbers and of course the cars themselves.
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For example, such a fleet of vehicles. The owners, who have moved closer to civilization for a long time, do not need these rusty cars at all.
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And this is a collection of old gas stations.
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Just a residential building. The mania to collect all rubbish did not bypass his owners.
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Something stylized as a Wild West town, and then, it seems, is still abandoned.
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And not a soul ...
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There are also many real abandoned buildings on the highway.
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For example, such a restaurant.
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No wonder he went broke. On this section of the road, in a few hours of travel, we met only a couple of cars.
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Inside view. More recently, probably, it was opened.
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A separate story is road signs. Most often there is simply nothing to "point out" to Route 66, so any excuse to inform the traveler about something that awaits him on the way (and the kiosk after a quarter of a mile, of course, did not work) is suitable.
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The entrance to the Indian reservation is also closed.
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But the most interesting thing is a series of pointers on which a bored traveler can read a phrase.
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Do you know what it is? I was so interested in this question while I was looking for an answer to it that I decided to write a separate post and expand on the topic in more detail. ADF: done,
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And here are the same signs in one of the roadside museum shops.
"Big Mistake
Many make
Rely on horn
Instead of Brake "
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This is how it is, Road number 66.
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The funniest thing here is when the sun goes down. Immediately there is pitch darkness, and before civilization still go and go. The main thing is not to be left here suddenly without gasoline.
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Finally, one of the hotels was working. Hooray!
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If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way take, the highway that "s the best.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.
Well it winds from Chicago to LA
Over two-thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.
(c) Bobby Troup, 1946
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