Route 66 – The Mother Road – America’s Highway – RELIEF!

Yep, relief is what Rick and I felt last year when we jumped off the Interstate due to a traffic jam and ended up on Route 66 somewhere in nowhere Missouri. At that point its been in the back of my head to travel as much of 66 as I could on the way to and from this year’s Blues Fest in Chicago. So, as I crossed the state line from OK to MO I hit my friendly Visitor Information Rest Area and grabbed what few maps and brochures they had of the famous road. A real nerd would have used the internet prior to the trip to research the route and all the interesting places to see. So, it just goes to show I am NOT A NERD! So there. Okay, I feel better now.

So, with brochures neatly crammed into the saddlebags where they were as useful as a bald tire in a rain storm (that reminds me, I also need to write an entry about my ride to Colorado in July), I was heading East across Missouri.

At this point I’ll digress just a bit to tell you that if you haven’t seen the Disney-Pixar animated movie, “CARS”, you really should check it out. I had the pleasure of watching it with Justin (okay, so he invited his mommy along too) prior to the trip so I knew a little history of the road, and the characters that I’d actually come in contact with along the way!

The great part about 66 is that it is not interstate. It’s a trip through rural America, which is basically where I grew up. So things like barns, large trees, cows on the road and neighborhood taverns were all reminiscent of my days growing up in Michigan. You want to drop your stress level a bit, just get on a 2 lane highway with no set time schedule and watch what you’re capable of finding!

On the way to Chicago I traveled 66 in Missouri and Illinois, and on the way back to Dallas, I hit more of Missouri as well as Kansas and Oklahoma. Seems there’s a Route 66 Association(s) that has been working with the states and communities to get the road marked (in most places it now has highway designations other than Route 66, if it exists at all). So of course I took a picture of the respective signs in each state.

Some states, like Kansas and Oklahoma even painted it on the road, so you couldn’t get lost (brochures point out the fact that often road/direction signs are missing because they are such coveted souvenirs.

So, along the way I encountered some of the original structures, such as the Route 66 Drive-In (also showcased in CARS), and other roadside attractions.

Of course I had to stop along the way at a few of the watering holes, purely for journalistic purposes, of course.

But of all the sections of the road, Kansas provided the most surprises. That part of the trip started out at the State Line Bar, which actually had a line painted on the road in front, with one drive-way on the Missouri side (helmets required) and one drive-way on the Kansas side (no helmets required).

Just prior to Galena, KS I happened upon a couple other riders snapping pictures and stopped for a chat. We all moved a bit further up the road to the edge of town for the ubiquitous sign photo and after they rolled away I was greeted by the attendant at what looked like a gift shop in an old gas station. Well, it turns out that not only is it a Route 66 gift and sandwich shop (http://www.4womenontheroute.com/), but it was also a source for a great wealth of information. It seems that the director of CARS spent a considerable amount of time at this station and in this town while doing research for the movie! The gift shop even had a book from Disney-Pixar that showed pictures of a lot of the buildings and people from the town.

But right there, on the corner, next to my motorcycle was the truck that was the inspiration for Mater! (http://rwarn17588.wordpress.com/2006/11/12/meet-maters-inspiration/).

This was a fun and informative visit, which of course caused a lot more picture taking. Those two other riders that were “on a schedule” have no clue what they missed!

The next surprise was in Miami, OK (pronounced Mi-am-uh by the locals). As I was passing thru town I noticed a couple old (as in vintage) motorcycles propped up in a store front window, so I circled around and found the place. Upon entering thru the side door, all I found was a T-shirt shop. Now I’ll admit, they had some nice T-shirts (this coming from a guy that only buys T-shirts from blues and bike bars and events), but I couldn’t find the bikes. That is until I walked thru a narrow doorway between buildings and found a bike MUSEUM! It was the Route 66 Vintage Iron Works (http://www.route66vintageiron.com/), with many, many finely restored bikes. The neat thing is that the bikes weren’t just “shown”, but displayed with other period items!

I HIGHLY recommend this stop for bikers and non-bikers alike.

It took me 3 full, 12 hour days to make the 950 mile trip from Chicago to Dallas, if that’s any indication of the amount of stops I made. Now I figure I need to follow the rest of 66 from Vinita, OK, where I turned south, all the way West to California. Course before I do, I need to watch CARS again so I can pick out more memorable attractions. I wonder if Justin will invite me over to watch it again?

Be sure to check out the rest of the pictures!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=9922v5mu.9b81mxbu&x=0&y=hp6nhb&localeid=en_US

Lon

Life is good. Enjoy The Road.