If You Ever Plan to Travel West........
Every one of us has dreams and desires, things we want to
accomplish and things we want to do. I am a roadbabe. There is little
more exhilarating to me than to jump in the car and hit the highway -
with my trucker leg up, my foot on the dash, hitting cruise control
and scream through new places. One of my dreams was to drive the
Mother Road - Route 66 - from Chicago to Santa Monica. I shared this
dream with orianna and this past summer, the two of us fulfilled our
dream.
Travel my way, that's the highway that's the best Get your kicks on Route 66
Route 66 follows the railways across eight states, through three time zones, and was the longest national highway of it's time. It was officially opened in 1926 and the entire 2446 miles were completely paved by 1937. Route 66 was conceived in the 1920's by Cy Avery of Tulsa, Oklahoma as an effort to link the former Indian Territory with Chicago and Los Angeles. From the outset, public road planners intended U.S. 66 to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities along its course for the most practical of reasons: most small towns had no access to a major national thoroughfare. Steinbeck named U.S. 66 the "Mother Road." in his classic 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath. An estimated 210,000 people migrated to California by way of this route to escape the despair of the Dust Bowl. Route 66 symbolized the "road to opportunity." At the outset of American involvement in World War II, the War Department singled out the West as ideal for military training bases in part because of its geographic isolation and especially because it offered consistently dry weather for air and field maneuvers. Route 66 was used to facilitate this single greatest wartime manpower mobilization in the history of the nation. After the war, Americans were more mobile than ever before. Thousands of soldiers, sailors, and airmen who had received military training out west escaped the cold harsh winters of the eastern states; for many Route 66 facilitated their relocation. More than 2,000 miles all the way Get your kicks on Route 66 There were no motels in the early days of automobiles and most drivers didn't want to stop at posh hotels along the way so they found auto camping to be the logical solution. Early motorists would pack all they needed to cook, sleep and live and take it with them, pulling over to throw up a tent and build a fire wherever they wished. This became known as "gypsying", and the inherent freedom further popularized auto travel as a pastime. Eventually farmers along the way began to realize they could make money off those traveling through and began fencing in their own fields to charge motorists to camp in their private camps. Competition of course developed and owners began offering amenities to attract customers. Covered campsites, bath houses, and on site stores were just a few. The covered campsites soon led to fully enclosed campsites, and the tourist cabin was born. The first cabins were one room shacks with no fixtures and a common outhouse/bathhouse that was shared with the outdoor campsites. Businessmen began to understand that the outward appearance, especially the appearance from the road where their customers were, was just as important. Tourist cabins began to be embellished with decorations and motifs were developed for the overall themes of these camps. Excessive truck use during World War II and the comeback of the automobile industry immediately following the war brought great pressure on America's highways. It was President Eisenhower's efforts in the 50's which introduced to us the Interstate Freeway System (modeled after Hitler's Autobahn). By 1970, nearly all segments of the original Route 66 were replaced by a modern four-lane highway; thus the final demise of Route 66 itself.....the interstate swathed through each state, by-passing the small towns who were once the tourist and traveling spots of America. Route 66 symbolized the renewed spirit of optimism that pervaded the country after economic catastrophe and global war. Often called, "The Main Street of America", it linked a remote and under-populated region with two vital 20th century cities - Chicago and Los Angeles. Thus our dream to follow this historical highway - the Main Street of America. We wanted to taste the freedom it represented, feel the struggle it brought hope to overcome, and live a few moments of the past. We left Pittsburgh Monday morning to arrive in Chicago that afternoon. We knew of one part of the city area which was safe and headed for a motel for the night. We planned on starting the next morning at the beginning - smack downtown Chicago on Michigan and Adams Avenues - and hit the road. We wanted to stay as pure along the Mother Road as possible, but so much of the road has been washed away or follows the Interstates. With our trusty maps taken off the Internet in hand, We started out across Illinois. Heading on down the road: Illinois
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