"Route 66 - 5000 kilometers on the road" United States of America by akkipaa

United States of America Travel Guide: 282,301 reviews and 646,087 photos

Road sign from Oatman, nice gold digger town

Route 66 - The Mother road - 2278 Miles

"If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!"

Ok, that was from Bobby Troup, and that's the way it goes. If you like travel, you have to like (and experience) R66.

I promise to tell to you the story as "daily basis". My friend and I spend 14 days on the road. I make a chapter from each of them and add some interesting photo galleries.

It used to be the road from Chicago to Los Angeles. Crossing through towns in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. A fantastic cross section of states in America. Chicago, Springfield, St. Louis, Joplin, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Santa Fe (not exactly on Route 66), Gallup, Cameron (Grand Canyon loop), Bullhead City (had to see Nevada), Barstow, San Bernardino and Los Angeles were the places we accommodated, but there were a lot of others, more interesting you might think, but our strategy was to drive on the most original roads and stay for a night when we got tired or the light went off.

You might consider Bloomington, Lebanon, Tulsa, Albuquerque, Winslow, Flagstaff, Pasadena or take a loop to "lake side" like Lake Havasu City or Lake Arrowhead.

The highlight was, not a surprise, the Grand Canyon, but you might find some interest, as I did, from Oatman, AZ, also.

But the most "High" is the road. It varies state by state, being fieldy in Illinois, green hilly and curvy in Missouri, short in Kansas, feeling familiar in Oklahoma, all large in Texas, open in New Mexico, hot and dry in Arizona, crowded and rush in California. Out of scope, but have to mention, arrival to Bullhead City was something, 14 miles downhill ride with speed of 80 mph (we did it twice, from two different directions).

The equipment

Motorcycle: Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic. 96 cubic inch twin cam, 35-54 miles per gallon, side bags, windshield, crash bars.

Communication: mobile phones, intercom with head sets and pmr phones.

Navigation: paper maps for planning and follow up, motorcycle navigator and phone navigator for emergency routing or escape from those dead ends we every now and the got.

Travel guide: Ez66 guide (2nd edition - 3rd published 2013). Some other books to cross check the roads (the road information in different sources was a little mesh).

Key apparel: rainwear (for days two and three), leather chaps, helmet and boots.

Top in Playing list: Route 66, Highway Star, Amarillo, San Bernadino, Highway to Hell and similar. A little bit old stuff, but those have been among the things arose the idea of driving the route.

Luggage: 50 liters watertight bag on luggage rag, rain ware and spare boots in side bags.

Why: English translation of my nick name is quickbeam. It took about three seconds to answer my friends open question: "If I don't find a mate to drive Route 66 with me, I'll do it alone".

Roy's Cafe in Amboy

Hidden in somewhere in desert, nothing around, only tens of miles of desert, four gasoline pumps, two of them working and when driving there, middle of nowhere, you think all the time what happens, if you get flat tyre or some other breakdown.

Then you get refreshments in heatness of noon, full tank of gas, rest for a while and you suddenly understand, this is the case, this is the Route 66.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Road of dreams and memories, every mile is special
Cons:I live 25 miles from beginning of Route 66, Finnish version
In a nutshell:Wiser than me has already said: "Get you kicks on Route 66"

Last visit to United States of America: May 2011
Intro Updated May 6, 2013
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Comments (8)

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AngMimi May 6, 2013 at 4:42 AM

Route 66, interesting page, Markku. I would love to sit on a Harley one day :-)
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  akkipaa May 6, 2013 at 4:48 AM
  
  If you check Billy Connolly's TV serie from youtube you find that there are other kind of motorcycles around. I miss the HD, unfortunately they are so expensive here that I have to ride with older Japanese version. Thank you passing by :)
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cal6060 Aug 27, 2012 at 11:14 PM

Thanks for sharing.. nice page on route 66
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  akkipaa Aug 27, 2012 at 11:16 PM
  
  You might be interested in my Valaam page, the link is on my home page, second photo.
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  cal6060 Aug 27, 2012 at 11:45 PM
  
  ok. thanks!
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wise23girl Mar 30, 2012 at 1:35 AM

We were on route 66 for a little while.Hey This is wonderful stuff
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Florida999 Feb 13, 2012 at 5:06 AM

Great page on this route! We have driving on most interstates in the U.S. but never route 66. But, I would not drive over that bridge across the Colorado!
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Regina1965 Jan 8, 2012 at 11:54 AM

A very good page, thanks for sharing - and what a nice HD you´ve got :)
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Roadquill Dec 18, 2011 at 3:16 PM

Nice page on Route 66. Karl
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Beausoleil Dec 18, 2011 at 1:53 PM

Excellent travelogues on Route 66. Our family drove it back in the 1950s before the Interstate highways. It was great fun for an 10-year-old schoolgirl. Did you see the Teepee Inn in San Bernardino, California? I wanted to stay there and we had to stay with my aunt and uncle instead. Thanks for the memories . . . 8^)
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hunterV Dec 17, 2011 at 7:13 AM

I like such inns... Thanks for sharing!>...