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Any self-respecting journey across America should incorporate a good stint on the Holy Grail of roadtrips, Route 66. The 'Mother Road' isn't really about getting from one place to another but carries with it the freedom and romanticism of a time before Wireless internet, GPS and Trip Advisor dominated our travel plans.
But technically, US 66 no longer exists. It was replaced by the Interstate Highway system in the '80s - by which time some had been overlaid, some of it realigned, and some stretches abandoned. Route 66 is not even marked on ordinary maps anymore, but you can still 'Get your Kicks' (as the song goes), using www.historic66.com which includes a turn by turn guide across the entire 2448 miles from Chicago to LA. Listening to people we met along the way, it sounds like most do a mixture of the faster two lane Interstate interspersed with stretches on the nostaligic 66, but there are also many fans and forums dedicated to the non-stop experience.
Whichever route you decide on it is hard to imagine a more untouched landscape through which you can drive hour after hour. I have to admit I found this kinda surprising. I know America is massive, but all this talk about modernising the highway made me think there would be more stuff along the way. There is not. The Road stretches faultlessly to the horizon and even in 2013, almost 90 years since Route 66 was established there is a feeling of welcome isolation. Just you and the road. And of course two toddlers, one husband driving gleefully, and several tons of essential luggage in the 'trunk'.
We connected with Route 66 in Oklahoma City, a place I wasn't too sad to leave behind, and headed West to Amarillo. For all of its admirable qualities, Amarillo is a good example of how not to organise a town. The Interstate goes directly through the centre and the hotels and restaurants are located on slip roads either side of the I-40. This means that any housing near the main drag is also near a massive highway and a bit nasty as a result. I remember there was a great ad for whiskey in the 90s (Jack Daniels I think) with this old woman who lived below a busy junction.... "I like highways, that's why I moved here" she says defiantly. I reckon she would dig this place. But what Amarillo lacks in town planning it makes up for in good Texan steaks, cowboys, and quirky places like the fascinating Cadillac Ranch (pictured below right).
From Amarillo we took another heavenly drive into the sunset before we rolled into Tucumcari.
Here the main street (the original Route 66), is filled with small 'Mom and Pop' businesses doing what they have always done for travellers along this road. Old fashioned diners, motels and petrol stations with proper old school ticker counters - no digital in sight. There's even a drive-in tattoo parlour. Where else can you rock up on a Harley, plant your boots and get some ink done?
We skipped the tatts and headed to the Blue Swallow Motel a 1939 establishment featuring neon lights and '100% refridgerated air'. As well as the cool air, the rooms come with rotary telephones, original toilets (!!) and an attached garage for your automobile. And most excitingly for the little ones - the signage at the Blue Swallow featured in the Pixar film Cars. (Lightning McQueen is a pretty big deal in our house).
Tucumcari is nostalgic bliss, and pretty much sums up the emotion and respect that we have for the great American roadtrip. Because even though everything has changed in our world, it feels like nothing has changed here.
