Historic Route 66
Historic Route 66
Have you driven on the
iconic Mother Road Route 66?
We couldn't take a road trip
Have you driven on the iconic Mother Road Route 66? We couldn't take a road trip across the Southwest USA without some fun stops in four states on this famous "Main Street of America" road for homeschool purposes, learning first hand and just getting our kicks on Route 66.
The United States Congress passed a law in 1990 that recognized Route 66 had “become a symbol of the American people's heritage of travel and their legacy of seeking a better life." Once America's most famous road ( with a song and TV show named for it), Will Rogers Highway holds a special place in American consciousness and slices across the continent allowing for a trip through time like no other.
Nat King Cole's song about Route 66 says it all.
"If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six."
"It winds from chicago to la,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six."
Motoring the Mother Road is a gateway to the past with kitch and nostalgia dotting the way with tepees, historic gas stations, neon signs and motels. The road, song and TV show were part of our childhood memories that we wanted to share with our child.
US Route 66 was built in 1926 and covers 2,451 miles from Chicago to the Pacific ocean in LA and was a dream road for many through the depression and later exciting family vacations in the 50's and 60's from the midwest to the Grand Canyon and Disneyland.
It was a lot of fun sharing this living history with Mozart
and she got a kick out of it for sure.
Of course our trilingual world traveling fashionista enjoyed stopping at a gift shop and had to buy a Route 66 T-shirt
that should be a blast wearing in Europe or Asia and a souvenir to cherish.
The longest part of Route 66 is in New Mexico, with a 487-mile stretch that includes Old Town Albuquerque that we will be writing more about. Santa Fé also has the most vintage motels of that era.
We didn't do the whole route from Chicago to Santa Monica, but really enjoyed the bits in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas that we saw and learned a lot along the way.
Have you ever gotten your kicks on Route 66 or are you planning to?
