# Route 66



## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Has anyone here travelled through Route 66?

For those who don't know, it was a historic highway system that runs from Chicago, IL. to Los Angeles, CA. (Santa Monica). The highway also passes through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. 

From Wikipedia

*Route 66 was a major migratory path west, especially during the dust bowl, and supported the economies of the communities on which the road passed. People became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive even with the growing threat of the new Interstate Highway System.

US 66 was officially decommissioned (that is, officially removed from the US Highway System) in 1985 after it was decided the route was no longer relevant and had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System. The road currently exists as "Historic Route 66", a National Scenic Byway, in the states it once crossed on its journey from Chicago to Santa Monica.*


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

*Along Route 66*


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## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

i've never been on route 66 (or even driven on any road not on the east coast), but i'd like to go on route 66 some day. i hear there are many ghost towns near route 66 and other desert roads in northern arizona. if i ever have time on a future trip to las vegas, i'd like to go see those ghost towns.


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## dmg1mn (Oct 1, 2005)

I would like to do it sometime.


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## NiekNL (Sep 28, 2005)

We drove route 66 (my dad), from Barstow untill the Sant Gabriel mountains where we took the highway to LA. (2002) The road was not that special, but the feeling you were ON highway 66 was fantastic.


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## spyguy (Apr 16, 2005)

Doesn't it eventually become a bike path or something?


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## Jules (Jun 27, 2004)

Route 66 goes right through downtown Chicago!? Wow, I guess you learn something new everyday.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

RP1 said:


> Route 66 goes right through downtown Chicago!? Wow, I guess you learn something new everyday.


It's where it actually starts. Anyway, I've passed through the one in Santa Monica where it ends but hopefully would try travelling through it starting from Chicago.


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## Nutterbug (Feb 3, 2005)

xzmattzx said:


> i've never been on route 66 (or even driven on any road not on the east coast), but i'd like to go on route 66 some day. i hear there are many ghost towns near route 66 and other desert roads in northern arizona. if i ever have time on a future trip to las vegas, i'd like to go see those ghost towns.


Did Interstates kill those towns?


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## Jules (Jun 27, 2004)

WANCH said:


> It's where it actually starts. Anyway, I've passed through the one in Santa Monica where it ends but hopefully would try travelling through it starting from Chicago.


I can't believe I never knew that. I've always heard about this famous route 66 but never had any clue it goes through my own backyard. Cool!


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## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Nutterbug said:


> Did Interstates kill those towns?


some yes, but the ghost towns i'm referring to are real ghost towns from the early 1900's. these towns flourished when silver or copper or something else was found nearby, then the town died when the raw materials ran out. most of these are way off the beaten path, sometimes miles from any paved road.


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## svs (Dec 5, 2005)

I was born a couple of mile from the start of route 66 in Chicago and currently live a few miles from the end in Santa Monica. I had the privilege of driving the mother road from LA to Chicago in the fifties when 66 was in its prime. I remember the Tepee motels, the reptile ranches, the Indian villages, and caves where Jesse JAmes supposedly hung out. 

There are still recognizable parts of the old road in LA county, Albequerque, St. Louis etc. If you check out the street across from the Chicago art Institute, you can see a little sign marking the start of the road, and there is a plaque in the park where Santa Monica Blvd. hits Ocean avenue in Santa Monica marking the end.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

BTW, the areas within Route 66 reminds me of the environment set in the movie, Natural Born Killers.


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