Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

Route 66. What is it all about?

Michael Wallis wrote this book which
renewed interest in the highway.

(This post was found as an old wrinkled draft tucked away in my digital desk drawer. I smoothed it out and added a bit more material.)

I just got back from a trip to the southwest. My Wife and I drove out to Phoenix Arizona, to pick up some furniture that she had purchased earlier in the month. She had been there for an artist's workshop.The high point of the trip for me, was driving first through Sedona, then to a stop along Route 66 in Seligman. We first stopped in Williams which is east of Seligman. Williams has a very nice restored Downtown area with many Route 66 themed restaurants, shops and bars. Since the town is only a few miles off of Interstate 40, it gets a lot of business. It is easy to drop off the highway and make a quick visit. There are a lot of classic cars parked in front of the businesses, some even driven by their customers. The idea is to recall a nostalgic idealized version of the fifties and early 60's and vacation trips made during that time. Those of us who are old enough to have actually made these trips in reality probably have a different recollection of them.

Looking back at the past through rose colored glasses is a favorite theme of encroaching old age. Imaging a better "Golden Age" of motor travel is popular with the younger folks. A desire to reconnect with our past and old memories is just a natural response to the passage of time. These old time road trips made with our families really are family memories. No matter how uncomfortable or stressful they were, there was usually some very good moments that we remember fondly. Stuck in the back seat of the family sedan or station wagon with our brothers and sisters was usually  a cramped, sweaty Purgatory. Air conditioning, who had a/c in the fifties and early 60's? Just roll the windows down and get blasted by all that hot desert air. Hopefully you weren't sitting on those awful plastic seat covers! 

Occasionally we would stop at a roadside diner for a burger, but my folk's preferred to stop at a grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread and a pack of baloney. I, of course, had hoped for another burger stop or an even rarer "restaurant stop." "Not hungry for a baloney sandwich? Well, you just wait" my Mom would say. And she was right, as I was thankful for the sandwich and a bottled soda a little further down the road. Bathroom stops were another penance. How come I never had to go when my folks had to? Just as they were pulling away I felt the need. Should I speak up and beg them to stop again or should I try to "hold it" for another hour or so, perhaps with tragic or at least embarrassing, consequences? What is so compelling about these memories?

I remember seeing a series of articles that were published in USA Today, several years ago, where they asked their readers to share their road trip vacation reminisces. I found that our memories had a lot in common. Fortunately the most pleasant moments are usually remembered most nostalgically.

Route 66 is a state of mind, a dream of freedom, but it is also a real highway that used to wind through the landscape and pass through innumerable small towns and big cities on it's way from Chicago to LA.  The famous Bobby Troup song does a good job of describing the route, and has a catchy jazzy beat. Younger readers might better remember the catchy tune that was the theme music of the TV show. For me, the Nelson Riddle music immediately whisks me back to my childhood, and I am suddenly filled with the longing to grow up, so that I can experience the freedom of being an adult. To be an independent actor in the adventure of my own life. Heady thoughts for a grammar school kid!    

                                Both of these videos are from YouTube for enjoyment purposes only.

Unlike the modern Interstates, it did not plow through the landscape on it's way, bypassing small town America. It is similar to the Old Lincoln Highway, another one of "America's Main Streets."

The current two lane highway continues through sections of undeveloped terrain. At the time that we drove through there, there wasn't a lot of traffic. I told my Wife that in the past, back in the late 40's and early '50's, this highway would carry a steady stream of heavy traffic. It was like Interstate 5 in California, a heavily traveled main road. All of the roadside businesses would be packed with customers. Gas stations and garages maintained a fleet of tow trucks to render aid to stranded motorists. I'm sure that there were lots of cars pulled over onto shoulders and turn outs, under whatever available shade they could find, taking a break while their overheated cars cooled down. Many had the drivers and passengers trying to grab some sleep, so that they would be able to continue the journey after the sun went down. Night travel was much cooler.

That was a common approach to traveling through the desert. 

I have read numerous books that described travelling on the highway back in the good old days. Back in the late '70's I traveled through some of this same territory on several motorcycle trips. I wasn't too aware that this was part of historic Route 66. This was a time when it had fallen out of public awareness. I remembered the Route 66 TV show that I had watched as a kid, it had planted the seed and desire for cross country travel, but the actual highway itself hadn't registered as clearly. 

It was the book, The Mother Road, that brought the highway back to the forefront. of public awareness. The photos of the closed tourist businesses, cafes, garages, and curio shops told the story of a once busy and prosperous past. The current two lane highway runs along the original alignment through this area. 

photo source: atlas obscura
I had a burger at the Snow Cap on this trip.

Prior to this, interest in the highway had been promoted by Angel Delgadillo of Seligman Arizona. His family had run several businesses in the town for generations.  Angel ran the barbershop, his brother Juan, ran a burger joint called, Delgadillo's Snow Cap. They tried to encourage tourist traffic to return to the old highway and the towns that had rapidly withered away with the opening of Interstate 40. 

I first became aware of the Snow Cap after reading an article in a Rockabilly lifestyle magazine in the early '90's  The author related a trip he took to New Mexico along Route 66. The Rockabilly community is very into an idealized notion of nostalgia, as most of the fans are too young to have had actual contact with this period.

photo source: roadtrppin
The Blue Swallow is an iconic motel along the highway. 

I remember a family trip to Mexico, where we had driven to Southern Californian and then east to Arizona, where we would skirt Tucson, and make the border crossing at Nogales. We had been driving all day in a hot, non air conditioned car. My Mom was looking forward to spending the night in an air conditioned motel. As usual my Dad had driven late into the evening, trying to cover as many miles as possible. My folks saw a motel with a vacancy sign. As we pulled in, the manger came outside to greet us. My Dad asked him if they had a/c, he said that they did. My Mom asked to see a room prior to registering. The manager took us to a room that held a huge fan, "That'll cool you down!" he said. My Mom disagreed, and we got back in the car to continue our search. Back then many of the older motels didn't have air conditioning, their sign would describe the rooms as "air cooled." The older motels were cheaper, but tourists began to demand more comfort and the businesses either improved their accommodations or closed their doors. Luckily, we found a motel with "refrigerated" rooms, that was another description for air conditioning.   

I have actual memories of family road trips during this era. Contemporary travelers are looking to experience something that they have never known, but wish that they could have. Modern freeway travel is much faster and modern cars are much more comfortable, which allows the driver to cover more miles in a day's driving. The freeway bypasses the center of most towns but still traverses the same terrain. Especially when crossing these wide open spaces! At one time, fatigue would require drivers to make more overnight stops. Long distance auto travel was stressful and difficult on families with children. A stop in even a modest motel would usually include an evening splashing and swimming in the pool, a much needed night's rest, and a hearty breakfast at a nearby diner. 

American nostalgia enjoys world wide popularity. On this visit I saw busses unloading foreign tourists on Silegman's Main Street, speaking German and Japanese, right in front of Angels' old barbershop, which is now a Route 66 museum. 

I don't know if those tourists, or even our domestic counterparts are going to find what they are hoping to find. A connection to a slower paced era, when travel exposed you to actual changes in your environment. Looking back, the idea of Route 66 to me was not looking for a tie to a mythical past. It was the promise of adventure in the future. Or at least some new kicks. That is certainly something that you can find if you're willing to look for it.

You don't have to seek out a popular and trendy tourist highway like 66. On your next road trip, look for a different route, choose a secondary highway, or two. String them together. Factor in some extra time, maybe an extra lay over. Plan to spend the night. Make it a point to stop at historical sights, scenic over looks, interesting stores, local museums, and businesses along the highway.

Make the actual journey one of the priorities of the trip, not just reaching the destination.