Route 66 is one of the most famous roads in the US. It originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). Established in 1926, by 1938 it became the first highway in the US to be paved along its entire length.
Most of what was once Route 66 is gone, much of it overrun by what is now Interstate 40. But a few stretches of the original Route 66 pavement still exist. Recently I had an opportunity to travel on one of the stretches, running some fifteen miles from Newberry Springs, California westward toward of Barstow, California.
This part of Route 66 is very straight, very flat, and very desolate. The monotony of the road is broken by the occasional abandoned gas station or motel. But one can imagine an earlier time when this was a glamorous highway.
Most of us probably know the Chuck Berry song, even if it is a little before our time:
Safe travels Carl and company!