V-Flyer

Number one son and several of his friends are planning a trip to try and follow Route 66 down from Chicago to LA. Anyone out there done this trip and have any do's / don'ts ?

They are thinking of buying a car / MPV of some sort in Chicago with a view to selling when they get to the West Coast. Again any advice from seasoned travellers ?

All tips / comments gratefully received by a slightly jealous father...

Paul

IIRC, Route 66 barely exists these days. Most of it has been replaced with interstates and other such roads. There are small sections of it left in towns but it ain't what it was.

We looked at this last year although are yet to actually do it. I remeber looking at this siteandthis one for ideas on where to stop off. There are sections of the original route and indeed original signs but much of it has been rerouted or removed. Some of the route has 'Historic Route 66' signs. I'd say its still well worth doing as a road trip. There are lots of pretty cool things to stop off for. The giant 'meteor crater' in Arizona was a must for me.

Has your Son looked at the price of a one way rental? Might work out a lot easier than trying to buy and sell a car. We looked at this option and it wasnt that expensive, I guess i depends on how long they want to spend driving.

Thanks,
Sarah

We did a bit of the route through Barstow CA (the land that time forgot)on the drive from Los Angeles to Vegas last year.There's also a Route 66 musuem there.Like Darren has said, the route is quite hard to follow due to being replaced by interstates and doesn't show on modern maps.Barstow has quite a bit of memorabilia (original signs etc)signs dotted around the town which is quite nostalgic.
DL

Have done the flagstaff to chicago bit. It's mainly now the interstate 40, but tonnes of stuff to do. Biggest ball of twine, cross in the western hemisphere and largest mcdonalds (OK) are ones to miss, but Meteor crater, petrfied forest, roswell (bit of a detour, but cool to say that you've been there). The rockies to chicago are largely dull with the odd exception, gets fun from the rockies to the pacific.

My route, was west from chicago, through iowa, nebraska, wyoming, south through colorado, then durango, then the four corners. A bit of monument valley, grand canyon, flagstaff, meteor crater and petrfied forest, amarillo, roswell, through texas, OK, and back to chicago, all in 14 days.

Thanks all for the suggestions and comments so far...

quote:Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
IIRC, Route 66 barely exists these days. Most of it has been replaced with interstates and other such roads. There are small sections of it left in towns but it ain't what it was.


I think it's the Route 66 'of the mind' that they are planning. Something around which to hang and structure couple of months in the USA.

quote:Originally posted by HighFlyer
We looked at this last year although are yet to actually do it. I remeber looking at this siteandthis one for ideas on where to stop off.

Has your Son looked at the price of a one way rental? Might work out a lot easier than trying to buy and sell a car. We looked at this option and it wasnt that expensive, I guess i depends on how long they want to spend driving.


Thanks for the sites; I'll pass them on. As to rental, they did look but it was working out expensive due to insurance, as none of them have yet to achieve age 25. They also looked at doing a coast to coast 'deliver a car' but don't want to be constrained by having to do it in just a couple of weeks.

Paul

the one problem they may find is insuring the car they buy... and then having to wait around and sell it, but if they are looking for that.... try craigslist to find cars. And Geico or Progressive or AAA to get insurance.

One of my colleagues' rode it last year, when he retired and became a magistrate. He loved it (on a Harley of course) and was suprised that very much of it actualy does exist. Something on my to do list when I get the time.

Rgds,

Hackneyguy

They might find this site useful. There is a forum as well and trip reports etc.

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/

I was using it to plan a long road trip.

I seem to remember a hilarious Top Gear episode along the lines of the old 'Buy and Travel' myth - which they thoroughly debunked.

Insurance will be much harder on a purchased car than on a rental - when I first got out here getting someone to insure proved to be a really tough thing, and expensive. I ended up with GEICO. It is doable, but not sure how much fun.

If it's a Route 66 of the mind, I'd consider going the traditional direction all the way from LA to Texas, but swinging south instead of north, to Austin and New Orleans. Much as I like Chicago, it's not a patch on the other places IMO.

Again, thank you all. I still find it amazing that within a day there's a mass of useful information that I'll be passing on.

Paul

Be sure to stop off in Radiator Springs, the scenery around there looks amazing. My son loves the movie Cars[:)]

Iain