Sue and her friend were keen to celebrate a significant birthday by ticking off Route 66 from their respective bucket lists, so they began their preparations by contacting me a year in advance of their proposed trip.
Due to other commitments, they had just 14 nights and although I'd ideally recommend a few more, it can be driven in two weeks if you are prepared for single night stops in most places.
I do love to hear about a great road trip. Here’s how they got on...
Route 66 was a bucket list experience for us. I had no idea how to go about such a trip, so after a google search revealed several websites, I messaged a handful for further information.
Amanda was very professional, friendly and sincere right from that first contact. She put together a fabulous itinerary, was so patient with my questions and nothing was too much trouble, keeping us informed and advised the whole way through and providing reassurance that she was at the end of the phone if needed even when on our adventure itself.
The experience was everything we had hoped for and more from beginning to end.
Amanda had wisely recommended purchasing a book which mapped out the exact location of Route 66 all the way from Chicago to Santa Monica. We could then trace the original Route off the highway and follow the Mother Road as much or as little as we liked.
There were a couple of places that the old road was closed, and we were diverted either back onto the highway or around the closure – one took us on a 33-mile detour but we saw parts of the country we wouldn’t have otherwise seen.
The car was great, although we took the decision to upgrade to a larger vehicle for the extra space when we got there. It didn’t take long to become accustomed to driving an automatic on the other side of the road,but it did take a while to get to grips with how to use the petrol pumps! We had to ask a nice attendant for assistance and if doing a similar trip be aware that fuel (gas) has to be paid in advance before the pump will work – if you don’t use as much as anticipated you collect your change from the store.
Having a car sat nav and details of each individual hotel printed off in advance were also smart moves and helpful in finding hotels easily.
The hotels we stayed in varied in quality, but all served their purpose and had easy access to Route 66 for our next day’s travelling. Many offered a great breakfast and I was shown how to use a “do it yourself” waffle machine by a young schoolboy at one.
Each day we were encouraged to take extra fruit and muffins for lunch and in the two weeks we only occasionally needed an evening meal as the smaller town hotels offered complimentary food for guests during a “meet and chat” hour.
A special nod to our final hotel in Los Angeles which was the grandest of them all and a wonderful place to end our adventure.
We had stuck in a couple of detours along the way, deciding to visit the Grand Canyon which meant sacrificing a little of the Route through the old west but it was worth it - a truly amazing place that I hope to spend longer at one day.
Arizona also saw us achieve our goal to see a real cowboy, when we drove through the high street in Seligman, the ‘Birthplace of Historic Route 66’. We stopped, chatted and said cowboy even let us sit on his horse and hold his Winchester rifle.
We also spent 2 days in Las Vegas, not strictly Route 66 but an experience for sure, though not one that I would want to repeat.
The view from the 59th floor of the hotel was amazing but the elevator up to it less so! I’m glad we went but the noise, hustle, bustle and brashness of some of the people were a bit much and a total contrast from the open road, peace and tranquillity of the rest of the trip and the kind folk that we met along the way.
Some of the more remote places that we stopped for gas were initially a little daunting but once we started chatting to locals, they were amazed at what a pair of 60-year-old women were doing - one lady even gave us a free cup of coffee in admiration.
The October days were short and wanting to make sure that we were safely at our next hotel by nightfall some days did feel a little rushed. If I were to do it again I would either allow an extra week or go earlier in the year to take advantage of longer days.
Next time I will travel a little lighter too – humping a big suitcase in and out of hotels daily was a bit of a bind but the weather did change as we drove across America so woolly jumpers were welcome in windy Chicago and skimpy tee shirts appreciated in the warmth of LA.
It was an amazing adventure which we would highly recommend with a couple of tips of our own:
Be prepared to live out of a suitcase
Do your research before you go and spend time discussing things with Amanda like we did. She has so many great suggestions.
Driving can be hard at times - it’s a long way. We did just under 2,750 miles in total and have the certificate from the official End of Route 66 shack on the Santa Monica pier to prove it.
Both my friend and I cannot recommend Amanda highly enough. She was as enthusiastic and passionate about our trip as if it were her own and when we are ready to plan our next adventure – probably to New York and San Francisco – we will certainly be back for her invaluable assistance.
Sue Chubb