And he could also get an international driver license at AAA.
While it takes the nostalgic drive out, that’s really not a bad price. Are you able to get off at stops or is it straight through?
There are a couple stopsof 20 mins each. The rest of the stops are just to unload and load.
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Car? I would prefer to ride a 1960 Indian Big Chief.
The question is whether he wants the ‘scenic’ (=rural, slow, go through all the small towns) or fast (Interstates non-stop because he wants to get to destinations) 66 used to be the through road for the trip. Does he want to go to Joplin? It’s in the song. Parks and scenery or cities and night-life? South or north?
RT, I’ll know more when he gets here tomorrow. But my hunch is he wants something like the Route 66 experience, but hopefully isn’t aspiring to drive every inch of the route. He better not be hoping to meet up with real cowboys, getting pearls of wisdom from Sam Elliot at old train car diners with waitresses named Flo along the way. Depending how the car title/registration situation goes, he may have to drive back, probably I-80 from San Francisco. Maybe he wants to hit all the towns in the song…
Bear in mind that much of route 66 has been decommissioned.
I think Oklahoma claims the most distance you can drive R66 , but not all at once. In Tulsa there is a stretch that is called R66 but it runs through an area I would not want to have vehicle failure at night.
What does a 20-year-old Dutchman think ‘the Route 66 experience’ is? I drove from Mono Lake to Cedar Rapids 16 years ago, still have that route recorded. It’s all small town.
Route 66 has been glorified beyond belief. I think they will be disappointed with the entire trip.
I drove 66 from OK to CA back in the day. Nothing but gas stations. motels, and souvenir shops. All of those are gone along with most of the small towns they were located in.
I’ve driven the 66 route in OK dozens of times (mostly from OK City to Tulsa) and there’s nothing to see.
Yeah, much of it is pretty flat and boring. New Mexico and Arizona are good, with a number of great national parks, etc., nearby. But that’s a loooooong way to go, from Chicago.
I know it’s probably wishful and somewhat romantic thinking, but if I were to do the trip I’d try my best to find a car rental place that rents classics and rent a 1960 Corvette…
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How about a 3rd Gen 4Runner? I own one and for giggles I search all over for a used one. I’ve seen them in 2WD (4WD versions are way too expensive) for cheap, especially in states other than Calif (where I live). My son bought a 2nd Gen 4Runner for exactly why your son wants a car…the seats fold down and you can sleep in the back in a pinch.
I drove 66 back in the day in a '59 Corvette. Not fun at all.
In OK 66 has been replaced mostly by Interstate and a sizeable chunk of that is turnpike.
On the local news a few months ago they did one of their yearly “Mother Road” stories and showed 66 in Tulsa. It’s for tourists but I fail to see the thrill in looking at 200 yards of barricaded asphalt.
Even in the few places where short sections of the old route exist, the culture of those times, which is really what the nostalgia is about, is long gone. No amount of following the current approximation of Route 66 will give anyone a real look at what traveling the original route or any other car trips was like back then. I’m old enough to remember family road trips in the 1960s and how much things were already changing in that one decade.
Rather than chase a faded idealization of what was for only brief few years, better to take in the view of what is available to enjoy today, whether off the interstates, the wonderful national park system, other sites and sights of interest, or simply seeing the scenery.
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$2,000 - $4,000 vehicle to drive almost 2,500 miles SAFELY and without problems…this is stupid.
Back in the early 70s on my first of 3 trips to CA bits and pieces of 66 still existed Back in the day in AZ there were signs that read “40 miles to Two Guns”, “10 miles to Two Guns”, and so on until “You’re here at Two Guns”.
That was then and it certainly hasn’t improved one iota since that time. It’s typical of 66 both then and now.
signs that read “40 miles to Two Guns”, “10 miles to Two Guns”, and so on until “You’re here at Two Guns”.
Whenever I see something like that I recall the time I was travelling across Missouri and the signs for Meramec Caverns appeared with increasing frequency as one approached the site. By the time I got there, I was so glad to not have to see another one of those signs! About a mile further down the road was the sign- you just passed Meramec caverns. Aaiieee!
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Any one remember barn roofs with see rock city, you?
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I remember ‘Impeach Earl Warren’ on barn walls & roofs.