Driving Route 66 – The Complete Road Trip From Chicago To LA

Chicago, the start of Route 66. From Chicago we travel to Joliet and the old prison as seen in the ‘Blues Brothers’ . Then it’s on to the Gemini Giant Wilmington, Odell and lunch in Pontiac.

In the afternoon, we get to Atlanta, home of the Paul Bunyan ‘muffler man’ before passing through Lincoln and the first night’s stop in the home of Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois.

There’s nothing better than a Cozy Dog to start your day’s drive on Route 66.

From Springfield we head to Missouri, the second state on the route. On the way we stop at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch and the old Chain of Rocks Bridge which, unfortunately was inaccessible due to flooding along the Mississippi. We end the day in Cuba, MO, famous for its murals.

We take a little diversion off Route 66 on a little side trip to Branson, MO.

From Cuba we visit the Giant Rocking Chair in Fanning before crossing the Devil’s Elbow Bridge.

If you want a childish snigger you have to stop at Uranus. Bizarrely, we end the day next to the Titanic, only in Branson!

It’s back on Route 66. The first stop of the day is the classic Gay Parita gas station at Paris Junction before heading to Carthage, Missouri.

If you thought Branson was a bit strange, wait until you see the Precious Moments Chapel. We end the day at another Route 66 classic, Boots Court Motel staying in Clark Gable room, he stayed here in the 1940’s

Three states in a day. After breakfast in Carthage town centre we leave Missouri and enter Kansas. Only 13 miles of Route 66 passes through Kansas.

Then it’s Oklahoma and the Blue Whale of Catoosa. The stop for the night is Tulsa, Oklahoma. We found Tulsa to be a very interesting city with some great art-deco architecture. We wished we had more time there.

Another day in Oklahoma, we stop off in Chandler to meet Jerry McClanahan, the author of the EZ66 GUIDE.

Mel tries the famous Chicken Fried Steak (no chicken involved!) We finally get to Elk City near the Texas border former home to song writer Jimmy Webb. His classics include “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston”.

A long day’s drive from Oklahoma, across Texas and into New Mexico.

In Texas we stop at the famous Cadillac Ranch although it wasn’t really our favourite although the ugly crust pies at the Midpoint Cafe definitely were.

We end the day at the classic Motel Safari in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

From Tucumcari we take the Santa Fe Loop. This was the original alignment of Route 66 between 1926 and 1937 from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque.

Santa Fe is the state capital of New Mexico and with its low rise Adobe architecture it is a unique looking city, very different from what we’ve encountered so far. We are glad we spent an extra night in Santa Fe and recommend doing the same.

After a couple of days in Santa Fe we head to Arizona but not before visiting the famous El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, NM. This is where a number of Hollywood film stars stayed while making Westerns.

Our first stop in Arizona was the beautiful Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park. We end the day at one the best hotels on Route 66, La Posada in Winslow, AZ.

After ‘Standin on the corner in Winslow, Arizona’ we drive west past the meteor crater and the run down old Route 66 gas stations of Two Guns and Twin Arrows.

After the desert, the landscape changes near Flagstaff with its mountains and ponderosa pine forests. Before continuing west we take a little diversion to the picturesque, red rock town of Sedona.

On to the old town of Williams, getting there takes you on a section of the old unpaved part of Route 66.

Williams is described as the gateway to the Grand Canyon and it is only a 50-minute drive to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

If you want to experience the Grand Canyon without the crowds, go early.

In Seligman we meet Angel Delgadillo the “guardian angel” of Route 66. He was behind the campaign to keep the route alive.

There are some stunning views as you drive over the Sitgreaves Pass to the old mining town of Oatman. In Oatman “wild” burros roam the streets, they are the descendants of burros brought here by the miners in the late 1800s.

We spend the night in Lake Havasu City as we wanted to see the old London Bridge, a very bizarre sight.

As we are driving so close to Las Vegas we had to spend a few days in the city. However, we wouldn’t really describe it as the city of ‘sin‘ but instead the city of the ‘hidden charges and resort fees’. The big corporations are worse than the old gangsters that used to run the town.

The last leg through California and although not the ‘official’ ending, getting to the pier at Santa Monica is a great place to finish Route 66.

On the way we stopped at Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch, sadly it was only a few weeks after he passed away. The family have employed a new caretaker for the property and Elmer’s family have said they are “determined to make sure it stays around forever.” We hope so too.