Drive The "Mother Road"

Above, the Indian Market right at the Continental Divide on Route 66. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those who are wondering what to do this summer for a vacation trip, why not do some road exploring in the Southwest on Route 66?

Although some sections of Route 66 no longer exist, much of it remains and is well worth a drive.

Above, a Route 66 sign in Church Rock, New Mexico. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Tim Viall has an article on a recent road trip on Route 66 through New Mexico and Arizona in The Record.

It begins with:

My first experience with Route 66 was the summer of 1962, when my intrepid mother piled me, age 15, and my two younger brothers in the back of a ’61 Ford station wagon towing a Nimrod tent trailer. We headed off from Ohio to Chicago, then followed Route 66 all the way to Southern California and its terminus at the Santa Monica Pier. My dad would fly into Los Angeles and join us, but those two weeks on Route 66 are forever locked into my memory. 

I have advocated before for the fun of touring Route 66, and doing it in bite-size chunks along its eight-state, 2,448-mile route. A recent house-sitting opportunity in Albuquerque gave us a chance to explore the New Mexico and Arizona stretches of the old Mother Road, headed west. 

A bit of history: Route 66 was christened in 1926 with Americans clamoring for better, paved roads. The Bureau of Public Roads authorized the first Federal Highway, linking existing local, state and national roads — though it wouldn’t be continually paved until 1937. The result was a meandering highway beginning in Chicago, crossing Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, ending in Los Angeles. The road was frequently realigned, and 10 years later the terminus was shifted to Santa Monica. 

A combination of factors led to continual growth of U.S. highway travel, including gasoline for $.18 a gallon, new Fords and Chevys being mass-produced for $350 and $525 respectively, the Depression and Dust Bowl, which caused wholesale western migration from the center of the country, and World War II and its aftermath. The result was millions of Americans heading west to start new careers and lives. With the end of the war, many more Americans were ready to travel and see the West — Route 66 was the chosen alternative for a huge percentage of travelers.

Above, Route 66 at the Arizona-New Mexico border. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here.