by Jim McAllister

Route 66, sometimes known as "The Mother Road" or "The Will Roger's Highway", is probably still the most talked about highway in the United States. Starting at Jackson Boulevard and Lakeshore Drive in Chicago, it ran in the shape of a crescent from Chicago to Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles grinding its way south through Illinois then heading west through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, and into California.

Route 66 was originated in the 1920's as a combination of existing roads which were mostly unpaved. With its heavy use in the Depression of the 1930's, it became a road of both romance and despair as it was the route to California for both the more fortunate of that dreadful era and for those less fortunate that were fleeing the "dust bowl" of Oklahoma in search of a new life out west. The plight of these "Okies" was best described by John Steinbeck in THE GRAPES OF WRATH....."and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads, 66 is the mother road, the road of flight."

With the better economy in post World War II times, U. S. 66 became the busiest highway to the west and with that heavier traffic came various roadside businesses that were rather unique such as the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, the Route 66 diner in Albuquerque, and the Snocap Drive-in in Seligman, Arizona. These places still exist while many others have disappeared through the years after the demise of Route 66 in the mid 1980's.

In 1946 musician Bobby Troup was driving west on 66 with his wife when he wrote the famous ode to the mother road, "Route 66". It was later recorded by Nat "King" Cole and most of the words bring back memories to me of my connections to the old road : "When you make that California trip...." I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1959, I met a young lady from Los Angeles who was visiting her father in Cincy. I became enamored with her and decided to drive to California with a friend later that summer to visit her. This gave me the opportunity to travel Route 66 from St. Louis to Santa Monica and enjoy one of the first adventures of my young life as I went through parts of the country that I had never known. It was a great experience that I will never forget. I remember thinking, "Wow!" when I crossed into California.

"Now you go through St. Louis....You see Amarillo..."

"Flagstaff, Arizona. Don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino...." I have always had itchy feet. Cincinnati was a good place to grow up but I made up my mind as a youth that I was not going to spend my life there. Television may have had a hand in that decision as I would watch the football games from the West Coast with all the sunshine and happy people in the stands with their colorful short sleeve shirts on in December. At the same time it would be dark in Cincy with cold rain pelting the windows. When I finally got my chance to head west, I grabbed it with a vengeance. Thank you Linda Devereaux, wherever you are, for encouraging me to visit you in those salad days of 1959. I still remember the excitement of driving my non-air conditioned '57 Chevy on old two lane Route 66 and going through Flagstaff and the pines, then dropping down to the desert of Kingman and on through Needles, California, across the Mojave Desert to Barstow and San Bernardino and finally Los Angeles. I was in awe as I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time; it was a little more impressive sight than the Ohio River.

The old road may have had a song written about it plus a television show from the early 1960's, but the passage of time finally had its say and Route 66 was decommissioned as a major highway in 1985. Luckily, several states have preserved portions of the road that are popular tourist attractions and there are those who take Route 66 vacations along the various portions that still exist. Sure, the interstates are faster and safer but do they have the romance of the old highway? I don't think so. At the closing of Route 66 in the 1980's, noted CBS newsman Charles Kuralt stated that, "Now you can travel across the entire country and not see anything." I agree. (Do you have memories of Route 66? Tell me about them at azjimmcallister@cox.net.