Community Forums

Barneyb · 06-09-2021, 09:52 PM

We are considering doing the complete Route 66 trip from Chicago to CA. Anyone on here make this trip and can share positive and negative things about it?

Thank you in advance, Barney

Mr. Jeff · 06-09-2021, 10:04 PM

Great that you are considering such a trip! While I have not traveled any of it West past Amarillo I have traveled all of it in Oklahoma and portions of Missouri. I love traveling on it through most of the areas. Oklahoma has the largest drivable amount of route 66. Still, throughout Oklahoma there are some short areas of 66 that are merged into interstate 44 in the original portions of 66 are long gone. But that's typically only through metropolitan areas such as Tulsa and Oklahoma City. And in those areas many of the locals have adopted 66 and you will find restaurants and historical attractions.

If you do decide to do the trip keep in mind, especially if you are driving a larger motor home, many drivable sections are typical two lane State or county highways, some have been approved with wide shoulders and other sections are truly still two lane with minimal shoulders. You will truly see the true America that is not on the four lane super highway. Enjoy your trip and let us know about your experience!

MFortie · 06-10-2021, 06:12 AM

On the Garage Journal forum a member just recently did a long section from CA to OK in a ‘66 Mustang and posted a nice write-up.

Type ‘route’ and ‘Mustang’ in search and it should pop up.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/

Charming · 06-10-2021, 07:45 AM

That is something DH and I discussed when we bought our 1st motorhome. In 2018 we drove parts of it in OK and TX. There are many books and travel guides available.

A heads up, if you start the journey from the Begin 66 in Chicago you will more than likely not be in your motorhome.

JoeSR · 06-10-2021, 08:12 AM

I have been on Route 66 from Chicago to the CA border 4 times with a motorcycle, travel trailer and twice with the motorhome. I obviously enjoyed it. It was like a big Easter Egg hunt.

Some words of caution:
- If following one of the route alignments, don’t take the MH into Chicago, Oklahoma City, Tulsa or any large city for that matter. Use the toad and do it in day light. If you can plan it, traffic is lighter on weekends. And stay off the side streets when re-routing.
- Watch your bridge weight limits, especially in Missouri. There was at least one 8T and many 9T limits.

If you like neon signs, there are some great ones on that route.

People talk about how great Route 66 is in AZ. That is because they have never investigated IL and MO. Stay off of the interstate hwy.

The Route 66 museum in Clinton, OK is a good one.

Investigate Cartridge, MO. You will find some excellent modern roadside artwork. Do a search for “Crap Duster” to see what I mean.

Planning the trip is almost as much fun as taking it. A great book is “Route 66 Lost & Found” by Russell Olsen.

Your “routing GPS” will go from worthless to annoying in the extreme on a trip like this one. To follow 66 you need a GPS that will follow a track. I planned my route section by section using Garmin’s BaseCamp. All the 66 waypoint sites were made. I then printed the map section by section. I also carried spreadsheets with all the waypoints. That made a 8.5” x 11” book about 1” thick. My wife used that to tell me where to go (she enjoyed that). My standard routing GPS was just there to confirm that I was on the road my wife told me to take and to plan for off route camping.

I did have a “track GPS” running on my laptop. It did show my track, but it failed to show my waypoints. A POS for this job. Paper and a good copilot is the way to go.

Here is a site not normally associated with 66 that might wet your appetite >>> Route 66 - post your photos before it is ALL gone! | Adventure Rider (advrider.com)

No matter how you plan it, just go and take your time.

twogypsies · 06-10-2021, 08:19 AM

Here's an older post:

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f42/rout...-a-386691.html

JoeSR · 06-10-2021, 08:41 AM

My link above was removed for some reason. Here it is again...

https://advrider.com/f/threads/route...-gone.1183473/

JD11 · 06-14-2021, 02:05 AM

We’ve made the trip from our home near Chicago to as far as “standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine site to see.”

And back again.

We’ve done as much of the actual route as we wanted to because as you’ll find in the better books, many parts of the route are not in great shape for driving, especially a MH.

We plan for stops and hit the highlights. My teenage son really liked Shamrock TX. An iconic building U Drop Inn there served as a model for a building in the movie Cars. Very cool place to see and small Rt 66 shop.

Someone else suggested being selective about when to see which cities. Exactly right. And in my experience, many highways thru cities are in rough shape as far as roadways go, so do them in your toad.

Enjoy!

BTW. We have Chuck Berry’s version of Get Your Kicks on our play list. For some reason, it kicks off most of our trips....😎

Arch Hoagland · 06-14-2021, 02:16 AM

I don't know what time of the year you are going to do it but beware out in Arizona, Nevada and California you will see 110 degree temperatures in July and August so make sure your RV cooling system is working good.

We've done California to Oklahoma so far.