Today, Route 66 has unfortunately fallen some way from it's former glory. Anyone who has seen the Disney film Cars will know of the hard times that fell upon the small towns, that prospered along US 66, when the Interstates were constructed (I40 being R66's nemesis). Many sections of the road have fallen into disrepair and thriving communities and business are a shadow of their former selves.
However, all was not lost, in the late 80's associations were formed to begin the process of preserving this classic piece of American history and today many of the old sights and indeed new sights, have returned to greet the tourists as they make their way.
This is where our story begins...
Three friends, all hurtling towards 30 at an alarming rate are discussing options as to how to mark this significant and in some cases, quite remarkable, milestone. Mike, Steve and myself have known each other for many, many years and growing up together, we all developed a passion for cars and travelling, in one way or another. So when the notion of "let's do route 66" appeared in conversation, there was a general nodding of heads and cogs started to turn. It wouldn't be unfair to say I was the keenest, it's been a long held ambition to visit "real" America, perhaps inspired by my love for the film Twister and the wide open plains, rather than the hustle and bustle of New York or the sun-baked wonder of Florida.
A rare photo of Steve, Mike and myself in a photo together (with the beautiful Lisa of course!)
In the next post, I'll be going through how we have planned for the trip and some small deviations from the route.
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