Romancing the Route 66

Wishing the readers a very Happy New Year with some nostalgia about Americana

I became aware of the name ‘Route 66’ after I started blogging, but my dream of driving cross-country through small-town America goes back about three decades when I was a graduate student at Yale. As a country boy landed in the big city, I was first dazzled by the physical America –  the soaring twin towers of the World Trade Centre, the 300′ high LED screens shining bright whole night at the Times Square, the cavernous supermarkets, acres and acres of open parking lots, and hundreds of miles of seamless expressways. It soon gave way to my admiration for the American values of freedom and individualism. Along the way, I soaked in classic Hollywood, thanks to some very active film societies on the campus. The Westerns, which were not only about cowboys and guns, but how the frontier was opened literally yard by yard, and towns came up where sweet water was discovered, with their Main Street, and saloons with the barmaid of ambiguous morality who would dispense her favours equally to the hero and the outlaw. The B&W road movies in which the rugged hero was thrown in with the runaway pampered daughter of a wealthy baron in a bus, and later in a motel, ending up in romance after the hero had instilled some sense in her; or the girl on the run having stolen the bank’s cash to help her boyfriend tide over his financial difficulties, landing up at a creepy motel in the night which would end in horror in the shower. Roadside motels, simmering neon signs announcing ‘Vacancies’, Diners, Mom and pop stores, Service stations, and on to the road again piercing through vast emptiness ahead as far as your eyes could see.

Route 66: The Great Western Road; The Mother Road; The Will Rogers Memorial Highway

One of the earliest such highways, the US Route 66, notified in November 1926, became one of the most important arteries for east to west movement. Starting from Chicago (Illinois), it passed through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona states and ended at Santa Monica in California, covering about 4000kms. Around that time, with the mass production of cars, America was becoming an automobile society, hitting the roads in a big way. Route 66 became an avenue of adventure and economic opportunities. With booming traffic, in about a decade the entire Route 66 was paved (the route was only about one-fourth paved in the beginning). During the Great Depression, the Route 66 became the main migrant road, the path of people in flight from the Dust Bowl to the mysterious West, fabled to be the land of opportunities where they dreamed to get agricultural jobs in the California valley. John Steinbeck brings the Route 66 to life as the Mother Road in his ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, acclaimed as the Great American Novel:

“66 is the path of people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert’s slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness is there. From all of these the people are in flight, 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.”

The Grapes of Wrath is full of such evocative passages of the great migration, when 250,000 people were in flight at a time in 50,000 vehicles; when ‘the men on the wheel listened to the motors, to the wheels, with their ears and with their hands on the steering wheel, with the palm on the gear-shift lever, for a change of tone, or any rattling sound’, because the biggest terror was something breaking down in between towns. The highway became a graveyard of decrepit vehicles, and of old and infirm people too weak to survive the journey. But amidst this bleakness was also hope, joy and the best of human spirit:

“The cars of the migrant people crawled out of the side roads onto the great cross-country highway, and they took the migrant way to the West. In the daylight they scuttled like bugs to the westward; and as the dark caught them, they clustered like bugs near to shelter and near to water. And because they were lonely and perplexed, because they had all come from a place of sadness and defeat, and because they were all going to a new mysterious place, they huddled together; they talked together; they shared their lives, their food, and the things they hoped for in the new country. Thus it might be that one family camped near a spring, and another camped for the spring and for the company, and a third because two families had pioneered the place and found it good. And when the sun went down, perhaps twenty families and twenty cars were there.

In the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream. And it might be that a sick child threw despair into the hearts of twenty families, of a hundred people; that a birth there in a tent kept a hundred people quiet and awestruck through the night and filled a hundred people with birth-joy in the morning. …”

Ironically, this flight of people in distress also led to boom in the commerce and business of the towns along the Route 66.

The end of the Second World War brought exceptional prosperity to America. As the traffic boomed on the Route 66, it spurred improvement in wayside facilities and the quality of the road, which in turn fuelled further growth in traffic. Thus, the Route and America entered a virtual cycle of economic prosperity. It was good times again, exemplified in Nat King Cole’s song Get your kicks on the Route 66. This song acquired a cult status, and has been sung by many singers.

Get your kicks on the Route 66 (Nat King Cole), lyrics Bobby Troup

The Route 66 entered other aspects of American culture too, such as television series, films and songs. The Route, as also the other old highways were no longer capable of handling the burgeoning traffic. Eisenhower’s Federal Inter-State Expressways Act of 1956 led to a massive project of covering the entire country with a network of access-controlled expressways. These expressways subsumed large stretches of the Route 66, some of the towns were bypassed affecting the business and commerce along the old route. Some small towns and communities disappeared altogether. With the last stretch bypassed, the Route 66 was denotified in 1986. That meant the legal demise of the Route as a highway. But something which was so central to the American culture could not be erased from American imagination. For travellers, it was the route to the ‘historic and romantic west, the land of limitless panorama and the home of ageless antiquity’. For the isolated communities along the Route, it was a connection to the outside world, to growing commerce and business – one feeding the other. The Route 66 evoked the romance of the simpler times, it was the icon of a mobile nation, a nation on the road, it was the birth-place of the fast food industry, the first drive-in restaurant, the first McDonald’s outlet – it was an integral part of Americana. It is said that the most American thing about America is the Route 66.

Several Route 66 Associations, states and preservation groups have endeavoured to save the historic landmarks, such as gas stations, motels, neon signs, and delineate the historic route. Surveys have been made by the National Park Service to identify the sites and stretches for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. It was unofficially named as Will Rogers Highway in the memory of the favourite son of Oklahoma, by the US 66 Highway Association. Will Rogers is the star who ‘never met a man he didn’t like’.

My dream buried and revived

With so much of romance about the Route 66, I decided it was unnecessary to do the full east coast to the west coast. The Route 66 exactly mirrored what I had in my mind. But even the truncated dream to do the Route 66 required at least one US-based friend to share the drive, who could spare about 20 days and take care of the huge local logistics – identifying the route, preparing the detailed itinerary, the towns (and even rural farms) on the way to halt, making reservations and so on. No one has that kind of time these days, and not everyone shares the same passion. As my dream was getting buried in the deep recesses of my subconscious, it was rekindled on a touristy trip to LA when the guide in the coach went misty-eyed as he described, while passing through Santa Monica Boulevard, how it was part of the alignment of the Historic Route 66. And as Shahrukh Khan had once said, ‘Kisi cheez ko shiddat se chaaho to’ etc, soon things started to fall in place. At the Santa Monica pier, the shops carried tourist guides and a variety of souvenirs about the Route. Sometime after return I came to know that COSMOS (a company specialising in coach tours in the US and Europe) offers a group coach tour to the Route 66, which meant that I was freed from waiting for another person’s convenience. I booked the tour and set off to savour the romance of the Route 66.

Day 1-2: Touristy Chicago

Day 3: The Trail begins
Chicago-Wilmington-Pontiac-Springfield

You are likely to miss the road sign of the start of the Classic Route 66 in Chicago on the Michigan Avenue (The Magnificent Mile) across the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, if you are not looking for it, but further down the trail you can’t miss the first of the quirky artworks/sculptures dotting the Route: The Gemini Giant at Wilmington. The main purpose of these artworks was to attract the attention of the motorists. The space suit signifies the fascination for space missions those days.

Pontiac: Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum
Pontiac is an important small town on the trail, now famous for its Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum, one of many such museums. This museum houses Bob Waldmire’s microbus and van which became his mobile home for a couple of decades as he drove up and down the Route 66. Bob (19 April 1945-16 December 2009), an artist and cartographer, was drawn towards the romance of the classic Route, when in 1987 he took a trip down the Route to avoid congestion on the Interstate, and he spent his life driving on the Route ever since, drawing, sketching its attractions, and making its flyers. He is one of the men identified with the revival of the Route. The character Fillmore in the animated film Cars (2006) was inspired from his minibus.

He designed a huge wall mural depicting the Route, but he could not complete it because of his poor health. In his honour his friend artists and family completed the mural which also depicts Bob on the left side.

Springfield: Home of Abraham Lincoln
Though Lincoln was born in Kentucky, Springfield (Illinois) became his home where he studied and practiced law, met the love of his life and married her and where, after his assassination, his body was brought in a special train after going through several states, and finally laid to rest. His impressive statue with the ‘American Common Man’ welcomes the visitors at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. I couldn’t help comparing the American common man with RK Laxman’s common man. A dapper white man in corduroy trousers and cable-designed pullover looks like a Rockstar to me, but that could have been the image of the common man in America those days.

Any museum is a great source of history. It was interesting to know that the most revered president in the American history was severely criticised and lampooned while he was in office. Mrs Lincoln, too, was looked down upon with contempt by the high society of Washington DC as ‘awfully western, loud and unrefined’. The first cartoon on the left mocks Lincoln’s entry into the White House in disguise, on the advice of the Federal Security due to security threats. The second poster dated 22 July, 1862 depicts the reaction in his cabinet to the first reading of ‘The Proclamation of Emancipation’ (of the slaves): some felt it went too far, while the remaining felt it didn’t go far enough. If you think of it, there is something universal about the leader in any country facing attack from both the ends – for going too far, or not far enough. Theresa May’s exit for her failure to satisfy either side on her Brexit deal is an apt example of this dilemma. Back home, the Draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) includes many illegal foreigners; it excludes many genuine citizens, and so on.

Day 4: Springfield-St Louis (Missouri)

Situated on the western bank of the Mississippi river, marking the boundary with the state of Illinois, and at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, St Louis was regarded as the gateway to the west because of its port, manufacturing and other infrastructure. To signify its status, a massive Gateway Arch of 630’ span (both height and width) was constructed in 1963-65 and opened to the public in 1967. It has an impressive museum which gives a great insight into an important part of the American history. This territory was originally inhabited by the Native Indian tribes; with the arrival of the Europeans its control passed between the British, the French and the Spanish, depending on their waxing and waning fortunes in Europe and elsewhere. This territory was acquired as a part of ‘Louisiana Purchase’ in 1803 when the President Jefferson realised that the French would be willing to sell it to finance their war against Britain. There were some proforma noises by Spain questioning the French’s right to transfer it to a Third Party, but there was more serious opposition back home on the question of the President’s constitutional powers to enter into such purchase, whether the price paid was too high (7 cents per acre!), and its impact on the balance of power between slave and free states. But what struck me was the irony in one of the stated objectives by Jefferson: ‘to build relationship with Indian Nations’. The man who regarded ‘All men are created equal’ as a self-evident truth, may not have realised that the ‘relationship’ would become an inexorable march of the settlers to the west, eviction of the natives from their homeland, and forcing them into designated ‘Reservations’. For the record, the Louisiana Purchase is today regarded as one of the most significant developments in the evolution of the United States of America, as it doubled its territory by that acquisition.

Day 5: St Louis-Branson

Driving through Missouri countryside on way to Branson, one of America’s biggest music centres, you are drawn by this giant rocking chair at Fanny, and a very attractive kitschy wall painting on an adjoining café.

At Branson, you meet the old and the new co-existing at this now predominantly tourist town, when you catch a colourful train entering the Branson Scenic Railway Station, with a modern Hilton Hotel behind.

Day 6: Branson-Joplin-Arcadia-Oklahoma City

Joplin
The City of Joplin, a small town of about 50000 population, acquired great prominence as the mineral lead was discovered at the turn of the Civil War. The city takes pride that from here you can bike to three states, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and come back the same day. The City officials have preserved an impressive huge wall mural depicting the Route 66.

Bonnie and Clyde shootout
Joplin is also famous for the shootout on March 22, 1933 with Bonnie and Clyde near their hideout in a garage apartment. Though the outlaws managed to escape after shooting two cops, during escape a roll of film fell out from their camera. The developed roll for the first time showed to the world how they looked like, and gave a lot of information about their contacts and activities. From now onward they were constantly on the run, and it was only a matter of time before the law caught up with them. (We would also catch up with them later during the tour.)

Rout 66 signpost in Kansas
You soon cross into Kansas state, which has the shortest stretch of the Route 66 of about 13 miles. At the entry into the state, you have a signpost of the Route amidst vast open vista, and at the same point you have a little shop selling knick knacks, where coffee is on the house,  but woe betide you if you try to filch anything from the shop as it is watched over by the Duke himself with his gun.

Kansas is, of course, eternally famous as Dorothy’s home in ‘Wizard of Oz’ (1939). As you drive through America’s ‘Bible Belt’ into the Cowboy Country, you enter Oklahoma, once known as Indian Territory. The coach guide provided a stop at the ‘Blue Whale’ at Catoosa, made by Hugh Davis, a photographer, zoologist, lecturer and environmentalist, on his private pond, as anniversary gift to his wife. What started as a playground for his grandchildren, and a place for family outing, started attracting motorists and gradually became a must-stop place on the Route 66. On the estate is a mileage chart which shows we had already covered 711 miles from Chicago,  but had yet to go 1505 miles to the end of the trail at Santa Monica.

POPS, Arcadia
Just before entering Oklahoma City, you cannot miss the landmark diner POPS and gas station at Arcadia, as this huge soda bottle of 66’ – to signify the Route 66 – beckons you from miles afar.

Day 7: Oklahoma City-Elk City-Amarillo

Oklahoma City National Memorial
Oklahoma City National Memorial commemorates the bloodiest home-grown terrorist attack on April 19, 1995. (The 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Centre was carried out by foreign terrorists.) The Memorial is a sombre design having 168 empty chairs in the memory of 168 persons killed.

Oklahoma Land Run Monument
Oklahoma City literally came up in one day, when thousands of people from all over the US and outside lined up on horses and wagons on 22 April 1889, pursuant to the President Benjamin Harrison’s proclamation allowing settlers on the ‘Unassigned Lands’. As cannons roared at the stroke of 12 O’ clock, they rushed in frenzy, some falling and being trampled by the rushing people. By the end of the day, a tent city had come up, without any violence, which later became Oklahoma City. This centennial monument in a city park, commemorating the event, has a collection of the world’s largest bronze statues.

Elk City: National Route 66 Museum
The ‘National’ Museum is naturally the largest and most important of the Route 66 museums. And to signify its status is the largest road sign of the Route, proclaiming the museum’s location. Among many exhibits and old buildings is an interesting signpost showing Oklahoma border at 6 miles, and Missouri border 7 miles away on the other side, from which you can derive that the stretch in Kansas is only about 13 miles.

U Drop Inn Café, Shamrock (Texas)
Some distance away is U Drop Inn Café (below, left) which acquired an iconic status on the Route 66, attracting a special man who once dined here at this corner (below, right).

Amarillo: The Big Texan Steak Ranch
Even though I am a vegetarian I didn’t want to miss the experience of this famous steakhouse which takes you back to the cowboy days. A quirky draw is its 72 oz. challenge – if you eat a 72 oz. steak – and the sides: a baked potato, shrimp cocktail, salad and buttered roll – in an hour, you don’t pay for it. And lo and behold, as we were ushered to our table, a young man was already in the midst of the challenge, watched eagerly by his friends – and also by the hawk-eyed waiters – with the stopwatch showing that 33.54 minutes were left to clean his plate.

Day 8: Amarillo-Cadillac Ranch-Adrian-Russell’s Car Museum-Tucumcari-Albuquerque

Cadillac Ranch
Just out of Amarillo, you come across this bizarre Pop Art installation in the vast openness. Up close you see ten Cadillac cars, stuck nose down in the ground at exact angles of the Great Pyramids, to leave an impression on the visitors that these have been planted by a highly intelligent civilisation. Sponsored by an eccentric Texas millionaire and collector, Stanley Marsh 3, this public sculpture was created by Ann Farm, a counter-culture art collective, as a monument to the American Dream. If you go closer, on one of the cars you would find ‘Songs of Yore’ immortalised.

Midpoint, Adrian
Just before entering New Mexico you come to the midpoint of the Route 66 at Adrian.

Russell’s Car Museum
And, upon entering New Mexico there is an attractive Russell’s Car Museum, featuring many classic cars and other memorabilia. But you can be sure, the lady in the white must be an equally important attraction.

Tucumcari: “This train will stop at Tucumcari”
Tucumcari was an old Indian Trading Post, and you get a feel from this Tee Pee Curios Shop that the time has stopped here.

In this short clip from the classic ‘For A Few Dollars More’, Sergio Leone introduces Lee Van Cleef in a fascinating style, with reference to Tucumcari about half a dozen times. The helpful co-passenger tells him that he is on the wrong train, and advises him with confident knowledge that he should go to Sante Fe first and take a train to Amarillo, which is the nearest station to Tucumcari, but one stare from Cleef makes him apologetically stammer as if it was his fault, “E..e..e..You see, this train does not stop at Tucumcari”. Cleef looks out of the window, announces in a voice oozing with power, “This train will stop at Tucumcari” and, at the right time, pulls the vacuum to stop it at Tucumcari, with the ramp perfectly aligned with the wagon car. As he swaggers out with his horse, the train conductor hollers at him, Hey, why did you pull the emergency cord? But as he sights Cleef’s holster, he meekly mumbles, if he wanted to get off, the railways would have been pleased to make special arrangements. Cleef cuts him with a stare;  and please note, he does not forget to add the courteous ‘thanks’: I did get off, thanks! Every frame is pure art and quintessential Sergio Leone.

Day 9: Old Albuquerque town

Old Albuquerque town embodies a charming heritage of Native American to Spanish to Mexican to, now, American cultures. With emphasis now on the revival of Pueblo Deco architecture in public buildings, you have one of the most exotic old towns in America. You also feel the clock turning full circle from assimilation, integration to emphasising the distinctness and nostalgia. Albuquerque is now a prominent location for films and TV series.

Below left is ‘San Felipe De Nari’, the oldest church in Albuquerque, which has continuously served the community since 1706, and on the right are licensed Pueblo artisans selling their wares to the visitors.

With my hotel bearing the name Rio Grande, located on the Rio Grande Boulevard, and quite close to the Rio Grande river, it was like reliving the Westerns. Alas I could not go to Santa Fe, another recurring town in the Westerns, because of a very tight schedule. Santa Fe Trail was one of the toughest in the old West. Now it is the capital city of New Mexico, and is well connected with road and train.

Many readers would be aware that New Mexico is not only about the Old West. It is home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was the centre for designing nuclear weapons as a part of the Manhattan Project during the Second World War.

Day 10: Albuquerque-Acoma Sky City-Gallup-Winslow-Williams

Acoma Sky City
Some distance from Albuquerque is the sacred home of Pueblo Indians, Acoma Sky City, considered to be the longest continuously inhabited village in the US, dating back from 1100AD. Devoid of electricity and running water, there are only 50 residents in the village, the rest live in different cities engaged in various professions, but they all come ‘home’ on special occasions. On the left below is the oldest church of the village which follows a combination of Pueblo Indian as well as Catholic traditions, influenced by the Spanish colonials. On the right are the tourists flocking around a Pueblo artisan, under a tree by the side of the village pond, checking out her pottery and other artifacts.

Gallup
Gallup has a long time Hollywood connection with many films shot around the area, and as the ‘Home of the Movie Stars’ at the historical El Rancho Hotel. Its tagline is ‘Charm of Yesterday, Convenience of Tomorrow’. From its beautiful lobby as you go up the ornate staircase, you see posters of films and stars, associated with the place, lining the walls along the corridor.

Winslow: “Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona”
Never before had a song played such an important role in reviving a dying town. The construction of I-40 bypassing the town in the late 1970s spelt economic doom of Winslow. The city officials hit upon a brilliant idea of using the Eagles’ famous song ‘Take it easy’ (1972) for its revival, as one of its verses was:
“Well I am standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona; Such a fine sight to see”

It is not known whether the song writers, Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey had visited the town before writing it, but “Standing on the corner” is a favourite tourist site on the Route. Annual celebrations at ‘Standing on the Corner Park’ are a huge draw.

And here is the Eagles song ‘Take it easy’ with lyrics, which gave them roaring success and which is so integrally associated with Winslow.

Another historic Route 66 attraction in Winslow is La Posada Hotel, dating back to the 1930s, which escaped demolition and, after refurbishing, is back in business.

Williams: The gateway to Grand Canyon
Williams was the last town to be bypassed on October 13, 1984, therefore, it suffered the least disruption in its way of life. The neon signs, motels and shops take you back to the old days. The town also shows a shootout every evening between two groups of cowboys at its Main Street.

Day 11: Williams to touristy Grand Canyon National Park excursion

Day 12: Williams-Seligman-Las Vegas

Seligman
Seligman is regarded as the home of the ‘Rebirth of the Historical Route 66’, and the man most associated with the ‘rebirth’ is its 92-year old resident, barber by profession, Angel Delgadillo. As the I-40 bypassed the town in 1978, they knew it would impact them, but they didn’t know that in one day all the traffic would shift to the expressway and the town would be left to die. For ten years the authorities forgot about them, until Angel decided to do something about it. He organised ‘we the people’, held meetings, pursued it with the authorities despite setbacks, and was able to form the first ‘Historic Route 66 Association’. Thanks to his efforts, the entire stretch of 66 in Arizona was designated as the Historic Route. Angel and Vilma’s gift shop is an iconic spot on the Route 66. And to add to our pleasure, the legend himself was quite happy to pose for us with his barber’s chair.

Below left is Delgadillo family’s colourfully decorated old car which is a great delight to the residents, as it lurches randomly in different directions, during  its ceremonial processions. On the right is the Road Runner Gift Shop and Café, across the road, a throwback to the old days.

Angel has been interviewed hundreds of times by the media from across the world. Among many available on the YouTube, here is a short story of Seligman and Angel Delgadillo.

The Story of Seligman and Angel Delgadillo

The Inspiration for ‘Cars’ (2006)
John Lasseter’s animated films for Disney-Pixar have deep messages about life. This video is not only about making of the film Cars, it is also about the romance of the Old America, and the Route 66, which was not merely a road to take you to your destination, but was itself a destination for vacation; a route not to race to reach first, but to stop and enjoy. This video also features Angel Delgadillo prominently, as he was one of the resource persons for research.

Day 13: Touristy Las Vegas

Day 14: Las Vegas-Barstow-Los Angeles

Bonnie and Clyde death car: Whiskey Pete’s Hotel and Casino, Primm
As you leave behind the manmade wonder, Las Vegas, and are into the Mojave desert, somewhere out of nowhere you see a grand hotel and casino (at Primm, Nevada), named after ‘Whiskey Pete’ which was the nickname of  Pete Macintyre, in memory of his bootlegging past. The Sin City, Las Vegas has a ‘Mob Museum’; its country cousin, Whiskey Pete’s houses Bonnie and Clyde’s ‘death car’. Armed with plenty of information from the Joplin shootout, the cops were finally one step ahead of the outlaws, and in a well laid-out ambush, a combined posse of Louisiana and Texas police shot them down in a hail of bullets on a rural road in Louisiana, on May 23, 1934. If you zoom the side view of the car below, you would see a large number of bullet holes.

Barstow: Route 66 Museum
Having already seen many Route 66 museums so far, the one at Barstow through a rear door in a brick-façade building didn’t seem exceptional.

But as you go around and come to the front, you are awestruck by this majestic building, with awesome view of the railway tracks, a bridge in the background, and further behind, a hill and open horizon. The Barstow Harvey House is now a registered Historical Landmark, part of which serves as Barstow station. Fred Harvey was an entrepreneur who, in conjunction with Santa Fe and other Railways, developed a chain of lunchrooms, restaurants and hotels, which had a legendary place in the history of the western rail travel.

Day 15: Touristy Los Angeles; Santa Monica End of Trail

The guide gave us a boring detail that the Route 66 officially ended at the conjunction of Broadway and the 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles, but it was later stretched up to Santa Monica. For millions of tourists this beautiful signpost at Santa Monica is the “End of the Trail”.

Post tour: San Francisco; Meeting with Mumbaikar8

Mumbaikar8 lives very close to where I stayed with a friend in the Bay Area post-tour for a couple of days. She is one of the keenest SoY-ers and has made a name for herself for her strong views. It seems she takes her role as the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) too seriously – she had just discovered that I had committed another of my serial offenses: ‘You have slighted Rafi again’. Yet she insisted that I not only meet her, but also have dinner with her. In true Indian style, four of us landed at her place and gorged on the lavish dinner prepared by her, her lovely bahu and son. Thank you Mumbaikar8 for the nice evening. Our LOP could learn a thing or two from her.

Notes and Acknowledgements:
1. COSMOS package covers coach travel, hotels and some meals. Reaching the designated hotel at the starting point, and departure from the end point is your responsibility. The standard travel companies like SOTC sell COSMOS packages.

2. I should acknowledge that COSMOS organised the tour very professionally. The guide John Ploszaj was very knowledgeable and helpful.

3. I have left out any description or pictures of Chicago, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and several other interesting sites and attractions, to make the post compact and focussed on the Route 66. But mind you, ‘touristy’ is not necessarily Facebook-ish; a tour to these places also offers great insight into their art, culture and history.

4. I have not described the historical events like ‘Louisiana Purchase’, ‘Oklahoma Land Run’, ‘Unassigned Lands’, ‘Proclamation of Emancipation’ etc. in any detail, leaving it for the readers to further explore as they wish. The Internet has plenty of material on them. I have deliberately avoided giving Wikipedia links.

5. Even if you do not intend to do the Trail, if you are fond of reading, you would find the book “Route 66: The Mother Road” by Michael Wallis fascinating. It is available on Amazon.in, but I could get it at half the price from Amazon in the US. Wallis also features prominently in the video Inspiration for ‘Cars’ I have linked in the post.

6. My main sources are my own observations, brochures and plaques at different places. A study under the aegis of the National Park Service done by Michael Cassity titled, “Route 66: National Historic Context” (downloaded from their site) is very informative.

7. The pictures in the post have been taken with my phone camera. The videos are embedded from the YouTube, only for the enjoyment of the readers. The copyright over these videos rests with the respective owners.