Route 66 - October 2013

In October 2013 the boys and I headed off to the USA to drive Route 66. I had been keen to do this trip for some time and had spent much time thinking about it. I finally got serious after watching the Billy Connolly Route 66 series on a flight home from New Zealand.

With the seed planted in my head I started to talk to mates about doing this trip….well it wasn’t hard to find the guys who were only too keen to sign on…. So keen were they that we couldn’t just travel in any car…they had to be American “muscle cars” and had to be old and eye catching. So John found them through Black Top Candy's ….We booked a sky blue and white ’55 Chevy Bel Air and a burgundy ’67 Chevy Camaro with black racing strips.

So there we were in Chicago - Stephano, John, Tim and I… out sight-seeing for a few days, before the cars arrived and we started the 3,427Km trip across eight American states. (Neil would later join us in Oklahoma City…)

It was a drizzly start but we found the official start of Route 66 sign, on the streets of Chicago.

The cars arrived and we couldn’t contain our excitement any longer. They looked amazing! They were loud V8’s…very loud…!! Not the most comfortable and certainly not the easiest to drive….We had our challenges in front of us, but that was soon to be a small issue….

The cars were very popular on the road, people would wave at us as they drove by or toot their horns and when we stopped at the gas stations people would walk up to us and ask about the cars. Soon the conversations would flow about where did you get these old cars from, where did you buy them, where are you all from and we love your accents…

We stopped at an Amish town of Arthur, the guys bought quilts for their homes, watched furniture being made and were amazed at the horse and buggies on the streets and the dress standards of the locals. We even went harvesting corn!!!!! And that is another whole story

The original route 66 road can still be seen a lot of the time but it is rarely used and has been replaced by major interstate freeways that are all very new.

One very delusional young lady even took a liking to John…we were a bit lost on that one , but good ol' John just took it in his stride…business as usual as far as he was concerned….a few days later he asked why some of these people that liked him so much didn’t live back in Brisbane as he would like all these reassurances on how good he was.

The original route 66 road can still be seen a lot of the time but it is rarely used and has been replaced by major interstate freeways that are all very new.

We all drove the cars, our trip covered over 3,500 Km, the same as driving distance as Melbourne to Perth.

We stayed at this iconic & retro hotel...

The trip took us through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

It was amazing how many well preserved old signs etc there were along the way.

We went standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona such a fine sight to see.... a girl my lord in a flat bed ford slowing down to take a look at me....!!

Endless miles of Cotton fields...

Oklahoma City Memorial & Museum. This photo is in remembrance of the victims of the Oklahoma city bombing. Neil joined us here touring towards Grand Canyon.

Cadillac ranch... an iconic stop along the way. This could be the closest John gets to having his own Caddy!

We took a bike ride along the rim of Grand Canyon.

Stephano was committed to finding Hooters for us to eat at each night. The reality is - on Route 66 there aren't any. Just lots of old little towns and Denny restaurants. We eventually got to a Hooters in Vegas.

I pre purchased tickets to the World Bull-riding Championships in Vegas. We all agreed it was the best night of the trip. We all drank and laughed so much.

Went to visit Elvis in Memphis and headed across to Santa Fe, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and dropped the old cars back at the official end of Route 66 in Santa Monica Los Angles before heading up the coast to San Francisco for our final few days of R&R before heading home.

We all enjoyed the trip and while I was thinking we had a good time the others were saying that the three week’s away were like six….we did so much and had such a good trip that the seed has been planted to do it again in a few years’ time…….maybe Miami to New York….we will wait and see what unfolds.