Back in May/June timeframe my husband and I took my dream vacation – a trip across the country on Old Route 66. We left Vermont on a Friday and 2 1/2 weeks later returned. We drove from Vermont to Illinois to jump on Route 66 and then took that all the way to California. From California we drove northeast to Las Vegas, north through Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Then we drove through Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Canada (Toronto) and back into Vermont.
During our trip I posted each day on Facebook. This blog post will show each Facebook page and some of the photos from that day. Enjoy!
Day One: Day one is complete. We drove from VT through NY, PA and stopped in Mentor, OH for the night. I didn’t realize that Erie, PA area had such a strong wine presence. There were vineyards everywhere.
Route 66, Day 2 – traveled from OH to IL.
I saw my first triple tandem truck. I was surprised at how busy the interstates were. Here in Vermont we have more personal vehicle traffic than commercial transportation.
It was a beautiful day when we hit Indiana we took our top down on the Jeep.
Most of Route 66 isn’t drive-able anymore. The road has been replaced with other roads, mostly interstates. When we started out in Illinois, we drove parallel to the old Route 66. Most parts of it were turned into walking/bike paths.
Route 66 – Day 3: Today we woke up at my friend Julie’s house in Springfield, IL. It was a beautiful 80 degree day so we kept the top down on the Jeep. We visited Lincoln’s home and Tomb before we headed south to St. Louis. Along the way, we visited the Cahokia State Park which has mounds that are from 700 A.D. They say it was the largest prehistoric society north of Mexico. We also stopped at some great roadside sites – like the world’s largest catsup bottle and rocking chair. We only hit IL and MO today. Spending the night near Fort Leonard Wood.
Lincoln’s Home
Route 66 – Day 4: Today we woke up in St. Roger, MO and traveled through KS and into OK. We stopped in Claremore, OK for the night. This morning our first stop was at Uranus Fudge Factory. They welcomed me into the store by shouting “Welcome to Uranus”. Great way to start the day with a big smile. Drove through Joplin, MO – home of the largest tornado on record. 5 years ago it killed 150 people. We weren’t able to spot where it hit. Before we stopped for the night we visited the World’s Largest Totem Pole.
Route 66 – Day 5: Woke up in Claremore, OK. Went to the Davis Gun Museum. Home of a very large gun collection. Tony was in heaven. Drove through Tulsa and stopped in Edmond OK for the night. A friend of mine was nice enough to open her home to me. Oh, we stopped at a store called Pops, they have over 200 brands of soda bottles. Here’s some photos from the day.
Route 66 – Day 6: Today we left Donna’s home in Edmond, OK and headed to Amarillo, TX. Along the way we saw lots and lots of flat land, cattle, oil pumps, windmills and people eating steak. We ate lunch at Sonic (those in VT know that we don’t have a Sonic in town) Tomorrow we are NM bound.
Up North in Vermont we have brown soil. Seeing the red dirt all over is such a pretty sight.
Route 66 – Day 7: Left Amarillo, TX and headed west towards Albuquerque, NM. We chose the longer route through Santa Fe (pre-1935 Route 66 route). In the morning we drove to the Palo Duro Canyon. What a nice surprise to see this in the middle of flat country. We also chose a dirt road option (vs I-40) through TX into NM. Glad we chose that route as we spotted some Antelope and a Jack Rabbit. Mountains north of Santa Fe still have snow on them. Tomorrow – Flagstaff, AZ bound.
I love looking at license plates when I’m traveling. It was a surprise to see someone from Haiti.
The rest of the Route 66 – Cross-Country Trip can be found on my next post.
[…] If you’ve stumbled upon this post without first reading the first 7 days of our trip across country from Vermont to California and back – then please visit my first post – Route 66 Days 1-7. […]