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Plan to stay a night or two in St. Louis ♥ I'm originally from Australia but have been over here for years now. DH & I did the Route 66 thing as a rushed honeymoon, although I've done segments of it by myself over the years. Like others have said, most of it is buried under I-40 but there are still some remnants of the original road.
If you don't have it already, there is a book called Road Trip USA by Jamie Jensen which details some of the best 'road trips' in America, with sights and accommodation along the way and it's inclusive of Route 66.
My main advice however, is to never let your gas tank get to under a quarter full, especially through NM or you're likely to start stressing out- much like parts of Australia (although not nearly as extreme), there seem to be endless miles of road through the more rural Southwest without gas stations! Fill up when you can for your own piece of mind!
If you want to follow U.S. Route 66, take I-40 from Barstow to Oklahoma City, hop on I-44 to St. Louis, then take I-55 from St. Louis to Chicago.
No offense St. Louisan but I disagree with this- the last segment anyhow. I-55 is BORING through Illinois. I think that if the OP has the time, they are better off pretty much going this way- it's more interesting even if going through the Metro East is a bit of a "what the!?" for first timers.
(instead of crossing the McKinley Bridge at the beginning of this- I'd be more inclined to get onto I-270, make a detour up New Florissant Rd and stop at de.lish for Cheesecake- best in St. Louis, or Old Town Donuts- again, best in St. Louis) and then continue along I-270 across the Mississippi, catching a glimpse at the Chain of Rocks Bridge to the right hand side. Exit I-270 on the East Side at Route 3 and check out the Route 66 fleamarket if it's open- a lot of what they sell is junk but you can get some pretty neat items for cheap as well, even if the surroundings are 'grotty' to say the least. And then, get on Chain of Rocks Rd and head East to 157 and follow the rest of the directions as linked
Looking at the village is near the top left side of the mesa from a view point near Acoma NM. You may have to google Sky City NM to find out more about Acoma. This is the oldest continues village of native Americans in North America; an interesting part of history along route 66 & I-40.
Off topic, but, Oraibi on the Hopi rez in Arizona is the oldest continuously inhabited town in America, I've always heard. It's not on 66 but not too far from it.
If you want to follow U.S. Route 66, take I-40 from Barstow to Oklahoma City, hop on I-44 to St. Louis, then take I-55 from St. Louis to Chicago.
Once in Missouri there are a number of stretches of the original Rte. 66 paralleling I-44. There's a good one in Cathage and more in Rolla. In between you can see where the original route was from I-44 and get off and follow it in bits and pieces.
I was fortunate enough to have traveled most of its length (Los Angeles to St. Louis and back again later) several times in the 1950s and early '60s and have fond memories of the small towns, motels and diners. Cross country travel, which I've done a number of times since, really lost a lot of its charm when the interstates took over and bypassed most of Americana.
Some good information on here .... just know that it's going to be really hot in the laughlin area in the summer
You could do worse for a stopping point as you are sure to find dirt cheap decent lodging in the casinos in summer and it's not a long drive up to vegas .... although I honestly don't there there is really that much that i'd want to drive around over 2 days looking at in NW Arizona .... Oatman is a neat little diversion, Lake Havasu City isn't far off
Honestly, heading into AZ I'd be tempted to just run I-40 and hop off at Seligman onto Rte 66
Also, at that time of the year i'd be more interested in using Flagstaff as a base point, making it to the grand canyon, down to Sedona & Jerome, swinging up to Monument Valley, etc
Long story short. I'd love to correspond with someone (many) who has travelled Route 66. We are from Australia, and we start our journey in Vegas July 18 this year.
Soooooooooo...
We are heading out from Vegas and we'd love to know a little about Laughlan, Chloride and Topock. We are planning on stayin in either Needles or Kingman (suggestions?). Would we need one or two days to scout the immediate area -- again, suggestions.
Any and all advice greatly appreciated.
More posts to follow, as we are doing the whole route.
George.
The only stop that I have been on Route 66 is the final one on the Santa Monica Pier (L.A.) on the West Coast.
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