Special Edition: Legendary Route 66

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Here's the lyrics of the song, and I have pics of this legendary road for you.




If you ever plan to motor west, 
Travel my way, take the highway that is best. 
Get your kicks on route sixty-six. 

It winds from chicago to la, 
More than two thousand miles all the way. 
Get your kicks on route sixty-six. 

Now you go through saint looey 
Joplin, missouri, 
And oklahoma city is mighty pretty. 
You see amarillo, 
Gallup, new mexico, 
Flagstaff, arizona. 
Don't forget winona, 
Kingman, barstow, san bernandino. 

Won't you get hip to this timely tip: 
When you make that california trip 
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.


The full 2,000-mile road no longer exists, but parts of it still do, some of it as Interstate 40, and Flagstaff has some of it:

I hoped to see a tumbleweed out west and didn't see a single one, not even one caught in the fences along Interstate 40.  But this one came around the corner from historic Route 66 and tangled with my toes in Flagstaff.

The road sign says "Route 66."

The scene in Flagstaff, AZ.  The tower in the lower right corner belongs to Barnes & Noble.

Route 66, aka Interstate 40, between Flagstaff and Albuquerque.

The bus stopped at a market in Gallup on Route 66/Interstate 40 on the way to Albuquerque.

The sun set behind me as I shot this stretch of Route 66 somewhere between Flagstaff and Albuquerque.

The hostel I stayed in Albuquerque was on Route 66 and named for it.

This is Route 66 in Albuquerque.  Lots of urban sprawl.

Route 66 looking at downtown Albuquerque.

Route 66 at twilight in Albuquerque.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Must be seen to be believed, on Route 66 in downtown Albuquerque.

Two darling people I met in the hostel on Route 66 in Albuquerque.

Route 66/Interstate 40 from Albuquerque to Amarillo, TX.  Dry, dusty desert.