ihatemybike
Explorer
Not having the stars align to attend the Maya Rally and me still having 2 weeks of use it or lose it vacation time, my wife Jayme and I have decided to tour Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago. The main reason for the West to East tour is that we'll finish the tour within an hour's driving distance from home, eliminating a rushed drive at the end of the tour.
I've done this tour in a week solo driving Grumpy a couple years back. It was a really good trip, but I was able to find many things to side track me (like driving down into the Grand Canyon on Hualapai Tribe land and hanging with friends in Flagstaff) and ended up rushing the second half of the week.
We're not going full overland style as we like to eat local while traveling, but we'll be sleeping in the back of my Jayme's Jeep every night if things go well. She removed the rear seats a couple years back and I helped her build a platform to level things out. Being 6'2" it's a little cramped for me laying back there, but with one of the seats fully forward and me laying diagonal we both seem to fit. We're currently looking for a foam pad/mattress that we wouldn't feel bad about cutting up to make the platform more comfortable.
Seems most of the detailed direction for Route 66 on the web run East to West, so I started reversing some of the nicer ones I've found using DeLorme Street Atlas. Plan is to take the oldest alignments possible, unless a newer alignment has more interesting driving. In areas that an interstate paved over/replaced Route 66 and frontage roads are available, the frontage roads will be used if possible to reduce interstate mileage. I already know of a few areas out West where we'll be driving long abandoned roads that the Jeep's capabilities will be used.
Side trips:
We'll be traveling the most direct route from Chicago to Santa Monica, kinda. It's just not possible for us to not spend some time in Moab on our way out, being all of 31 mile off I-70. Hey, we're Jeepers, it's what we do.
Las Vegas will also get a short visit. We're generally not into the whole Vegas scene, but she's never been and there is that roller coaster on top of a building. Not sure if we'll need it, but anyone know a good place to park our Jeep to camp for the night in Vegas?
If you have any Route 66 tips or suggestions, let me hear them.
I've done this tour in a week solo driving Grumpy a couple years back. It was a really good trip, but I was able to find many things to side track me (like driving down into the Grand Canyon on Hualapai Tribe land and hanging with friends in Flagstaff) and ended up rushing the second half of the week.
We're not going full overland style as we like to eat local while traveling, but we'll be sleeping in the back of my Jayme's Jeep every night if things go well. She removed the rear seats a couple years back and I helped her build a platform to level things out. Being 6'2" it's a little cramped for me laying back there, but with one of the seats fully forward and me laying diagonal we both seem to fit. We're currently looking for a foam pad/mattress that we wouldn't feel bad about cutting up to make the platform more comfortable.
Seems most of the detailed direction for Route 66 on the web run East to West, so I started reversing some of the nicer ones I've found using DeLorme Street Atlas. Plan is to take the oldest alignments possible, unless a newer alignment has more interesting driving. In areas that an interstate paved over/replaced Route 66 and frontage roads are available, the frontage roads will be used if possible to reduce interstate mileage. I already know of a few areas out West where we'll be driving long abandoned roads that the Jeep's capabilities will be used.
Side trips:
We'll be traveling the most direct route from Chicago to Santa Monica, kinda. It's just not possible for us to not spend some time in Moab on our way out, being all of 31 mile off I-70. Hey, we're Jeepers, it's what we do.
Las Vegas will also get a short visit. We're generally not into the whole Vegas scene, but she's never been and there is that roller coaster on top of a building. Not sure if we'll need it, but anyone know a good place to park our Jeep to camp for the night in Vegas?
If you have any Route 66 tips or suggestions, let me hear them.
