After a good night’s rest in our own bed, it’s time to reflect on the entire trip. We traveled a total of 6,806 miles, 3,379 over historic route 66, it took us 23 days, we stayed in 19 different hotels/motels, traveled through 18 different states (some twice), had dinner in 22 different restaurants, visited a few National Parks, paid our respects to those innocent lives lost in Oklahoma city, saw an Indy Race, stayed on the Queen Mary, went from long pants and jackets to bathing suits, used about 180 gallons of gas, the most expensive was $8 a gallon (thanks California😡), passed through every time zone twice, crossed the continental divide twice, saw every type of landscape/terrain from the east coast to the west coast, learned a lot interesting tidbits about towns, buildings, local history and met a lot of really nice hard working people who rely on Route 66 to keep their businesses going and are extremely proud to do so. 🇺🇸
Driving in a car with your spouse for three weeks might be difficult for some, but for us it was great. Did we have a couple of “moments”, sure, but who wouldn’t. 😉 We’re a great team when we travel and that is what makes our trips even more enjoyable. The two questions that we constantly asked each other throughout the entire trip; what day is it and what state are we in? 😁 You’d be amazed at how many times we did! A runner up, do you need the rest stop. A bit of advice if you are traveling across country, don’t ever pass up the opportunity to use the restroom and always top off your tank. 👍
If you ask if we have a favorite part, we have several depending on the reason, Pontiac, IL, was probably our favorite town, Winslow, AZ, because we finally got to “stand on a corner”, our stay at the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, NM, because it was such an iconic spot, Oatman, AZ, the burros were adorable, and the Santa Monica Pier because that’s what it was all about. But there are many, many others.
If you ever have the chance to drive cross country, whether it’s on Route 66 or not, DO IT! You won’t regret it. Our country is beautiful; people come from all over the world to visit us, we saw that firsthand. I would have never thought so many foreigners would travel to the US to drive cross country, but they do. We even met a couple who were from New Zealand, they have a camper and a car they store in the US and every year they come here for three months to travel around to National Parks and explore every state. Think about that, they are from New Zealand, that country is beautiful, but they choose to come here.
Some advice if you do take a trip like this, take your time and talk to people, everyone has a story to tell, and you’d be amazed at how much you can learn by just engaging in conversations. When you travel by car you see more; you can stop off whenever you want. Learn about the area, try local foods, stop and enjoy it. Take it all in enjoy and appreciate what we have right here in our backyards.
Do we have any regrets, just a few small ones, looking back we would have planned another week or so. I know that sounds crazy, but there is so much to see, and you need to plan at least two days in some areas. Staying in a different hotel every night can be tiring, schlepping your luggage in and out (especially when someone overpacks 🙋🏻♀️) gets old, plus you need time to explore a bit more. There was so much that we saw on the route, but there was even more we didn’t. They say you can travel Route 66 several times and still not see everything and we believe that is true. Our timing was perfect, we didn’t want to go after May, it’s the 100th Anniversary which would make our spontaneous stops difficult, and we didn’t want to go too early as the weather could have been tricky. It was the “Goldie Locks” time to go, just right. 😉
I am so happy that I did this blog, it allowed us to enjoy our trip again when we reread it, it also jogged our memories, you’d be surprised at what you forget from one day to the next. The old CRS, Can’t Remember Shit, syndrome is a daily struggle for both of us. 😁
Thank you all for following along, we loved reading your comments and appreciate the time you took to be part of our journey. ❤️
Would we do it again, absolutely! We are already planning our next driving adventure across Canada. But first, were heading to Ireland in August, so check back in.
See you down the road. 💜💚
Leave a Reply