Route 66 to Paso and so much more! (5649 miles on vinyl!!)

Cool meeting you (in person!) as well! I've always loved your blogs...fun to read!

Best of luck with your career and 'new' home!!!

 

Day Seventeen...

Not too long after leaving the Little England Inn, we spotted this yellow Henry J in Colorado right near the Kansas border. It was sporting Kansas plates. I'm sure I've seen this car on the HAMB before, in past years' HAMB Drags coverage perhaps??? Anyhow...it was pretty cool, so I jumped out to snap a quick picture!

 

Soon enough, we were out of Colorado and headed across Kansas. There isn't a whole lot to say about Kansas really except that when you're THERE you know you're not in Colorado anymore...and that you're almost back to Oklahoma! I also noticed that there seemed to be a museum of some sort at almost every exit in Kansas along I-70, though! You can also buy Wizard Of Oz stuff in about every gas station, rest area, restaurant, bar, truck stop and grocery store in Kansas...in case you were wondering where to go to fill in your collection!!

It was another LONG day on the road...but we made it back to Tulsa around dusk, meaning that we only had a short run into Coweta to bring our epic journey to a close! With the car unloaded and parked back in the garage, we celebrated the fact that we had DONE IT! We had gone over 5600 miles (with all of our detours, added side-trips, double-backs and what not!) in an old hot rod with no REAL car trouble or anything! Sure, we could've been more comfortable in a late model...but it wouldn't be nearly the same experience! I think it was an excellent trip, and I would happily do it again (after maybe swapping the cloth bench out of my Caprice into the car before we left!!!)

If you've ever thought about doing this trip...don't think about it...just DO it...you will NOT regret it!!!!!!

 

Hey don't fret about not staying in Kingman for long. I live there for 8 months. Other than route 66, and being the home of ANDY DEVINE, the place is a f-ing dive and a half

 

I am glad to have met you guys and glad to hear it went so well for you, what a hell of a fun trip it must have been.. come back anytime.........

 

After consulting the Monstrous American Car Spotters Guide page 26, I feel certain that is a 34-35 Buick, a bit larger than a Chevy, maybe it needed that rat!

 

There are several Route 66 books, maps, travel guides and such out there...many of which can be picked up along the way at various gift shops and such, but we got by most of the time using a common 2007 Road Atlas and a book Cathy brought along called "EZ 66 Route 66 GUIDE for Travelers" by Jerry McClanahan, published by the National Historic Route 66 Federation. It's presented in a spiral-bound format that flips from page-to-page easily and helps guide you to different points of interest along the route. It also indicates where parts of Route 66 are either gone, in poor condition, or just plain unadviseable to travel! It makes a handy carry-along guide to have!

Other than that, you can just sorta follow the signs and take your time seeing what there is to see! The cool thing is that everyone's Route 66 adventure is going to be unique...and a big part of the thrill is discovering things on your own and doing the things that interest you most along the way! As I mentioned, we took some detours off of 66 to see things like Fort Sumner, and there are almost endless variations that one could do along the way to make their journey special and memorable to them!

Just pack up, take your time and have fun doing it!!!!!

 

What a great trip! Great pics man, many great building and cars still around waiting to be restored! I'll forgive your insults to Kansas. It's a great place to live, you just wouldn't want to visit.

 

Ha Ha...no insults meant at all!

I actually liked driving through Kansas after making it out of Colorado!!! The weather was nice, the roads straight and smooth...and Oz trinkets at every gas stop!!

 

Cool story Hack, but what I really want to know is, what happened to that beautiful blonde mane you had? Ha ha Ha

 

I sold my locks to David Lee Roth...he needed 'em more than I did!!

 

Just had to stop in and revisit this post in memorandum of CathyH, who recently passed away. We had done a few Route 66 road trips, but this one out to the final show at Paso Robles in 2007 was simply epic! SO many great memories, wonderful people and good times along the way.

We had been planning to do another Route 66 trip in 2017...but scheduling was looking dicey with my long work hours. It saddens me to know that another close friend is gone. Take the time to go out and LIVE while you can...because you never know when fate will steal all your chances away.

I will always treasure the memories of this amazing journey across America to a legendary car show in a picturesque town with a fellow HAMBer who truly embodied the spirit of what enjoying your cars is all about!

Farewell, CathyH...Rest in Peace.

 

Welcome back FH. Sorry to hear about Cathy. I only met her once, but she was full of life. Our condolences.