Adobe Walls Woodworks at 2904 West 6th Street is typical of the shops
along original Route 66 in AmarilloHeart of the
Texas Panhandle, Amarillo has hosted various alignments of Route 66.
Business Route I-40 approximates the earliest. Amarillo Blvd &
6thStreet will give you a feel for how people moved through the city.
There has been a definite effort to preserve the look and feel of Route
66 although most of the motels are gone and shops now occupy the
spaces that housed roadside services. The Big Texan Steakhouse -
complete with their "free" steak dinner - has always been on Route 66
(one place or another) now on the north side of I-40 towards the east
edge of town.West of Amarillo
The "ranch" moved during
the summer of 1997. No
definitive explanation of
why, other than some
people feel metro Amarillo
was encroaching on the
solitude of the display. To see the ten Cadillacs buried nose down one
now leaves I-40 at exit 60. Go toward Amarillo on the south access road 1.3 miles.
The Texas Trading Company, next to the truck stop was an interesting
place. It was the first time I saw motorcycle specific jewelry.Dianne
Jones, the manager, told me that the six flag poles out front are intended
to display the six flags Texans have lived under over the years.
Panhandle wind shreds them so quickly, they have given up that part of
their ambiance. (You'll see just how much that wind blows at mile #57.
Look south of the Interstate to see some big wind powered electric
generation equipment.)
You'll want to stop at the "Half-Way" cafe.
Here you can stand 1,139 miles from Chicago
and 1,139 miles from the Santa Monica Pier. I
felt like I was traveling downhill from here on!
This is the first significant town in New Mexico.
Glenrio, San Jon, etc., are really just ghost
towns. Historic Route 66 is marked, but is just
the access road to I-40 now. The Blue Swallow
Motel was closed down when I went through. Its
famed sign looked o.k. but we understand that the
property is being advertised for sale and there is some concern that its
days are numbered.
The must see/must stop is at the west edge of town, south side of the highway, at the convention center. A most dramatic monument to Route 66 was erected early in 1997. It captures tail fins, chrome, the road, etc., and is destined to become a nouveau Route 66 icon.
Albuquerque, NM
A super twistie, replete
with 15 mph switchbacks.
Exit I-40 east of the city at
the well marked exit,
(Tijeras) or if you are on
Central Blvd., just turn
north under the Interstate at the intersection. You'll climb from 6,000
feet to 10,000 feet in the nineteen miles between the turnoff and the
crest. The major disappointment for me was the very aggressive fee
collection plan they have in place. To just park and take a picture or
two would have been $3.00. The ranger's explanation was that it was to
cover the shortfall between their costs and government funding.
For the very hardy (remember: you are at 10,000 feet) there is a hiking trail of a little over a mile that would take you to where the tramway comes up from the other side of the mountain. There is a restaurant there and you could ride the tram down to the valley floor and then return to ride your bike down the other side of the mountain. A heck of a lot of entertainment if you have the time and ability.
Don't be discouraged by the "unimproved
road" signs on the way up to the crest. The
road is perfect, blacktop all the way.
The road from the Interstate to the Crest turnoff was sprinkled with "Stop Wal-Mart" signs. Future travelers might want to learn how that campaign plays out. Wal-Mart has been the original 500 lb gorilla to small communities.
Albuquerque, NM
Just west of the University of New Mexico
campus on Central Avenue (1450 Central
Avenue), north side of the street, is the Route 66
Diner. It was great to see their apparent
prosperity. They were doing a great lunch
business when I stopped by. The original diner
burned down some years ago but they built back a replica of the Art
Deco era diner complete with colored neon and bright tile work.I probably would have chanced a little money at their blackjack tables ifthe ATM machine didn't want a little under 10% of the amount as a "service charge." I did soak up a little of their air conditioning and a tall Dr. Pepper with mucho ice.
The city is east of Gallup, NM. About all the
services you would need are available here . . .
including a neat "photo-op" covered wagon and
hogan. You are at 7,275 feet above sea level.
Route 66 is also marked at this turn off but if you
try to go west from the marker you soon
encounter a "Closed to Through Traffic" sign.
The scenery from here to Gallup is spectacular. North of the Interstate you can see dramatic high country shaped by the ancient sea that once covered the road you're riding on.
Arizona/New Mexico Border
Environmentalists' nightmares include the kind of
"development" I found at the Arizona/New
Mexico border. To New Mexico's credit one
should note that the worse excesses seemed to be
in Arizona - along with a highway badly in need
of repair.
Interesting history lesson here. The city - and
area - were first settled by Mormons coming
south from Salt Lake City. A monument on the
east end of town documents the settlement and
the name changes over the years. Route 66 is
well marked through the town.
It was about here that I started noticing cattle guards around the Interstate exits and entrances. You want to take them with the bike exactly upright and don't apply your brakes or change directions. The cattle guards suggest unfenced range land. The vegetation is pretty sparse around here. The old rancher's saying that a "cow would have to graze at twenty miles an hour to stay alive out here" came to mind.
West of Winslow one sees the mountains of north central Arizona. Welcome relief from the "flat" of the miles from the border with New Mexico.
You are also closing in on your objective: sign says 492 miles to Los Angeles.
If I had a day to spare - the train trip to the Grand
Canyon from Williams is an all day trip - I would
have parked the bike and taken the train.
Williams shares "high country" billing with Flagstaff, but beyond Williams there is a dramatic descent to Ash Fork and Seligman. The 6% downgrade is the maximum one finds on the Interstate Highway System and will pop one's ears. (Or make your bike sound very quiet if you elect not to yawn or swallow).
Services available appeared very modest to me. No chain motels (there is an independent motel at Grand Canyon Caverns) and no "brand name" gas. I would always fill my gas tank at Seligman or Kingman and not plan to overnight on this loop unless I could "fall back" to camping if the motel(s) are full.
Only Bob Waldmire's Visitors Center invites
people to stop in Hackberry. I saw no services
available. But Bob's place makes up for it.
Whether he is in residence or not (you'll know
when you get to the front door) there is a lot to
see, read and think about. Bob was gone when I
got there but I still spent an interesting hour exploring his domain.
After negotiating the washes you start to climb.
And I do mean climb. As in 10 mph hairpins,
steep grades and precious few guard rails. I
maybe rocketed up to 25 mph once or twice, but
in the main this is a first and second gear climb.
Once over Sitgreaves Pass the road is somewhat
less scary in its descent to Oatman.
And to my eye it looked like Oatman had become the T-Shirt capital of the Western Hemisphere. There were tour buses galore (not from Kingman, busses and trucks - anything over 30 feet -are barred from that segment of highway) and the tourists were cheek by jowl with each other. The burros were there - much to the delight of the packed main street (the only street).
My major regret was that I elected not to follow the Route 66 loop south of the Interstate through Essex and Amboy. It was clearly marked west of Needles,(remember to turn leftand cross to the south side of the Interstate, don't go right/north towards Las Vegas) but I wanted to avoid another ride in triple digit temperatures. I ran on I-40 straight to Ludlow and Barstow.
Victorville is "high" desert - as opposed to the
"low" desert of Ludlow. In recent years
Victorville has made a greater effort to promote
their central business district. Route 66 used to
go there, so it was natural for the city to create a
Route 66 museum. It is housed in an old bank
building downtown. Because of that effort, I was surprised not to see
any "Historic Route 66" signs on the Interstate. My rule of thumb is
that I wouldn't exit the Interstate for Route 66 unless it was marked. If
the community wasn't interested, why should I be? That's why I just
"did" the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum and skipped the downtown
route. Just exit the Interstate at Roy Rogers Avenue, then take the first
turn to the left. I arrived before the museum opens at 9 AM, so
contented myself with snapping a picture. Recent reports I've read said
that Roy & Dale - now in their 70's - often stop by the museum to meet
visitors.I live in the Dallas Metro area so I've had some experience with freeways 5 lanes wide, blah, blah, blah, but I've never experienced the likes of LA traffic. I went in early on a Saturday morning (7 AM) and never used my cruise control. The legal limit is 70 MPH and poking along at that speed would be dangerous.
The directions are simple: Take I-15 to I-10, I-10 to the Santa Monica Pier. I-10 ends at Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) and the Santa Monica Pier - Ocean Blvd @ Colorado Blvd - is just a little loop around from where I-10 ends. In retrospect, maybe it would be better to follow the "surface" route over Foothill Blvd., through Pasadena and so forth. It would certainly be slower, maybe less scary. The bottom line: Don't ride beyond your experience or comfort level just to do the last 75 miles of a 2,400 mile trip.
Getting to - and from - this famous archway
requires some twists and turns if you plan to
arrive or leave via Interstate 10. Arriving you
will be channeled onto the Pacfic Coast highway
a few blocks north of the Santa Monica Pier
(Ocean Blvd & Colorado Blvd).
If traffic is light, you can move immediately to the insde lane, take the first left turn opportunity and - in effect - do a U turn back to the south. If traffic is heavy, stay in the right turn lane. Two miles north there is a stop light. You turn right, then immediately turn back towards the Pacific Coast Highway and go south.
Heavy traffic or light, when you are southbound on the Pacific Coast Highway you will be offered the entrance to I-10 or Ocean Blvd. Take Ocean Blvd. You will pass under the bridge to the Santa Monica Pier and come to a mandatory right (south) turn onto Ocean Blvd. Get going back north on Ocean Blvd any way you want to and - voila' - you'll get the opportunity (at Ocean & Colorado) to turn left onto Santa Monica Pier.
Santa Monica Pier
Leaving the Santa Monica Pier and getting onto
I-10 is somewhat less complicated but still
involves running north on the Pacific Coast
Highway and U turning back to the I-10 on ramp.
Turn right when you leave the Pier and take the
first right turn. You'll be channeled down to the
Pacific Coast Highway where you can do either the light traffic or heavy
traffic turn back to the south.
And don't feel bad if you've decided not to run to the Pier. Route 66 wasn't extended to Santa Monica till late in its life. The plaque in Palisades Park that talks about the "end of Route 66" was placed there by a movie company promoting one of their films. Santa Monica Pier is a dramatic place to end a long ride but it being the "real" end of Route 66 is open to considerable debate.
The other bummer at the Santa Monica Pier is that it really is a pier. Wooden planks. Covered with early morning dew those planks are veryslick. And the only parking available - again on those planks - is $5. I arrived early enough that the parking kiosk was not attended, so I parked for free. Things don't get going till around 10 AM on the pier. I'm not certain when they would start charging for parking. Think about grabbing any parking place you see on Colorado or Ocean Blvd.