“Get Your Kicks on Route 66” was a popular song from the 1940s, sung by Nat King Cole, that helped bring that long stretch of highway, Route 66, to fame. Now you can have fun with Route 66 if you bring the Route 66 Adventure Manual as it will take you to many of the hidden and not-so-hidden gems along this road.
Route 66 was one of the first highways in the United States and was completed in 1926. It runs from Chicago to California and passes through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona on the way to Santa Monica. , California. In the 1950s, after President Eisenhower signed a bill that saw the creation of the “interstate highway system” and the construction of numerous major “super highways,” many people assumed that the famous highway was almost dead. But while these new roads defied the reign of Route 66 and as the author of the Route 66 Adventure Manual points out, it seemed for a time that the famous highway was fading into oblivion, thankfully, travelers finally recognized the unique qualities. of this famous route. and now it’s enjoying a resurgence.
Now in its fifth edition, the Route 66 Adventure Manual is divided into chapters by state, running southwest from Illinois to California. Each chapter includes a multitude of attractions, many more than I have seen in other travel books. And many of these attractions are places that other books overlook, places that are as unique as Cadillac Ranch where the “art” of the car shows partially buried real Cadillacs “… said to be set at the same angle as the sides of the Great Pyramids of Egypt “. (p. 290) In addition, each chapter also includes a section “Further afield” where you can find attractions, within walking distance of the famous route.
The Route 66 Adventure Manual is written in an easy to read / follow style and the layout is easy on the eye, making this book perfect to read and refer to over and over again. There is so much to choose from for your road trip visits within its pages that you’ll want to start looking through the book long before your trip begins. My first pick from the plethora of attractions in this book has to be “Big Brutus” – a giant, and I mean GIANT! (“second largest ever built”) – motorized shovel in West Mineral, KS. A photograph of Brutus shows a car parked next to it, giving you a good idea of how big Brutus is. And I must mention all the photographs because this book is full of them; almost all the attractions mentioned are accompanied by a good and clear photo. To make it even easier to find, below each photo is the attraction’s GPS location. If you are planning a trip to explore Route 66, be it a quick getaway along part of the highway or an adventure enjoying the entire 2,000+ mile route, be sure to bring the Route 66 Adventure Manual with you to win Don’t miss a single attraction on this famous road.
Quill says: John Steinbeck called Route 66 “The Mother Road” in The Grapes of Wrath, and for good reason. Now with the Route 66 Adventure Manual, you can explore this fantastic stretch of asphalt and enjoy all the unique gems it has to offer – gems that others without the manual may miss. Get the book, get in your car and start driving!
