Yesterday we finished our leg of the journey that took us on Route 66 and I thought I would reflect for a minute. I really enjoyed driving the road. It was much better than the interstate for me.

The part we took was from Albuquerque to Barstow. I know it was only a short part of it, but it felt like an experience all the same. Much of it followed I-40 as a frontage road or as I-40, but through towns and for other stretches it was a road all to itself.

To follow it we found a few sets of instructions on the internet and chose the one we thought was easiest to follow. Although it was only a few years old many of the landmarks it mentioned as being still open were closed. One hotel had a sign outside proudly proclaiming 70 years of service while it’s windows were boarded up.

For most of the road we were the only car on Route 66. When we were going through towns it was pretty empty, except for some of the bigger towns like Flagstaff. We could just stop in the middle of the road and not worry about any traffic. To me that was really nice. Very different than what I am used to.

Just being on the road made driving feel very different. Because of the isolation I was very observant. There were many little things to look at along the way: ma and pa hotels, farm animals, abandoned businesses, Route 66 memorabilia stores, the emptiness of the desert, and the list goes on. It was very easy to pass the time, and I was not just counting the miles until the next town; which is what I usually do on the interstate.

The bad part about that is I can understand why a state wouldn’t want to budget to keep the road up. If no one drives it why spend the money. If every one drove it there wouldn’t be the same experience of seeing different parts of America and being able to stop anytime you see something that peeks your interest.

I would definitely recommend driving a long stretch while it is still around. In California almost all of it not connected to the interstate, but judging from the condition of the road I don’t know for how much longer. Taking 66 has made me feel I will try and take smaller roads to get from one place to another. It does take a little longer, but it was much more pleasurable than the emptiness of the interstate.

Sally, one of the characters said something like, “People used to drive these roads to have a good time, not to make good time.” Honestly, that stuck with me. I want to take a slow ride across the country. I want the whole family to see the sights. Furthermore, I want us to stop at little restaurants that aren’t part of national chains.

Recently, I’ve been thinking that if we see a field of flowers like the ones I’ve seen in the movies, we’re going to pullover and lay in it. I’ve never done that before.

When we reach California, we’re going to fly to Hawaii to see a volcano. It seems like a great symbol of our journey. These feelings of dissatisfaction with the status quo have finally bubbled up to the service and now we are creating a new life. Just like the lava bubbles up creates new islands in the Pacific.

CM and I had the bright idea to paint every wall in our apartment, so we have to give ourselves about a week and a half to repaint the walls. It’s really important to us that we get our deposit back so we have to repaint.

Our lease is up on June 30th, so everything must be out by then. That week we are driving down to Georgia to park our Honda Odyssey in my dad’s garage. We plan to spend July camping at various New York state parks and getting used to RV living.

THEN….(drumroll)….we’re taking Route 66 all the way to California!!! Then we’re going to fly from California to Hawaii. While we’re in Hawaii we are going to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park where we will see an active volcano!

After all of that excitement we’ll probably take the highway back to New York and start planning our next expedition.

Have any of you ever been on Route 66? I haven’t, and I would love to know which places I should avoid, and which places are “must-see”. So if you have the time, please fill me in!