Route 66

Thinking of travelling from Australia to US for the first time and doing
(most of what's left of) the old route 66 travelling from west to east, then
from Chigaco to NYC then back home.
Does this sound like it's feasible and doable? What sort of cost would be
involved for a budget trip staying at motels and alike. Would 2-3 weeks be
enough time, buy or hire a car etc. Any good web sites. How about trying to
find a like-minded travelling companion (for travel ONLY).
Steve W (in Aus)

The actual drive time would probably be about 7 days, driving at a
reasonable speed, stopping for meals and gas, and stopping at motels for the
evening. Add time for seeing all the great sites along the way and you
could take up the three weeks, easily. Budget motels are available all
along the route--figure about $60US average for lodging.

Meals could be anything from picnic, to fast food, and up. You have to
decide on the budget for that.

Buying a car would mean fooling with registration, insurance, etc. Rent
one--it's easier!

Google "Route 66" for loads of information!

BTW, there's not a lot left of the old Route 66 but a lot of places along
the route have made the effort to keep the memory, if not the old road,
alive.

Gary
Visit Lucy & Gary and do the jigsaw puzzle at
www.under-1-roof.com/PuzzlePage.html




"Steve/Aus" wrote in message
...
Thinking of travelling from Australia to US for the first time and doing
(most of what's left of) the old route 66 travelling from west to east,
then from Chigaco to NYC then back home.
Does this sound like it's feasible and doable? What sort of cost would be
involved for a budget trip staying at motels and alike. Would 2-3 weeks be
enough time, buy or hire a car etc. Any good web sites. How about trying
to find a like-minded travelling companion (for travel ONLY).
Steve W (in Aus)

"Steve/Aus" wrote in message
...
Thinking of travelling from Australia to US for the first time and doing
(most of what's left of) the old route 66 travelling from west to east,
then from Chigaco to NYC then back home.
Does this sound like it's feasible and doable?

Sure, I did much the same thing back in 2000 but in the opposite
direction.

When arranging flights ask for an open jaw ticket that allows
you to fly in to LA and return from NYC

What sort of cost would be involved for a budget trip staying at motels
and alike.

Allow around $150 per day + gas and you wont go far wrong.
Small country motels will be a lot cheaper but big cities
and the tourist areas such as the Grand Canyon may be more.

That will reduce a lot if you are sharing a room of course.

Would 2-3 weeks be enough time, buy or hire a car etc. Any good web sites.

3 weeks is better as it would allow time for side trips to attractions
along the way such as the Grand Canyon, Utah National parks etc.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Route_66
http://www.historic66.com/

I also recommend buying the following guide book
Route 66: Traveler's Guide and Roadside Companion (Paperback)
by Tom Snyder

It has lots of detailed information including turn by turn strip maps.

One thing to beware of is car rental costs.

Prices quoted on US web sites typically don't include more
than minimal insurance as most US renters are covered by their
domestic car insurance. You can buy insurance at the desk but
the prices are exorbitant. You can usually get a better deal
arranging rental in advance through a travellagent. Alternatively
you can get insurance along with your travel cover through some
agents (mine came from AMEX)

The other nast surprise can be a 'one way' or 'drop off charge'
When I rented a car the charges varied from $0 - with a
higher daily rate to $2000.

The deal I got in the end from National was a lower daily rate but
a $500 drop off fee. Shop around

Keith

On Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:40:16 -0500, "GV"
wrote:

BTW, there's not a lot left of the old Route 66 but a lot of places along
the route have made the effort to keep the memory, if not the old road,
alive.

There are still substantial parts of US-66 that are more or less
as they once were in California and Arizona.

In California, traveling east on I-40, the National Trails
Highway starts just east of Ludlow, and swings south through
Bagdad and Amboy, then back up to I-40; this used to be US-66.
This is a pretty godforsaken bit of desert and will certainly
give you a taste of what erly travelers faced. Services are
probably pretty few and far between, so be prepared (it's been
years since I traveled it).

Just across the Colorado River in Arizona turn north on AZ-95,
then take the road to Oatman, and then on to Kingman. This is
also a bypassed piece of US-66. Oatman, an old mining town, is
quite colorful and something of a tourist destination in its own
right.

Then from Kingman follow AZ-66, which is the old route US-66. it
rejoins I-40 further east.



--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Thinking of travelling from Australia to US for the first time...
the old route 66 travelling from west to east, then
from Chigaco to NYC then back home.

Steve, since this is your first trip to the U.S. from Australia, be
aware that from roughly December through March you might encounter
very cold and snowy conditions in some of the areas you'd be passing
through, especially at higher altitudes in the west, and on the
Chicago to New York drive.

James

"JamesStep" wrote in message
...

Steve, since this is your first trip to the U.S. from Australia, be
aware that from roughly December through March you might encounter
very cold and snowy conditions in some of the areas you'd be passing
through, especially at higher altitudes in the west, and on the
Chicago to New York drive.

James

Fantastic, you have all been very helpful and made me even more determined
to do this trip.

I am aware of the cold weather and intend to travel in August/September to
avoid it. Living in South Australia, I am also aware of long distance
travel, particularly in desert areas. I have just come back from travelling
the Oodnattta track, Birdsville track and the Strzelecki track, all unsealed
roads.

I like road travel and driving. I also have a preference for diesel powered
vehicles over petrol (gasoline).

I've got several months to do my homework and get myself organized.

Steve W (in Aus)

Fantastic, you have all been very helpful and made me even more determined
to do this trip.

About the only thing you can do wrong is fail to allow enough time,
including some time to get *off* Route 66 proper and see some of the
nearby attractions and countryside. Some of our most famous natural
and manmade wonders are just off 66 or within a day's detour at
most.


I am aware of the cold weather and intend to travel in August/September to
avoid it.

Fortunately you are also accustomed to hot weather, which you will
find a-plenty across most of your route, especially the Mojave
Desert. Consider whether September/October would do (note also that
you'll avoid the crowds of Labor Day weekend, a holiday in early
September that is traditionally the last hurrah of summer and has a
lot of car travelers).

Living in South Australia, I am also aware of *long distance
travel, particularly in desert areas. I have just come back from travelling
the Oodnattta track, Birdsville track and the Strzelecki track, all unsealed
roads.

My impression is that towns in the open spaces of the western US are
about twice as close together as in the Outback. The road atlas and
highway signs will usually warn you when the next one is more than 70
or 80 miles away. This is much less than the range of most cars, of
course, so getting stranded usually stems from failure to monitor the
fuel gauge. (The cost of gassing-up in a small town in the middle of
nowhere is lesson enough!)


I like road travel and driving. I also have a preference for diesel powered
vehicles over petrol (gasoline).

Alas, diesels haven't made much inroads into the rental car market in
the States, and represent only a small fraction of privately owned
passenger cars. They are found mostly in the largest pickup trucks
(utes to you) and commercial vehicles. Manual transmissions are not
common in our rental cars either.

Right now gas costs about US $2.50 per gallon across much of your
trip, but you can expect something closer to $3 in California and $4
at places in the desert where (a) their logistics costs are high and
(b) they know they've got a captive audience. (Of course, world
affairs could send them upwards considerably in a year's time.)
It's pretty easy to find a rental car that gets about 30 mpg highway
if you don't drive like a nut.

Motel rooms across most of the trip (obviously not in the biggest
cities) will cost $40-50 a night and can usually be gotten on a drop-
in basis to add spontaneity to your itinerary, though most also give
reservations.

Speaking of which, something to consider when choosing each night's
motel or hotel is whether is part of any frequent-flyer programs
you're in. It's a minor factor in choosing a car rental company,
since they usually give you a certain number of miles per rental
regardless of the length of the trip, but hotels and motels scale in
the same fashion, by the transaction rather than the night or the
cost, so this could really add up to a nice bonus for you.

As for Route 66 itself, other sources can inform you much better than
I about most of these things. Just let me alert you to an unusual
possibility in New Mexico: driving *older* alignments of 66. At
one time (pre-1938; think "Grapes of Wrath" era) it went through
Albuquerque south to north and thence up to Santa Fe. See for
instance
http://www.rt66nm.org/MAPS/historicalmap.html
Of course, you'll also want to drive Central Avenue west to east *in*
Albuquerque, and see 66 as a bustling street that is part of the
culture and commerce of a large city (with both preserved and neo-
retro Americana en route).

Enjoy your trip,
--Joe

Fantastic, you have all been very helpful and made me even more
determined to do this trip.

About the only thing you can do wrong is fail to allow enough time,

Yep. The original posting said 2-3 weeks. That's doable, but there's
plenty more to see if you can take more time over it.

including some time to get *off* Route 66 proper and see some of the
nearby attractions and countryside. Some of our most famous natural
and manmade wonders are just off 66 or within a day's detour at
most.

If the mystique of the old Route 66 across Arizona and New Mexico is
what appeals to you most, fine, but for scenery I'd actually recommend
a route farther north, traversing at least part of Utah and across the
middle of Colorado until you're out of the Rocky Mountains.

Right now gas costs about US $2.50 per gallon across much of your
trip ... It's pretty easy to find a rental car that gets about
30 mpg highway if you don't drive like a nut.

He's talking about US gallons, which are about 5/6 of the Imperial
gallons that you'll be used to if you're not a fully metric person.
$2.50 per US gallon would be 66 cents per liter, and 30 miles per US
gallon is 12.75 kilometers per liter or 7.85 liters per 100 kilometers.

Motel rooms across most of the trip (obviously not in the biggest
cities) will cost $40-50 a night and can usually be gotten on a drop-
in basis to add spontaneity to your itinerary, though most also give
reservations.

Personally I'd prefer to opt for a higher price category than that.
In that part of the country I usually like to stay in Comfort Inns
(part of the Choice group) or Best Westerns. Of course there are many
other chains and many motels with no chain affiliation.
--
Mark Brader | "I realised... at the traditional time --
Toronto | just after clicking on Send."
| --Peter Duncanson

My text in this article is in the public domain.

On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:14:19 -0700, Ad absurdum per aspera wrote:

Fantastic, you have all been very helpful and made me even more
determined to do this trip.

About the only thing you can do wrong is fail to allow enough time,
including some time to get *off* Route 66 proper and see some of the
nearby attractions and countryside. Some of our most famous natural
and manmade wonders are just off 66 or within a day's detour at most.

I agree. Allow more time for unplanned side trips and other
contingencies. Instead of the original 2 to 3 weeks the OP allowed, I'd
say 3 to 4. Better to have more time than not enough.

I am aware of the cold weather and intend to travel in August/September
to avoid it.

Fortunately you are also accustomed to hot weather, which you will find
a-plenty across most of your route, especially the Mojave Desert.
Consider whether September/October would do (note also that you'll avoid
the crowds of Labor Day weekend, a holiday in early September that is
traditionally the last hurrah of summer and has a lot of car travelers).

Picking the optimum time to travel is more dependent on starting and
ending points, if "pleasant" weather is wanted. Having toured the US
several times--northern, southern, extreme southern, and central routes,
plus the east and west coasts--and based on the OP's LA to NYC route,
August/September is not the best time. August is the hottest summer
month and the peak of the summer vacation season. Prices for everything
will be higher. And by September Chicago and the route to NYC is already
getting wintery. Early September snow fall there is not unusual.

I recommend mid to late April to late May for such a trip. Weather will
be mostly optimum. Heat won't be a problem in the desert Southwest.
Chicago, NYC and that area are very nice in May. Also, the kids are
still in school. The summer vacation season hasn't begun. So motel and
hotel rates are lower. Gasoline prices traditionally tend to be lower at
that time. And there's less traffic.


Stef

I am aware of the cold weather and intend to travel in August/September
to avoid it.

Consider whether September/October would do ...

I recommend mid to late April to late May for such a trip.

Note also that the farther you get from the summer equinox, which is about
June 21, the less daylight you get each day. And the farther you get from
the equator, the greater that effect is. In other words, if you travel at
the end of September, you'll have less opportunity each day to see scenery
by daylight than you would in either August or late April.

The web page http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php will
compute sunrise and sunset times in local time for many locations in
the US, for the date of your choice, so you can try some examples and
see if this is a concern for you. (It does other places in the world
too, but you have to know the latitude, longitude, and time zone.)
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | Bad news disturbs his game; so does good; so
| also does the absence of news. --Stephen Leacock

My text in this article is in the public domain.