Route 66 and the Arctic circle

Despite having travelled a fair amount in my 20s (Europe, Mexico,
Japan, Australia, New Zealand, North America (mostly the coasts
multiple times), I never went anywhere more exotic (Africa, China,
India) and never took the one road trip i always wanted to take,
though it may be
overrated.

For pure Americana and retro classic kitsch, I'd a loved to drive
down
Route 66. Is it in that much disrepair now ?

"Oklahoma City, down through Missouri......get hip to this kind of
trip, and gonna take the highway that's the best..." Burma Shave.


Hell, I've also never seen the mythical Canadian Arctic hinterland. My
old geologist friend used to tell me it was stunningly beautiful and
grand up there.

I'd a loved to drive down Route 66.
Is it in that much disrepair now ?

U.S. Route 66 originally ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. Its
popularity declined when the interstate highway system was built and
drivers switched to the newer highways.

In 1985 it was officially removed from the national highway system, so
there is no longer a highway called "U.S. Route 66", and many sections
of the road don't even exist anymore. But portions of the old highway
are still there and in some cases states have named these "Historic
Route 66" or "State Route 66".

If you do a Google you'll find several web sites devoted to describing
the route in detail, and also if you search the archives of this
newsgroup you'll find some older posts describing it.

"PB" wrote in message
...
Despite having travelled a fair amount in my 20s (Europe, Mexico,
Japan, Australia, New Zealand, North America (mostly the coasts
multiple times), I never went anywhere more exotic (Africa, China,
India) and never took the one road trip i always wanted to take,
though it may be
overrated.

For pure Americana and retro classic kitsch, I'd a loved to drive
down
Route 66. Is it in that much disrepair now ?


Much of it is either gone or nothing more than the frontage road for
the Interstate, its still worth doing IMHO


"Oklahoma City, down through Missouri......get hip to this kind of
trip, and gonna take the highway that's the best..." Burma Shave.


The section through Missouri and Oklahoma is amongst the best
preserved , many Okies still use 66 to avoid the freeway tolls


Hell, I've also never seen the mythical Canadian Arctic hinterland. My
old geologist friend used to tell me it was stunningly beautiful and
grand up there.


Well I've driven both 66 and the Alaskan highway with a side trip to
Dawson City in the Yukon. The Alcan takes you through absolutely
splendid scenery. Both are highly recommended.

Keith

On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 08:32:57 -0000, "Keith Willshaw"
wrote:


"PB" wrote in message
...
Despite having travelled a fair amount in my 20s (Europe, Mexico,
Japan, Australia, New Zealand, North America (mostly the coasts
multiple times), I never went anywhere more exotic (Africa, China,
India) and never took the one road trip i always wanted to take,
though it may be
overrated.

For pure Americana and retro classic kitsch, I'd a loved to drive
down Route 66. Is it in that much disrepair now ?


Much of it is either gone or nothing more than the frontage road for
the Interstate, its still worth doing IMHO

"Oklahoma City, down through Missouri......get hip to this kind of
trip, and gonna take the highway that's the best..." Burma Shave.


The section through Missouri and Oklahoma is amongst the best
preserved , many Okies still use 66 to avoid the freeway tolls

In Arizona a western stretch of US 66 survives as a long bend now
marked AZ 66, beginning near Ashfork and ending at Kingman. From
Kingman there is still a short chunk going southwest toward the
Colorado River. Follow West Old 66 out of Kinman through Oatman
and on to Topock on the river.

In California a long bend to the south through Amboy still exists
called either the National Trails Highway or Historic 66. This is
your really raw desert drive.

These are both old two-lanes which the Interstate bypassed some
distance away.

Be sure to look at http://www.historic66.com/

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

Hatunen wrote:
...
In California a long bend to the south through Amboy still exists
called either the National Trails Highway or Historic 66. This is
your really raw desert drive.

I have some photos of that deserted section that I happily discovered by
accident driving from Vegas to Joshua Tree Park. The isolation on that
part of the road is almost scary - we hardly saw any other traffic for
miles. http://tinyurl.com/dx3lvu


--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sawyer Nicknames - http://sawyer.xtreemhost.com/
Seinfeld Lists - http://seinfeld.xtreemhost.com/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

P.B.:
I'd a loved to drive down Route 66.
Is it in that much disrepair now ?

James Step:
U.S. Route 66 originally ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. Its
popularity declined when the interstate highway system was built and
drivers switched to the newer highways.

Specifically, US 66 was superseded by I-55 as far as St. Louis,
I-44 from there to Oklahoma City, and I-40 the rest of the way.

In 1985 it was officially removed from the national highway system, so
there is no longer a highway called "U.S. Route 66", and many sections
of the road don't even exist anymore.

In some cases that's because the Interstate was not a separate new road
but an upgrading of the existing road. Before 1985 you would have the
same road signposted as US 66 and as an Interstate. Of course this
meant it lost its former character.

But portions of the old highway are still there and in some cases
states have named these "Historic Route 66" or "State Route 66".

Indeed.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Where is down special?" ... "Good."
| "Do you refuse to answer my question?" "Don't know."

My text in this article is in the public domain.

P.B.:
Hell, I've also never seen the mythical Canadian Arctic hinterland.
My old geologist friend used to tell me it was stunningly beautiful
and grand up there.

Keith Willshaw:
Well I've driven both 66 and the Alaskan highway with a side trip to
Dawson City in the Yukon. The Alcan takes you through absolutely
splendid scenery. Both are highly recommended.

("Alcan" is the old name for the Alaska highway.)

P.B., your article body said "Arctic hinterland", but your subject
line referred to the Arctic Circle. The boundary between the western
provinces and the Arctic territories is at latitude 60 degrees and
almost all the roads in the territories are south of that. If you
literally want to drive across the Arctic Circle, the only way to
do it in North America is to use the Dempster Highway, which is 450
miles of unpaved road leading from near Dawson City north to Inuvik
(the Arctic Circle crosses it near the middle of that distance).

If you'd prefer an *easy* drive across the Arctic Circle, the place
of choice is Scandinavia. I haven't been to the Canadian north,
but I have driven Norway lengthwise as far north as latitude 70,
and I love the place.
--
Mark Brader "It's okay to have our own language if we feel
Toronto we need it, but why does it have to be used
as a nose to look down?" -- Becky Slocombe

My text in this article is in the public domain.

In article ,
PB wrote:
Despite having travelled a fair amount in my 20s (Europe, Mexico,
Japan, Australia, New Zealand, North America (mostly the coasts
multiple times), I never went anywhere more exotic (Africa, China,
India) and never took the one road trip i always wanted to take,
though it may be overrated.

For pure Americana and retro classic kitsch, I'd a loved to drive
down Route 66. Is it in that much disrepair now ?

Well drive into Winslow just East of the Meteor Crater (give it some
thought and ralize why that hole in the ground is there). See the
painting on the side of a building and the Jackson Browne statue. I had
a summer student once who absolutely insisted on having his picture
taken standing next to the Winslow city limits (not near any corner)
acting as if he were hitch-hiking.

I prefer the Hotel California song better myself.

Oh yes, don't forget the painting of the girl in the flatbed Ford.

It will mean more to you if you were able to see the TV show, learn all
the songs. And much harder: read the various books about the road.

Hell, I've also never seen the mythical Canadian Arctic hinterland. My
old geologist friend used to tell me it was stunningly beautiful and
grand up there.

I crossed the Circle 4 times last year. You can't tell much difference.
It's an excuse to perform crossing cerimonies (so a German woman gave
herself an excuse to pour some ice cubes down my back on my 3rd
crossing on the Hurtigruten, she got them from "Neptune/Posidan").

A snowy day might be particularly beautiful.
Winter/dark (Feb.) would be awesome with a bright aurora (one does not
have to be at the Circle for that). Would be rather cold at the time.
It's usually mostly flat tundra or ocean. A sign or a monument might
add context, but it's typically hardly distinguishable.

--

Looking for an H-912 (container).

"Mark Brader" wrote in message
...
P.B.:
Hell, I've also never seen the mythical Canadian Arctic hinterland.
My old geologist friend used to tell me it was stunningly beautiful
and grand up there.

Keith Willshaw:
Well I've driven both 66 and the Alaskan highway with a side trip to
Dawson City in the Yukon. The Alcan takes you through absolutely
splendid scenery. Both are highly recommended.

("Alcan" is the old name for the Alaska highway.)

P.B., your article body said "Arctic hinterland", but your subject
line referred to the Arctic Circle. The boundary between the western
provinces and the Arctic territories is at latitude 60 degrees and
almost all the roads in the territories are south of that. If you

ALL the Canadian territories (Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut) are NORTH of 60
degrees North lat.. All of the Alaska highway in the Yukon territory is
therefore NORTH of 60. Ditto for the Dempster which crosses the Arctic
circle (approx. 66 deg. la.).


literally want to drive across the Arctic Circle, the only way to
do it in North America is to use the Dempster Highway, which is 450
miles of unpaved road leading from near Dawson City north to Inuvik
(the Arctic Circle crosses it near the middle of that distance).

If you'd prefer an *easy* drive across the Arctic Circle, the place
of choice is Scandinavia. I haven't been to the Canadian north,
but I have driven Norway lengthwise as far north as latitude 70,
and I love the place.
--
Mark Brader "It's okay to have our own language if we feel
Toronto we need it, but why does it have to be used
as a nose to look down?" -- Becky Slocombe

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Mark Brader:
P.B., your article body said "Arctic hinterland", but your subject
line referred to the Arctic Circle. The boundary between the western
provinces and the Arctic territories is at latitude 60 degrees and
almost all the roads in the territories are south of that. If you

ALL the Canadian territories (Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut) are NORTH of 60
degrees North lat.. ...

Sorry, slip of the tongue. I meant "are south of the Arctic Circle" or
"are between that latitude and the Arctic Circle".
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Don't let it drive you crazy...
| Leave the driving to us!" --Wayne & Shuster