Route 66

Route 66- 100 Years of Hardship & Hope

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If you’re itching to hit the pavement this summer, there’s perhaps no better year to take a spin on Route 66. In honor of the iconic highway turning 100, cities and towns across the U.S. are celebrating throughout 2026, with official national events kicking off this week.

Road trippers coasting along the famed thoroughfare won’t be bored: Route 66 boasts more than 250 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including diners, bridges, and historic hotels. But a century ago, it was just a patchwork of local, state, and national roadways made largely from materials like dirt, gravel, and bricks. Only 800 of its initial 2,448 miles were paved — it would take another 12 years to complete the rest.

However, the route, also known as the Mother Road, was groundbreaking for its time. Its primary predecessor, the Lincoln Highway, opened the door to cross-country travel, but mostly for wealthy folks who could afford the pricey vehicles of the 1910s. Route 66’s debut coincided with the automobile boom of the 1920s, which helped lower the cost of long-distance trips and enabled more drivers to get on the road.

When it received its official designation in the summer of 1926, the U.S. 66 Highway Association described it as “the shortest, best, and most scenic route from Chicago through St. Louis to Los Angeles,” per the National Park Service. It also served as a lifeline for residents in rural communities. In the eight states it passes through — Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California — it increased traffic to small towns, which helped boost population growth and economic development across the West.

In the ’30s, Route 66 became a saving grace for those looking to migrate westward and escape the Dust Bowl in the south-central U.S. This plight was famously documented in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.

“Highway 66 is the main migrant road,” he wrote, adding, “66 is the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land.”

During World War II, particularly after western states were identified as ideal locations for military training bases, the country relied on the highway to transport troops and defense supplies. And after the war was over, Route 66 experienced a tourism boom — inspiring the lyric “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” by jazz musician Bobby Troup.

 

And for those of us over a certain age, who can forget Martin Milner and George Maharis as two young adventurers who drove the road in their Chevrolet Corvette on Friday nights from 1960-1964. Despite the name of the series, most episodes did NOT take place on the historic road, but in 25 different U.S. states, all on location. TV viewers were treated to episodes filmed in Carson City, Los Angeles, Toronto, Santa Fe, Reno, Tucson, Dallas and many more locales.

For the first time, Americans were beginning to think about automotive travel on a mass basis. This is a period when Americans had vacations, thanks to the boom in manufacturing and unionization drives that helped people earn a decent salary. And they wanted to drive west in their new car on their vacation.

Many of the highway’s now-nostalgic rest stops thrived during the ’40s and ’50s — think diners, gas stations, and convenient accommodation such as motels, auto camps, and motor courts. But 1956 marked the beginning of the end of Route 66’s glory days. The Federal-Aid Highway Act sparked the creation of nationwide interstate highways, which provided faster ways to cut across the U.S. but were often located away from small towns. By 1985, The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials voted to remove Route 66’s highway signs, and it was officially decommissioned. recognizing its historical and cultural significance, the U.S.

Congress passed the Route 66 Study Act in 1990, leading to the National Park Service’s Route 66 Special Resource Study U.S. National Park Service. This effort resulted in the creation of the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, aimed at preserving significant structures, features, and artifacts associated with the highway U.S. National Park Service. Today, surviving stretches, museums, and roadside attractions continue to celebrate Route 66 as a symbol of Americana and the nation’s automotive heritage

Last week, the centennial’s official kickoff event featured the National Route 66 Centennial Telegraph Ball, a concert, and a parade in Springfield, Missouri — and the nationwide festivities will include everything from an auto show to a “light capsule.”

Route 66 remains a testament to the evolution of American transportation, the rise of automobile culture, and the enduring allure of the open road. Its legacy continues to inspire travelers and historians alike, reflecting both the economic and cultural transformations of the 20th century.

Happy 100th Birthday, Route 66!

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Get Your Kicks on Route 66 – AZ Style

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I’m sure some of us here remember the song that line is from or the TV show from the 1960s of the same name. Well, the longest remaining stretch of that famous (or perhaps infamous) route John Stienbeck once called the “Mother Road” can be found in my home state of Arizona. There are fascinating and entertaining stops along the way for those who like viewing impressive scenery while driving a piece of living history. One of my favorite places to visit is a former mining town located northwest of Lake Havasu in the Black Mountains called Oatman.

Beginning as a small mining camp in the early 1860s when two prospectors struck it rich by finding $2 million in gold. Over the years, Oatman’s population waxed and waned as gold petered out only to be rediscovered. The town was named after Olive Oatman who was abducted by Indians as a young girl and later adopted by the Mohaves. During her years in captivity, and prior to her eventual release at Fort Yuma in 1856, her face was tattooed in the tradition of the Mohave people. Her story became well known, being chronicled in newspapers and books. In addition to having the town named after her and gaining national recognition, Olive was also the inspiration for the character Eva on the television show Hell on Wheels.

The last “gold rush” in Oatman was around 1915 and ended a few years later. These days, Oatman is a popular stop on Route 66 for tourists and adventure seekers and boasts an authentic western atmosphere with its saloons, mining tours, wooden boardwalks, tourist shops, old-timey photographers, and staged shootouts. The  Oatman hotel on the main drag includes a second floor museum which includes the Clark Gable/Carole Lombard honeymoon suite where the couple stayed after their Kingman wedding in 1939. People pinning one-dollar bills on the hotel’s saloon walls is a tradition that has continued for decades.

However, one of Oatman’s biggest claims to fame is the wild burros that have free roaming rights in the town and surrounding desert. These cute little critters are direct descendants of the donkeys used by the original miners in the late 1800s to prospect and pull ore carts. Over the years, the donkeys have become used to tourists and very friendly, thanks to “burro chow” which used to be sold at local shops until the practice was discouraged by the Bureau of Land Management. So far, this reduction in treats hasn’t stopped the burros from coming to Oatman on a daily basis. And, really, they are a big tourist draw, contributing to the town’s economy.

So, if you find yourself traveling Route 66 and looking for a great place to stop for a great western-themed day trip, check out Oatman, Arizona. And when you do, give the burros a scratch between the ears for m

Cover Reveal!

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You may recall a while back, I wrote a post about Historic Route 66. I was researching it for what I call my, ‘Grandma Road-Trip Story’. A Women’s Fiction, set in the west. Well, I finished, and it’s becoming a real book!

I just got this beautiful cover from my publisher the other day!

 

Here’s the blurb:

Jacqueline Oliver is an indie perfumer, trying to bury her ravaged childhood by shoveling ground under her own feet. Then she gets a call she dreads—the hippie grandmother she bitterly resents was apprehended when police busted a charlatan shaman’s sweat lodge. Others scattered, but Nellie was slowed by her walker, and the fact that she was wearing nothing but a few Mardi-Gras beads. Jacqueline is her only kin, so like it or not, she’s responsible.

Despite being late developing next year’s scent, she drops everything to travel to Arizona and pick up her free-range grandma. But the Universe conspires to set them on a Route 66 road trip together. What Jacqueline discovers out there could not only heal the scars of her childhood but open her to a brighter future.

And on my vacation fly fishing in Colorado, I did a clip of me reading the first pages:

I wish I could tell you it was available for sale, but it isn’t yet (dang it!). But know that when it is, you’ll hear me shouting it from the rooftops!

Touring the American Old West

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Dear readers

I invite you to come along as I share my travels through the American old west. I’m thrilled to be one of the new fillies here at Petticoats & Pistols and I can’t wait to share my love of the Old West with you.

About me: Along with writing contemporary western romances I also write contemporary romantic women’s fiction.  You’ll find that all of my books are set in small towns and usually include a few quirky characters. My stories incorporate the themes of home, family and redemption. This September I will publish my 40th project for Harlequin Books and my current series is called, Cowboys of Stampede, Texas. I also write small-town romances for Tule Publishing’s Montana Born line and Sweet Home Cowboy is my latest release.

 

 

 

 

 

And I’m a member of the Tall Poppy Writers. You  can find out more about my small-town romantic women’s fiction novels as well as my western books on my Website.

 

If you follow me on social media then you know I love junk. My friends call me vintage Marin because I love flea markets so much. If you haven’t heard of Junk in the Trunk you should check it out!

I don’t know why, but I’ve always been comfortable around old stuff. I find ideas for my stories and characters when I browse through people’s castoffs. My love of antiques goes right along with my love of history and the old west. One of my hobbies is researching ghost tours and haunted old west towns. Sadly I’ve never experienced an encounter with a ghost but I love taking tours that share the history of the haunted locations.  Hubby and I currently live in Phoenix and we’re recent empty nesters so we’re using our newfound freedom to travel the beautiful Grande Canyon State.

This past July my husband and I ventured out on Route 66 in northern Arizona. You can find all of my travel photos on my Instagram page.

 

Winslow, Arizona

Route 66 Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona has been on my bucket list for years.

For those of you who are confused this video Take it Easy by the Eagles band will explain it and reveal my age, lol!

Drift Inn Saloon

After Winslow we got off Route 66 and stopped at the copper mining town of Globe, Arizona and had lunch at the haunted Drift Inn Saloon—one of oldest continuously operating saloons in the state, opening its doors in 1902. The Drift Inn Saloon has been named one of the top five biker-destination bars in the state by the Arizona Republic newspaper and one of the “Magnificent 7” saloons by Arizona Highways Magazine. The second floor was originally opened as a boarding house for miners then turned into a brothel a few years later.

  

The bar is a living icon of the Old West, with its original tin ceiling. A Frank Olsen mural of Monument Valley is painted along one wall and hanging above the image are vintage portraits of soiled doves, which pay homage to the ladies who once worked in the brothel above the bar.

When I learned the bartender Eileen, was one of the owners of the bar, I bombarded her with questions about the history of the building. She and her partner had lived on the second floor for several years while they renovated the bar. She claimed the building was haunted and then asked if I’d like to go upstairs and look around. Of course I said YES!

Eileen told stories about the building that the local old-timers had shared with her after she bought the place. Several mediums have walked through the building and confirmed that spirits inhabit the premises. One of the rooms is said to be full of trapped souls unable to escape. And room 18 is said to be a very dark, evil room. A young woman stands in the shower and watches people in the bathroom. And of course there’s the nasty spirit of a man who wanders the upstairs. The medium couldn’t tell the owners for sure who he was but they believe he may be either Joseph Ludwig, a local miner who was murdered in one of the upstairs rooms in 1906 or the man who murdered him.

 

As a writer we romanticize cowboys and the old west in our stories… because who wants to read about smelly, bowlegged men who bathe once a month and are missing half their teeth? But that afternoon in Globe as I walked past the twenty-five rooms on the second floor of the Drift Inn Saloon, I had to acknowledge that life in the old west could be cruel, harsh and deadly.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my experience at the Drift Inn Saloon. I can’t wait to share with you the other Route66 places and towns in Arizona. And since this is my first blog as an official P&P filly, let’s do a giveaway!

 *Giveaway*

 

Tell me if you’ve ever had a paranormal experience or taken a ghost tour and your name will be entered into a drawing to receive a digital copy of my sweet western novella, The Bull Rider’s Pledge. I’ll reveal the winner’s name in the comment section of this blog post on Saturday August 12th.

Until next time…Happy Trails!

 

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P.S. Don’t forget to enter the giant birthday bash giveaway (separate from this daily giveaway). You can find all the details along with the entry form HERE.

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