Route 66, anyone?

[dayoff53]

I love driving the old US Highway system - off the freeways and through all the little towns that once thrived along the highway and are now declining as the freeway traffic buzzes by, oblivious to the history and beauty of the old highways. Route 66 symbolizes the by-gone era of highways that went to and through, instead of around, the communities of small-town America. It has been a dream of mine to travel all, or at least a large portion, of the old Route 66 sometime. Now, it occurs to me that it might be a fun thing to do as a Toy-In. I'm envisioning a trip on the old Route 66 from it's beginning in Chicago to it's end in Los Angeles, with people doing as much of it as they want, joining and leaving the parade along the way. Or, perhaps, several groups starting at different points along the route at the same time so that we collectively cover the whole Route 66 in just a few days of travel each. I think this would be an interesting and fun trip. I also kind of like the irony of a bunch of homes on Japanese-built trucks traveling the quintessentially American Route 66.

This is not something I envision doing in the immediate future - for me, it is two or three years in the future, perhaps more. I just want to see if there are others who see merit in the general idea. In my fantasies, there will be a groundswell of excitement building over time, so that eventually we have a parade of hundreds, maybe thousands, of Toyhomes America's main street, the Mother Road, historic Route 66. Who's with me?

[Vanman]

'dayoff53' I love driving the old US Highway system - off the freeways and through all the little towns that once thrived along the highway and are now declining as the freeway traffic buzzes by, oblivious to the history and beauty of the old highways. Route 66 symbolizes the by-gone era of highways that went to and through, instead of around, the communities of small-town America. It has been a dream of mine to travel all, or at least a large portion, of the old Route 66 sometime. Now, it occurs to me that it might be a fun thing to do as a Toy-In. I'm envisioning a trip on the old Route 66 from it's beginning in Chicago to it's end in Los Angeles, with people doing as much of it as they want, joining and leaving the parade along the way. Or, perhaps, several groups starting at different points along the route at the same time so that we collectively cover the whole Route 66 in just a few days of travel each. I think this would be an interesting and fun trip. I also kind of like the irony of a bunch of homes on Japanese-built trucks traveling the quintessentially American Route 66.<br />This is not something I envision doing in the immediate future - for me, it is two or three years in the future, perhaps more. I just want to see if there are others who see merit in the general idea. In my fantasies, there will be a groundswell of excitement building over time, so that eventually we have a parade of hundreds, maybe thousands, of Toyhomes America's main street, the Mother Road, historic Route 66. Who's with me?

That's too far for us in total but we could meet up somewhere closer to Calif and go the rest of the way. Have you done any research yet as to good campgrounds on the route???

vanman

[dayoff53]

That's too far for us in total but we could meet up somewhere closer to Calif and go the rest of the way. Have you done any research yet as to good campgrounds on the route???

vanman

Nope. I've just started looking into available maps and resources - just figuring out where old Route 66 is can be a little daunting in some places and it looks like there will be lots of places where you have to get on the interstate for a ways. Until I retire (4 years or a tad more with a little luck), I probably couldn't do the whole thing, either. I'm particularly interested in the Texas-New Mexico-Arizona stretch, though the entire Route has an allure... Anyway, as I consider it further, the concept of a tour starting in Chicago and ending at the Pacific, with Toys jumping in and falling out along the way seems kinda neat to me. We would need to have a fairly accurate schedule - at least where we intended to stop each night - then folks could jump in the parade and go as long as they want. Maybe no individual Toy would go the whole distance, or maybe several would, but there would be a group going the whole route. I would think it would be best to have "locals" planning the route and leading the parade through the area they are familiar with. As far as stops - well I imagine the group would include some dry-campers and Wal-Mart types and some that want a pool hall and dancing girls at every stop, so perhaps we would decide on a general area/town for each overnight stop and get a list of available options at each place. In my fantasy, this could, at least in some segments of the trip, include quite a lot of Toys - more than would fit in a single RV park. Planning the details of something like this is beyond my skills - I like to think of myself as the idea man; the big picture guy; the dreamer. We need some practical, detail-oriented folks to actually be in charge. It's more like this is a Toy-In that I would really like to be a part of and it would be really nice if somebody would do it. If the idea gains traction, I think it is really doable, but if the thread dies out after half a dozen replies, well, I'll always think it coulda been a neat trip.

[bufbooth]

Hello Dayoff53,

Sign me up for help with this caravan rally on Route 66, at least from the Chicago side.

Our first road trip in our Toyota was four years ago from Indianapolis to Kingsman, AZ

and I often jumped off the Interstate to take the old Route 66 many times. At the time

we stated we thought it would be neat to take the trip again but to stay on Route 66 as

much as we could. One website for reference is: http://www.historic66.com/

To make this work in order to get as many Toyotas as possible is to have two starts, one

from Chicago and one from LA. It will probably have to be a two week schedule, but some

folks may only have a weekend, some only a week, so as you stated a fixed schedule would

have to be worked out so that folks will know when and where they can participate.

Due to school schedules (for those that have kids or are teachers), it will probably need

to take place between the second week of June to the first week of August.

Maybe we could get Toyota dealers to help us out, such as we can stay the nights at Toyota

dealer parking lots. It would give them some advertisement, give us a free place to sleep,

and a place for repairs if needed.

Another thought is to ask Camperworld, it looks like they have six Camperworlds on Route 66.

Dennis B.

[pandu]

Sounds fun to me. I would also go from the Chicago side down maybe to St. Louis. Amarillo, TX looks to be the midpoint although Santa Fe might be a more fun place to gather.

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[pandu]

I'm envisioning a line of ToyHomes driving down Route 66. What a sight that would be! Other RV owners would poop their pants to see us in caravan.

[turtle]

When I was just a little sprout my parents used to travel from L.A. back east every summer to visit their parents (my grand parents). The earliest I can recall was mid 1950's traveling route 66 from L.A. when it was 2 lane. I recall the year they added a 3rd (passing) lane to some parts of it. They started building the interstate during our trips and more and more of route 66 disappears as the interstate was built beside it (new flat 2 lanes with an up and down 2 lanes of route 66 across the median). Eventually the old route 66 was dozed and filled and there were 2 flat straight ribbons of concrete to drive upon. Faster but not as interesting as going through the small towns.

Last time I was back visiting my mom I came across their old 1950's maps that they used for their yearly migration. No interstates on them at all. Only route 66

[bufbooth]

I am going to create a route 66 poll on the Yahoo Toyota Campers site to

start generating a contact list of possible interested parties.

Dennis B.

[Kurt]

Got my 'Yes' vote on the poll. We'll have to travel the 400+ miles to L.A. first to start with the eastbounder though. There should plan a mid-point rally to meet-up with westbounders and others who can make it to a rally but can't take the Route 66 trip. The half-way point looks like the Texas panhandle area Since we're from NorCal, we'd probably take US 50 back to CA which could be an adventure in itself.

As for the time of year, we need to avoid the part of the summer that has the worst thunderstorms as these little toys don't handle high winds very well.

Edited October 9, 2011 by Kurt

[bufbooth]

From my rough calculations the LA to Chicago route will be about 2,150 miles which

makes the half way point around 1,075 miles, which makes the midway point just a

few miles West of Amarillo, TX (1,085 miles East of LA).

Dennis B.

[Kurt]

I agree, the Santa Fe area would be more fun than most places near Amarillo and it's only 280 miles west of the half-way point. It's only 70 miles north of Santa Fe to the he popular Taos Pueblo and art colony. There are several RV parks and campgrounds nearby and there's dry camping for $5/day at Capulin Campground about 6 miles outside of town that can accomodate small RVs (I'm not sure what the maximum length is but if it's under 22' then it counts me out).

As for the suggestion to do the trip during the summer to accomodate people with school age kids, I suggest it be done as early as possible before it warms up too much and avoid the summer monsoon rains and thunderstorms, which occur almost daily. Their hottest month is July (upper 80's & 90's) and their wettest month is August. The Pow Wow is in July: http://taospueblopowwow.com/about-pow-wow/events If you've never been to one, it's worth checking out. They even have on-site dry camping.

- Kurt

Sounds fun to me. I would also go from the Chicago side down maybe to St. Louis. Amarillo, TX looks to be the midpoint although Santa Fe might be a more fun place to gather.

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[ednelson100]

In case anyone is still trying to organize this for 2012, we would definitely come.

Ed Nelson

San Antonio

[JackP]

Looks as though this has been discussed for a longish while without anything coming of it. I don't think I could afford to indulge in a trip all the way from hell to breakfast, but I spent a good many years in the area of Route 66 between Albuquerque and Arizona. Prospecting, looking for a lost gold mine [The Lost Adams Diggings] for more decades than I care to relate, buying jewelry on the rez, selling it where I could, parked midnight to dawn across from Sky City Casino listening for truckers who lost all their gas money and needed to sell anything they had of value to anyone who'd buy it, then me re-selling it to supplement my meager diet.

If anyone's interested in, say, the Zuni Mountains, the Zuni Rez, the 4-Corners country, and the country south I could probably provide some helpful info, lively stories of personal experiences, things to avoid, things worth visiting.

I gather most of you aren't much into getting into that area, however. Just offering anyway. JackP

[dolphindriver]

Just drove through a lot of the route 66 this summer (Palm Springs to Oklahoma City). The texas panhandle does not hold much. My suggestion for your midway meeting point is Tucumcari, New Mexico. There is not a whole lot to do around there - but Tucumcari has the most (and best) selection of vintage restored signs, motels, stores, tourist traps in its business section. It is really fun to see all the old places there.

[Davidadro]

• I live in Illinois, and there are all kinds of Rout 66 outcroppings here. I love the drive around Kingman Arizona too, through the Oatman Goldmine area. It's a great part of history. When I was a child, I went on a trip the length of it, before the Interstate system was implemented. I love it! Happy travels!