It's time to ditch the textbooks for a couple of weeks and enjoy a historic drive down the Main Street of America. Here you'll find a variety of quirky roadside photo opportunities, relics of the past, and plenty of milkshakes, making this trip ideal for the whole family!
Day 1
Springfield, Illinois, is the spot to learn about President Lincoln's history and see the museum about his life. There was also a holocaust exhibit in a different hall of the museum.
Day 2
Visit Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis- I advise avoiding Malcolm W. Martin, Memorial Park. Although it's free to visit and the views are stunning, the area isn't very safe, and the roads are narrow. We made the mistake of taking our RV back there. I couldn't wait to leave. Just don't! Before children, my husband and I took the elevator to the top of the arch, and that experience was better.
Day 3
Uranus Fudge Factory and the giant Mayor of Uranus- You'll find plenty of toilet-related humor and some tasty treats here. There is a pretty nice playground and plenty of fun photo spots. Thankfully our kids were too innocent to know any better.
Day 4
As you head toward Oklahoma, don't forget Kansas has route 66 too! Missing this stretch is a mistake! Drive the entire 11.27 miles of route 66 through Kansas! While they don't have a long segment, the locals seem to take pride in their history, as there is plenty of charm and visual interest.
Stop at the Route 66 Auto Museum in Springfield, MO, where the Ghostbusters and 1971 Gotham Roadster cars are parked.
Day 5
It's time for a drive through Tulsa. We only did a little here as we prioritized the Big Blue Whale in Catoosa, about 15 minutes away. Looking back, I wish we had more time to explore Tulsa. Still, we did get to see the Space Cowboy, one of the prominent giants along route 66, and made a brief stop at the Historical Village to check out some trains.
We stumbled upon the historic Rock Cafe in Stroud, Oklahoma. This little cafe wasn't much to write home about. Still, the restaurant and its owner were a primary source of inspiration for the storyline and character Sally in the movie Cars. The film has brought new travelers to route 66, bringing fresh hope and restoration to parts of the mother road.
Stop and fuel up at Pops 66, where you'll find the world's largest pop bottle and a disturbing array of soda flavors inside the shop.
Arcadia, Oklahoma
Day 6
In Texola, you'll find a 1 room jail cell out in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure if it was worth the stop, but we did put out our slide and have a quick lunch in the RV before moving on.
While in the area, we decided to stretch our legs and visit the Devil's Rope Museum- a tribute to barbed wire and the area's history. We especially enjoyed the dust bowl exhibit!
The Bug Ranch is a parody to the Cadillac Ranch where we'll stop tomorrow. It's now closed, but we did snap some shots before moving on to our dinner place that evening.
The Big Texan- Home of the FREE 72oz. Steak! Here you can sit on an elevated center stage and attempt to eat a 72 oz steak and all its side dishes. If you finish, the steak is free. We opted for a normal table and ate a tasty dinner and the boys got free cowboy hats too. It's so worth a stop!
Day 7
Jack Sisemore Travelland and RV Museum is home of Happy Max, the RV in the Robin Williams movie RV.
The Cadillac Ranch is a place where you can spray paint a bunch of Cadillac cars that have been half -buried in the ground. We found a spot to pull over, had a little lunch, and walked around to look at the "graffiti." An awesome family gave us some of their left-over paint so we could join in on the fun. It's not the most exciting stop in the world, but it's a great place to stretch your legs for a few minutes.
The Second Ammendment Cowboy, one of several giants along route 66.
Route 66 mid-point- while this one is self-explanatory, there are a few fun photo opportunities so get out and explore.
Blue Swallow Motel: In 1993, The Blue Swallow made the National Register of Historic Places and inspriered the writers of the film Cars. Instead of The Blue Swallow, they used traffic cones as a motel!
Day 8- Big Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM
This stop is a diving mecca and swimming hole. If you're in the area, make a quick stop to dip your toes and watch the divers.
Day 9- Petrified Forest National Park
This park resembles the badlands with blueish rocks and at a smaller scale. There are reddish-colored petrified logs everywhere along the drive, hence the name. Just outside the park entrance, there was free boondocking in an old, abandoned campground with many teepees. We enjoyed a magnificent sunset and a quiet night to sleep.
Day 10
Flagstaff! There wasn't much to do, so we planned a day trip to Sunset Volcano National Monument, Wupatki National Monument, and the Grand Canyon. A forest fire closed our original route back to camp, so we found ourselves returning to Flagstaff on a rugged dirt road. Thankfully, we had a high-clearance vehicle! The fire did prevent us from venturing out to nearby areas. I recommend breaking this trip up into two or even three days, but I'm glad we pulled a long day, or we would have never visited those places due to the fire.
Day 11
Pizza at Your Pie Pizza and a stop at the depot's visitor center.
Day 12
Bearizona! This drive-through wildlife park was one of the highlights of our trip. We enjoyed it so much that my husband had to drive through it a second time. The park also has a zoo portion and a few restaurants and shops.
The Wigwam Motel Holbrook, AZ
Handy Driving Tips
1. We missed one of the best stops in the Petrified Forest National Park due to a lack of parking for our 56-foot rig. I highly recommend smaller RVs, camper vans, or cars for this trip. Small rigs might be easier to navigate down the road because the parking lots tend to be crowded, with little room to pull over. When you get lost, it's faster to turn around.
2. Signage can be poor, making it easy to lose direction. About 20% of the original road no longer exists, so you'll need to take the main roads to bypass the old path. Because the signs are tiny, it is challenging to spot turns. We were off the course several times and didn't even know it! We entered a town where some kids must have turned the sign north. The sign directed us through a neighborhood instead of staying on the road. You can say they got us good! 🤣
3. Do not drive at night. Neon signs are not the norm anymore, although they do exist. If you wish to see some neon, book a room at one of the historic motels still in operation to get some "nightlife." Route 66 also runs through many rundown neighborhoods, and you want to avoid wandering around in some of them after dark.
4. Download a good app and take some time to study it before hitting the road. An app can tell you what sites you're approaching, and some even give a brief description and photo of what the business used to be.
5. Read a few top 10 and Highlights of Route 66 blogs. Set up your trip on google maps or a trip planning app and drop pins where you plan to stay and visit. An app will also help with navigation.
6. Drive on the interstate to save time. A lot of route 66 is 45 mph or less, so if you're on a time crunch, take the interstate! Much of the original road parallels closely to the mother road, and you can enjoy the same views on a well-maintained path.
7. Lastly, much of the mother road blazes through tornado alley. We went in April when twister season was in full swing, and we dodged many severe storms along the way. It might be fine if you're motel hopping, but it can get sketchy fast in a travel trailer. Download a good radar app and be ready if you're traveling in the spring. Also, add your main stops along the way into your weather app to get alerts BEFORE you get to town. If storms plan to roar through the night, you might sleep better by parking in a 24-hour Walmart, truck stop, or even a hotel parking lot (call first to ask). This way, you'll have a solid structure to run into when the alerts go off. We love using the RV Parky app to find places to overnight.
Would you travel down historic route 66?
0%Yes! It sounds like a blast!
0%Nope. Not for me!
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