[Ottawa Guy]

I think that I may be the first to do this--travel the whole length of Route 66 in a MINI.

I am travelling historic Route 66 over the next two weeks. I have to go to San Diego on business and my employer has agreed to pay me equivalent airfare to take my Mini Cooper S.

So, the plan is: to take two weeks to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles following what's left of America's "Mother Road" and see lots of the sights in between; I then have to spend a week in San Diego on business; and then I plan to take about six days to drive home.

I left home (Ottawa, Canada) on 10 August and started the actual Route 66 portion of the trip on 11 August as I passed through Chicago.

For those that are interested, I am posting pictures and a summary of my travels each day on the web. The site is called, appropriately enough, Route 66 in a 2002 MINI Cooper S.

Tony

[BruceK]

Way cool! Just last week I was on a major roadtrip in my MINI and spent some time in Arizona on parts of old Route 66.

The little town of Williams, AZ was the last Route 66 town bypassed by Interstate highway in 1985. Of course old 66 runs right through the middle of town and Williams celebrates it's 66 heritage with lots of little old fashioned 50's style motels, diners and drive thrus. Good live music in the beer gardens along the road at night, too.

Make sure you're in Williams at about 10am or about 5pm so you can see the restored steam engine train that takes tourists (like me) from Williams to/from Grand Canyon sightseeing each day.

Hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip!

[obehave]

Very cool. Have fun. Something I've wanted to do for a long time.

I think American Woman came out in 1970 though?

[shkeller55]

Quote: Originally Posted by obehave

I think American Woman came out in 1970 though?

Yes it came out in 1970, per this web site:

http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStre...sswhodisc.html

Tony:

Can't wait to read your updates. I've always wanted to make this trip too (have only done parts of it so far). Cool web site and thanks for sharing your experiences with us!

[Pauline]

Wow! That's something I've always wanted to do, along with Highway 1. Hope you're enjoying yourself!

btw - I spent a bit of time in Ottawa working for Corel - fantastic place - I really miss it!

[Minimum]

I drove the same route in my MINI between Dallas, TX and Santa Monica, but then I continued north up to Oregon.

If you get a chance, try to stay in Santa Fe instead of Albuquerque. It's a very nice place.

If you see a fireworks store in New Mexico, don't forget to stop and pick up some firecrackers. They're cheap and legal there. Except when you get back home, you'll probably be holding a huge brick of firecrackers asking yourself, "why did I buy these?"

[davidac]

Very cool, I would love to do that. Unfortunately I don't want to leave my wife for 2 weeks and she is not much for car rides. I am reading through the log, looks like you could use the Nav system. The DVD based one of course so you have the whole country.

[shkeller55]

Quote: Originally Posted by davidac

I am reading through the log, looks like you could use the Nav system. The DVD based one of course so you have the whole country.

Or even a windshield-mounted compass would help. You can buy these from catalogs like Autosport and Griot's Garage. Tony, maybe you can find one of these, or perhaps a hand-held GPS, in the next major city you come to.

[Twobit]

That sounds like so much fun! I just checked out your Route 66 Site, it is so well done! You did a great job on it. I've saved it to my favorites and I'll be checking back periodicly for the updates. Have a safe and fun trip!

[Ottawa Guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by shkeller55

Or even a windshield-mounted compass would help. You can buy these from catalogs like Autosport and Griot's Garage. Tony, maybe you can find one of these, or perhaps a hand-held GPS, in the next major city you come to.

Great minds think alike (or, fools seldom differ)

I got a compass and it's helping.

Tony

[shkeller55]

Tony - to quote from your blog:

"I thought America would be littered with Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts—but not a one!"

Oh yes we have lots of them, but they are placed on heavily-traveled roads. It sounds like the parts of Route 66 you've been on so far aren't that heavily traveled. Just wait though - you'll see them. You might also see another doughnut chain that's in the process of taking over the world - Krispy Kreme. If you see one, stop and try it.

Hope the compass gets unstuck.

[queen B]

I am enjoying the account of your trip. Sounds like you are having fun.

[Ottawa Guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by obehave

Very cool. Have fun. Something I've wanted to do for a long time.

I think American Woman came out in 1970 though?

True. My original trip was in 1972. The car was a '67.

And no, I didn't change my page

Tony

[shkeller55]

Tony:

It looks like some of the text isn't showing up on-screen, mostly around the pictures you're including. More problems with dial-up lines perhaps, or just a formatting issue?

[Ottawa Guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by shkeller55

Tony:

It looks like some of the text isn't showing up on-screen, mostly around the pictures you're including. More problems with dial-up lines perhaps, or just a formatting issue?

I noticed that too. Only seems to happen if the Internet Explorer window is so narrow that the pictues overlap.

Thanks,

Tony

[shkeller55]

I've got my I.E. window maximized, and the pictures don't overlap, but I still can't see quite all of the text. In most cases I get the gist of it, just not every character of every word. But on the day 8 screen it looks like I missed a lot of the Albuquerque-Gallup text (I can only see part of the left-most character of two or three paragraphs that are overlapped by the picture with the yellow Beetle in it). I'm running Windows XP Home Edition and I.E. 6.0.

Keep up the good work though, I'm still enjoying reading it!

[shkeller55]

Tony:

Sorry I never got back to you. A great read. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us!

[ice]

What a fantastic website. Thanks so much for sharing the experience. Iwant to take my girlfriend on Route 66 from Chicago to Gallup, NM. I think it is just beautiful.