Route 66: A Cruise Down Main Street (1995) - full transcript
Route 66: A Cruise Down Main Street celebrates the rich, but vanishing, tradition of the all-weather highway that captured our imagination.
(synth music)
(bright upbeat music)
(door clicking)
(car engine revving)
- Most of the time you take
a trip to get somewhere.
(country music)
My destination is the road itself.
♪ 2,200 miles or so from LA to Chicago ♪
It's the highway of the hip,
of big rigors and romantics,
dreamers and dharma bums,
folkies and Okies.
It's an American classic and
a one way ride to adventure.
♪ 2,200 miles of highway ♪
Get your kicks.
♪ That goes both ways ♪
(country music continues)
America's main street, the mother road.
It once started here in
the middle of Chicago.
They called it Route 66.
Today, it doesn't exist on any maps,
but to many people, it's
still the ribbon that ties
America together.
A highway of dreams.
(country music)
I'm on a trip into the past and present.
It's eight states, three time zones,
and three quarters of a century long.
The original Highway 66 spans
over 2,200 miles all told.
From the Windy City,
I'll go through Dwight,
Springfield and Mitchell, Illinois
before crossing the border into Missouri;
then onto St. Louis, Cuba
and the Devil's Elbow,
and I'll wind up in Kansas
at Galena and Baxter Springs.
Through the Snowbelt, sunbelt bound.
Here we go!
This was the first year-round
continuous highway,
connecting the Midwest to the west,
and the gateway to the American dream.
Now all that's left of 66
is some remaining stretches
of the old route and a
whole lot of interstate.
I'm here to put the pieces back together;
one historic mile at a time,
and to meet the people who
fought to keep this road alive.
It all began as a vision to
link two thirds of a nation
smitten with wanderlust.
By 1926, 800 miles of 66 were paved.
Nine years later, a sprawling
engineering achievement
was complete.
Route 66 became a lifeline,
connecting the rural towns
of the Midwest to urban
centers like Chicago.
Soon, 66 was a haven for
truckers and car crazy Americans.
(upbeat music)
♪ You know the news and the
weather and what time it is ♪
♪ In fact, you got to be a regular wiz ♪
- [Radio Host] While you're
traveling the highways
and byways out there, be
sure to stop and fill up with
quality Marathon gasoline.
That's at the quarter of Route
17 and Route 66 in Dwight.
- [Hunter] At the Marathon gas station,
I met my first 66 regular.
Hi there.
- Good afternoon. How are you today?
- [Hunter] Phil Becker
pumped his first tank of gas
at the Marathon when he was just 13.
30 years later, he owns it.
So what's your competition here?
- There used to be a Sinclair
station where an Napa store is
across the street and there
used to be a Amoco station
across to the west of us here,
but both of those are gone
and stuff.
We survived.
- You got the main corner
on 66.
- Well, we're
one of the last gas stations
that are still existing
on old 66 that are still running.
- [Hunter] Once the very idea
of a highway service station
was radical.
America's come far.
The question is; what have
we lost along the way?
(soft music)
♪ Number one for news and talk ♪
♪ WTAX ♪
- [Radio Host] WTAX News
Watch for the capitol city,
Tim Switzer straight ahead
with what's news today.
Brought to you by the Cozy Dog.
Now, even old Abe Lincoln
would loved the Cozy Dog.
It's the home of the original
breaded hot dog on a stick
on Route 66.
- [Hunter] Some of the
best kept roadside secrets
have been passed down for generations.
Bob Waltemeyer holds a secret
for that delicacy known
as a Cozy Dog.
- It's a story that started
when my father got the idea
out in Oklahoma at a roadside cafe
and came up with the idea of
impaling the wiener on a stick
and then coating it in
batter and cooking it.
- [Hunter] Bob is a classic 66-er.
- I knew that the people were
interested in 66 and getting
off of the interstate.
I didn't realize the
phenomenon was going to grow
like it has, it's truly a global thing.
And I like to think of
and say that 66 belongs
to the whole world.
(light smooth music)
- [Hunter] I've come 310 miles.
The Mississippi opens the way west
and the river's welcome mat
is the Chain of Rocks Bridge.
It was built in 1929.
And once, this was the
site of a wildly popular
amusement park.
Things have calmed down here since then.
(smooth jazz music)
66 is more than just blacktop and detours;
it's the lifeblood of the land.
The ribbon that binds it together.
It's family.
(smooth jazz continues)
♪ Get yourself out at
the state you're in ♪
♪ Wake up to Missouri ♪
- [Radio Host] KDHX.
- [Children] St. Louis Community Radio.
- [Radio Host] St. Louis of
course is the home of the
Cardinals, the Gateway Arch;
Route 66 runs right through
St. Louis, and of course
we are the home of the
Bowling Hall of Fame, along with
a lot of other great things.
(upbeat music)
- [Hunter] There are
bowlers and then there are
living legends.
This one has bowled more than
20 official perfect games.
Meet Dick Weber.
- These lanes here are
from the 19 teens, the 20s,
the 30s, even some of
them are from the 40s,
where they have no markings
on the lanes whatsoever.
- So you're going to help
me get coordinated then?
- Certainly.
(classic rock music)
- [Hunter] Before the
age of super highways,
66 was lined with bowling alleys.
Today, the Bowling Hall of Fame
has one of the few remaining
alleys where the pins
are replaced by hand.
(classic rock music continues)
(pins clattering)
(radio chattering)
- [Radio Host] Hey motorists,
are you getting weary
and ready to settle down for the evening?
They're waiting for you
at the Wagon Wheel Motel;
a clean and inexpensive
motel on historic Route 66.
- [Hunter] A full tank of
gas can only get you so far.
Hospitality is the real fuel of this road.
In Cuba, Missouri, Pauline
Armstrong is the remedy
for the road weary.
For just $12.95 a night, she'll
give you a comfortable bed
and lots of friendly chat.
- Can I help you?
- Yeah, I need a room.
- You need a room.
One bed or two beds?
- [Hunter] One bed.
Why do you think people love Route 66?
- [Pauline] I don't know, it's nostalgia.
- [Hunter] Even on vacation,
Pauline can't seem to get away
from her connection to 66.
- And when I was on this
Panama trip, this cruise,
and they had the song,
"Get Your Kicks on Old 66,"
and they says, "There she
is, Wagon Wheel Motel."
- Home sweet home.
Good night.
(upbeat guitar music)
There's nothing like hitting the road
after a good night's sleep.
They call Missouri the show-me-state,
and they've got the
billboards to prove it.
(jazzy music)
Route 66 fueled the evolution
of roadside architecture
and design.
Businesses tried to outdo each other
with elaborate enticements,
anything to lure motorists.
Even gas stations offered landscape lots
and uniformed attendance.
That's what I call service.
- [Radio Host 1] And
you're at your Kansas home
of country music; KTBK.
A beautiful day today.
- [Radio Host 2] We keep this
party going 24 hours a day,
airwaves shaking, requests
taken, this is AM.
- Kansas has only got 13
miles of Route 66 blacktop,
but it's long on legends.
In Galina, 84 year old
Dorotha Center gave me a few
fashion tips.
So this is the hottest
fashion item on Route 66?
- Maybe.
Maybe yeah.
- Something like this.
- What does this say?
Some of them run a little more than that.
It's unusual.
- So probably between
$12 and $20?
- Yeah. Most of them
will run around $18.95.
(light jazzy music)
- [Radio Host] KSEK, 99.1 FM.
Hey, if you're coming
up on Baxter Springs,
stop by the Gypsy's Tattoo Parlor,
that's the place to hear
all about the ghostly old
spook light.
- Evening.
I saw your sign out there on spook lights?
What's that all about?
- The spook light; it's a
unexplained ball of light
that kind of wonders around south of here,
right off of Route 66.
- In the woods?
- In the woods.
(engine revving)
- So there I was; driving to
the woods with a tattoo artist
named Gypsy in search of
the infamous spook light
that's said to haunt the back roads of 66.
I wasn't scared. He's a member
of the Chamber of Commerce.
Now you said they could
be up in the trees, right?
- I'd be in the trees.
- [Hunter] Okay.
- [Gypsy] Could be in the field.
- [Hunter] Could be in the field.
- [Gypsy] Could be right behind you.
(both laughing)
- [Hunter] For centuries,
back to the time of the
Quapaw Indians, people
have observed a strange
ball of light hovering around here.
- [Gypsy] But he'll come
out; he always does.
(soft guitar music)
- [Hunter] They claim it's
the ghost of a love stricken
miner in search of his runaway bride.
Me, I just chalk it up
to the spirits of 66.
Having had no luck
spotting the spook light,
I headed out of town to Oklahoma.
(soft music)
Oklahoma. OK.
Woody Guthrie, Pretty Boy Floyd,
Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker;
they knew how to travel in style.
This is road heaven, with more miles of 66
than in any state.
There are 400 miles here, all told,
through towns like Afton,
Foyil, Sapulpa and Clinton.
Welcome to the land of the Dust Bowl.
- [Radio Host 1] All oldies,
KOMA, the perfect station
to crank up in your car.
- [Radio Host 2] 101.9 KTST,
Oklahoma City, the Twister.
- [Radio Host 3] 101.9, the Twister.
And as you're cruising
down Route 66, be sure
and take a turn into Darryl
Starbird's Rod and Custom Car
Hall of Fame.
- [Hunter] What would 66
be without four wheels
and eight cylinders?
This is the place where the car was king
and the hot rod ruled supreme.
Just ask auto enthusiast, Darryl Starbird.
- This is kind of a typical
all American hot rod.
Much like they used in the Route 66 movie,
or TV series I guess actually.
- Now speed and good looking
cars kind of go hand in hand
with Route 66, don't they?
- Right, and that's kind of
what this whole thing is about.
Beautiful cars, speed,
high powerful engines.
- Lots of noise.
- Restyled hot rods.
Lots of noise.
- Let people know you're coming.
(classic rock music)
In 1920, there were only 6.5
million cars on the road.
By 1956, there were over 65 million.
To postwar baby boomers, a set
of wheels was an invitation
to a lifestyle that we've never outgrown.
On Route 66, America
and the car came of age.
- [Radio Host] Covering the
Heartland 24 hours a day
with quality Bible teaching
and Christian information
your family can depend on.
Galloway's Totem Pole
Park in Foyil, Oklahoma;
the world's largest totem pole.
(smooth jazz music)
- [Hunter] The world's largest totem pole.
It was built about 50 years
ago, and built to last.
90 feet of pure concrete.
Take my word for it; this
monument will outlive
the pyramids.
And why shouldn't it?
(smooth jazz music continues)
- [Mike] AM 1050 KGTO.
Hi, it's Mike McCarthy as
we cruise down to Route 66,
a cruise down main
street into Norma's Cafe.
Norma's been serving the
same menu in Route 66
since the 50s; everything
is made from scratch.
- What was it like when
you first opened up?
- Oh, we were busy, busy,
busy back then in the old day.
And as a matter of fact, we
were open 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
Didn't even have a lock on the door.
- Oh, isn't that nice?
- We just didn't close.
- [Hunter] During the heyday
of Route 66, Norma herself
cooked a dozen pies a day.
Today, Norma still cooks up
24 different kinds of pie.
So, do you make the pies fresh?
- Yes, I make pies every
day and we do not sell
day old pie as a general rule.
We sell all of our pie every day.
I don't make a huge amount
of pies, I make what we need
for each day, and that way
they're good and fresh.
And I find that people
like them better that way.
- Yeah.
(slow jazzy music)
Oklahoma hospitality
was born of hard times.
In the 30s, dust choked the
life out of these parts.
More than 200,000 people
fled for California
in search of better days.
Route 66 was their road of opportunity.
(soft guitar music)
Today, the dust has settled.
But the Okies will always live on.
In the "Grapes of Wrath,"
John Steinbeck called them
the people in flight
from the terror behind.
Strange things happen to them.
Some bitterly cruel
and some so beautiful that
the faith is re-fired forever.
- [Radio Host 1] KATT FM Oklahoma City.
- [Radio Host 2] If you're
traveling Route 66 through
Clinton, Oklahoma, enjoy
a game of miniature golf
at McLean Rogers Park on
Old Route 66 in Clinton.
As always, take along KCLI, oldies 107.
- Today I have a rendezvous
with a real Route 66 fixture.
The woman who ran every kind
of business along the old road.
I better win this.
Oh!
- Ready?
- You and me.
Hello, Gladys Glancy.
All right,
so shall we let the games begin?
This is almost like taking
a drive down 66, isn't it?
- Yeah. All the way.
- Kansas. I think this is my lucky state.
- Did it go in?
- No.
- No.
I'm back behind it.
- Oh my, you got it!
(both laughing)
(banjo music)
No hands.
- Is that cheating?
(banjo music continues)
(Hunter cheers)
(banjo music continues)
You whooped me.
Should we count it up?
- Tell you what, let's tie.
- Let's tie?
- Yeah.
- Okay. I like that.
That's good.
For Gladys, Route 66
is more than a highway;
it's the road of her life.
So long, Gladys, I'm Texas bound.
(golf ball clattering)
There's good reason they
call it the Texas panhandle.
It's hot and flat and long.
There was a time when 66 ran
180 miles straight across
this stretch of endless earth.
My first stop is the
sleepy town of McLean.
Then the leaning water tower of Groom.
A sip at the Adrian Cafe
before I turn cowgirl.
(jazzy piano music)
At the Devil's Rope Museum in McLean,
Old 66 is alive and well thanks
to collector Delbert True.
What do we got here?
- Well, this is our
typical greasy spoon cafe
that we've tried to show-
- Saddle up to the bar.
- Yes, well, you just sit
down and you scoot it up
and straddle the stool.
And you looked at the ugly cook
and you looked at the menu.
- [Hunter] Look at those prices.
- One fourth fried chicken for .90 cents.
And then when you ordered it,
the old brassy waitress says,
"Run that chicken across
the fire twice," or-
- Other wise, meaning well done.
- Yeah. Burn this steak or
leave it a-bellowing.
So they always had a snappy comeback
and it was quite a treat
to order in a greasy spoon
Route 66 cafe.
- [Radio Host] This ain't no jukebox.
The most fun.
♪ Get your kicks ♪
♪ Amarillo ♪
- The panhandle is flat and clear,
and except for those crickets on AM radio,
it's quiet as can be.
With Adrian, the midpoint of my trip,
it's a mighty good time to slow down.
At the Adrian Cafe, they say
you get your sips on Route 66.
(smooth jazzy piano music)
Well, I could fancy a cup
of coffee right about now
and a big helping of hospitality.
And I hear a real gentleman,
88 year old Lauren Critz,
has some time on his hands
and many a tale to tell
about that old mother road.
(bell rings)
This the Adrian Cafe?
- Sure is.
- Well, I heard I was
supposed to come here and
hear some great stories
about Old Route 66.
- Well, is that so?
- You know any stories about
Route 66 you can share with me?
- Oh, I guess.
I sure know a lot of them.
My first experience, and
only experience going to
California, they had a
boardwalk across the desert
out there.
A boardwalk. You don't
know what a boardwalk is.
- I do.
- You do?
- Sure.
- Timbers.
- Yeah.
- And every so often you'd
come to a place where you could
pass.
- When you go got your
first car, what was it like
driving around on Old 66?
- Well, when we got our
first car, we didn't have a
paved road or a dirt
road even, a grated road;
it was just driving across the prairie.
We just come across pastures.
- By 1938, all of 66 was paved.
For Texas, this meant
crops, cattle and oil
could hit the road as well as the rails.
Trucking went into high gear
and with rain from above
and that hard top below,
the region put the Dust Bowl
in the rear view mirror.
John Steinbeck once
called 66 the mother road.
Here in the panhandle,
at the halfway mark,
I can really sense how
much this road created,
how much it nourished the
people in these places
in its heyday.
For a time, I think this was
one very nurturing mother.
(harmonica music)
Before leaving Texas, I
promised myself a view of 66
from tall in the saddle.
And who better to show me
the ropes than the fellow
who manages more than 40,000
acres of ranch land in Texas,
Butch Boydston.
So where does Route 66 run out here?
- Well, it comes off the
cap rock right over there
where you can see those vehicles.
That's the interstate 40 now
and the original Old Route 66
come off to the left and come
right down in front of us
and just blow the cap rock here.
- [Hunter] When Route 66 was very young,
there were more horses in Texas than cars.
Some say those were better days.
As for me, I've got 1,200 miles to go.
I think I'll take the car
and head to New Mexico.
(harmonica music continues)
- [Radio Host] Ladies and
gentlemen, you're listen to
Cool 102 FM,
oldies radio for New Mexico.
- [Hunter] Old Route 66 helped
many quintessential American
concepts catch fire.
Like the motel; that uniquely
American home away from home.
New Mexico; from
Tucumcari, the motel town,
to the Spanish influences of Albuquerque,
to the roots of Native
American culture in Gallup,
this state is its nickname;
a land of enchantment.
- [Radio Host] You're
listening to KTNM 1400,
Tucumcari, New Mexico.
- [Hunter] In 1961, the
number of US motels hit an
all time high.
61,000.
Tucumcari is one reason why.
It's known as the town
of 2,000 motel rooms,
and I'm on a mission to
find the perfect one.
(salsa music)
There are still 29 legendary
motels on Tucumcari's
Vegas style neon strip.
Prices range from $18 to $70,
and of course the carpeting
ranges from industrial
to shag.
So take your pick.
Mine's the 1948 Blue Swallow
and have yourself the sweetest dreams.
(Spanish guitar strumming)
Out of the original 350 miles
of Old 66 in New Mexico,
much of it is still drivable.
My next stop is the small town of Barton,
just east of Albuquerque.
There's a man there who
collects classic 66 memorabilia.
They say he's a classic himself;
having broken nearly every
bone in his body as a young
iron worker.
His name's Bob Odette.
- Hi.
- Couldn't help but stopping.
- Yeah.
- You sure do have a collection of stuff.
- I've been working at it.
- So California or bust, huh?
- Oh yeah. Route 66.
- What do we got over here?
Route 66.
So these are the old
Bonnie and Clyde cars.
- [Bob] That one is.
- This one working?
- That one runs good.
- How about you take me for a spin?
- I was just checking the gas leak.
- Oh yeah?
A gas leak?
- Little bit. Not too bad.
- [Hunter] You don't smoke, do you?
- [Bob] Nope.
- [Hunter] So let's see if she'll start.
(door thuds)
(engine rumbling)
- Warmed up.
- California bound.
Ope, wrong way.
- Get your kicks on Route 66.
♪ Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino ♪
(mysterious flute music)
- It's hard to imagine
this place as it was;
the homeland of many
generations of Native Americans.
From the ancient Anasazi
to the Pueblo of today.
Trading posts along 66 brought
commerce to these communities
with hoards of tourists
looking for trinkets.
(mysterious flute music continues)
The Native American presence
has still strongly felt
as you travel through this landscape.
More than a trip through our recent past,
here, the old road takes
us back even further
through century upon century.
(light upbeat music)
Before leaving New Mexico, I
want to make one last stop.
A few miles down the road near
Gallup is Fort Yellow Horse,
a trading post that
dates back to the 1920s.
While Native Americans couldn't
own their own businesses
until the 1950s, today
Chief Juan Yellow Horse
runs the show here.
He's actually been selling
goods on 66 since he was
a small boy in the 1930s.
Hi there.
- Hi.
- I saw your light on.
- Good. I'm glad you stopped.
- I've been driving on Route
66 and I'm heading on my way
to Arizona.
- You're almost there, right there,
you're at the last place
in New Mexico here.
Chief Yellow Horse's.
- Take one step in.
- One step and you're here.
- We're here in Arizona.
(both laughing)
So this is a traditional trading post?
- Yes, ma'am, this is a
traditional trading post.
These is are some rugs
that we make, us Navajos,
we make these type of rugs.
This is jewelry that we make.
- [Hunter] It's late, but
Chief Yellow Horse invited me
for a walk in his backyard.
Legend has it that Geronimo
came right here to ask
the Navajo to join him in battle
against the United States.
Many such ruins and much of old Route 66
lie on private property today.
So look closely;
backyards across the west can
hold many ancient secrets.
- Back in about 900 up to
1100, the Anasazi Indians,
they came in here and they built their
villages and that's some of
the ruins up there on the wall.
(Spanish guitar music)
- [Hunter] I've already
set foot in Arizona,
and yet there are miles
to go before I sleep
in the Grand Canyon state.
(swinging harmonica music)
Here it is, Arizona.
And here I am tracing
Arizona's 386 miles of Route 66
from the Painted Desert's
kaleidoscopic hills
to Holbrook's concrete wigwams,
from two stepping in Flagstaff
to a trim in Seligman,
and the open road of Oatman and Topack.
- [Radio Host] Some lead, others follow.
And we don't know how to follow.
You're getting your country kicks
on Route 66 with Super Country.
- Route 66 runs right by the
Petrified Forest National Park
and right by that 170
million year old forest
is the famous Painted Desert.
Here, the golden sands and
soils and the red rocks
of the west are tinted purple,
rose, chocolate and blue.
And as the hours and seasons change,
so do the colors of this landscape.
It simply takes your breath away.
Next stop, the town of Holbrook.
Have you slept in a wigwam lately?
Well, not me.
So this is the place to
rest those weary bones
western style.
This wigwam village is
one of the old road's most
memorable landmarks.
They opened their flaps
for business back in 1950.
There are 15 concrete wigwams and all
with double beds, full
bath and air conditioning.
The tents may be cement,
but I can assure you,
the beds are genuine dream catchers.
Great.
My own little wigwam.
Enough resting.
Flagstaff in the Arizona nightlife beckon.
♪ Colt 107.5 ♪
- [Radio Host] Colt Country
107.5 invites you in your crew
to the best happy hour in Flagstaff
only at the world famous Museum
Club on historic Route 66.
(pool balls clattering)
- The Museum Club was created in 1931
to house freakish taxidermied animals,
but it soon became a hopping roadhouse.
- Would you like to dance?
- I'd love to.
You have to teach me a step.
- This is called the two step.
- Two step?
- Yeah.
- The Ponderosa Pines
the club was built around
became part of the dance floor.
My partner, Dave McLaughlin,
says he started dancing
when he was four years old.
Didn't know I could dance.
The club says country western
greats like Willie Nelson
and Waylon Jennings crooned here
before they hit the big time.
(jazzy music)
- [Singer] Y'all come
on and dance with me.
(jazzy music continues)
♪ If you ever plan to move to the west ♪
♪ Traveled my way, take the
highway, that's the best ♪
♪ Get your kicks on Route 66 ♪
♪ Get your kicks on Route 66 ♪
- [Radio Host 1] Your Route
66 and I-40 country music
connection.
- [Radio Host 2] And if
you're traveling down Route 66
right now, make sure you
stop by and say hi to Angel
in Seligman at Angel's Barbershop.
- A lifetime resident of
Seligman, Angel Delgadillo
is credited with sparking
the revival of Old 66.
I'm from Florida.
- From Florida.
- But I'm driving all the way
from Chicago on old Route 66.
- Oh my gosh, on Route 66?
- Yep.
It's been a great thing
for me to discover because
it really is going into a very
special part of America and
when you get on the big
roads you just don't
get the same feeling.
- Well, it's our heritage.
Route 66 is our heritage.
On that highway right
there, people had a dream.
If we can just get to California,
we're all going to be better off.
But now that my wife and I
have raised four children
and we almost, the Delgadillo
family almost joined the
Grapes of Wrath back in the late 30s.
How hard it was. It was America
having a hard time then.
It was very rough.
In the winter time, they
may have ran out of gas,
they were cold, the cars didn't
have the heaters of today,
refrigeration of today
and it was just different.
- By the time World War
II hit, the Okie migration
gave way to America's war machines.
The route and the region
around it became training bases
and even POW camps.
Old 66 helped pull off the
greatest mobilization of troops
in US history.
Driving west from Seligman
on the longest stretch
of uninterrupted Old 66,
I think how wide open spaces
and open arms go hand in hand
out here.
Route 66 is a real community.
Everywhere you go you make
friends, and you know what?
In Oatman, Arizona, even
the animals are friendly.
(campy piano music)
(Hunter laughing)
Bye, everybody.
So long, Arizona.
On to the 315 marvelous
miles of California.
(soft fiddle music)
How many roads save their best for last?
315 marvelous miles of pure California.
But before I head through
the desert and set my sights
on Hollywood, I make a slight
detour off 66 onto I-40
to take a ride on the Colorado River
along the California border.
A canoe ride with Ernie Doyren.
He runs a nearby canoeing service.
And even a river ride
leads you home to 66.
So this is the Old Route 66 bridge?
- Yes, this was the first major
construction in California
after the Route 66 crossed
the Colorado river.
- [Hunter] What's it made out of?
- It's Navajo red sandstone
and probably quarried
on a Kaibab Plateau north
of Grand Canyon because
we have no rock quarries here.
- It's a beautiful condition, isn't it?
- Yes, it's probably 50 years
since anybody's maintained
anything on it.
- Let's go take a look underneath.
(soft guitar music)
Now, Ernie wants to show
me one more place before
I hit the road again.
So this supposedly is
the place where Steinbeck
finished up the "Grapes of Wrath."
- People that lived here said that he
probably wrote the last two
or three chapters of the book
while he was staying
in one of these cabins.
- Little did they know
what they were getting into
in California, did they?
- No. 100 miles of desert
did a lot of people in
before they got there.
(engine rumbling)
(country music)
- Hitting the road, I head for Needles,
the country's hottest
city in the Mojave Desert,
to tiny Essex where I bolt the desert road
and spring through Newberry Springs,
all the way to Santa
Monica and Ocean Avenue.
♪ Roadside motor court ♪
♪ Cabins made of sandstone ♪
♪ Traveling in style ♪
♪ Was a port in the storm ♪
Ironically, Route 66
was largely responsible
for its own demise.
The road was so popular that
the public clambered for more.
The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
would revolutionize the nation's highways
and blast 66 into the past.
In the sun baked town of Needles,
one of the Mojave's oldest,
the temperature's rising.
Here in the 1920s before
the era of motels,
the Cardi Camp was a
bustling overnight stop
where cars pulled in,
families pitched tents,
then loaded up on gas and
supplies for the toughest
leg of the trip, crossing
the parched desert.
(melancholy piano music)
For the Okies, Steinbeck
called this bleak flatlands
"the Path of a People in Flight."
They all sought the
land of milk and honey,
but some never even made
it across the Mojave.
The city of angels for
them remained forever
only a vision, fleeting.
There's a place where every road ends,
but some stretch on long
after their black top stops.
66 goes on forever.
My trip is nearly ended
now, so as I cruise into LA,
I'll just crank the radio
and let the wind blow back
my hair.
After all, life on 66 is still a kick.
♪ There used to be a main
street across country ♪
♪ That good old take you all the way ♪
♪ From Clark and Ogden
Street up in Chicago ♪
♪ To Lincoln and Olympic in LA ♪
♪ Oh Lord, I hope they got
where they were going ♪
♪ All the children of the mother road ♪
- Route 66,
it's been a journey of
many little journeys.
Sunset rides on a Texas prairie,
canoeing down the Colorado River.
Two stepping in Flagstaff.
In the 2,448 miles I've traveled,
people have welcomed me
in mom and pop hotels
and roadside cafes.
There's one thing I've learned;
Route 66 doesn't just take
you to your destination,
it is your destination.
♪ Get your kicks on Route 66 ♪
(country music)
♪ Might be chasing some dream you had ♪
♪ Decide to take a ride ♪
♪ Could be it's your business
takes you to the other side ♪
♪ Looking for some work to do ♪
♪ Trying to find someplace to play ♪
♪ 2,200 miles of 66 ♪
♪ Goes both ways ♪
♪ 2,200 miles or so from LA to Chicago ♪
♪ 2,200 miles or so, Chicago to LA ♪
♪ 2,200 miles or so ♪
♪ About 2,200 miles ♪
(bright music)
(synth music)