In his book, The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck chronicled how the Joad Family was uprooted from its Oklahoma farm when the Dust Bowl forced them to travel west to California for jobs and survival.
Steinbeck dubbed the road they followed to make that journey as The Mother Road. It was actually Route 66 -- a meandering, rutted highway that the Joads and millions of real-life migrant workers and wandering souls staked their lives and futures on during the Depression.
The remains of this piece of Americana still span three time zones and eight states – Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. It was the country’s first east-west highway and a romantic symbol of freedom that spurred our car culture, a TV show, a hit song, books and folklore.
By 1984 the federal government had spent billions of dollars on a new, modern interstate highway system that completely bypassed Route 66. As each new section of the interstate system was opened, a section of America’s Main Street was abandoned – along with most of the towns and businesses that once thrived along its path.
First encounter.
A few summers ago, I had a chance to cruise along the Mother Road for a few days when traveling west with a group of five other motorcycle riders. My first encounter occurred when we rolled out of Oklahoma City, then picked up Interstate Route 40 with the warn morning sun on our backs.The significance of Route 40 is that it runs parallel to or intersects remnants of old Route 66.
Our group quickly learned that even though 80 percent of old Route 66 still exists in various forms such as side roads, main streets and highway service roads, finding and identifying these remnants can be frustrating and illusive.
Bring a guidebook.
Route 66 doesn’t appear on current road maps and almost all of its original signage is gone. Many links to the Mother Road have been abandoned, while other sections have simply disappeared or been renamed.Various private associations keep the spirit of Route 66 alive by erecting or painting “Historic Route 66” signs along the road to help nostalgic motorists find their way. These markers are helpful but scarce.
We relied largely on Route 66 guidebooks to plan our route, identify things we wanted to see, locate remnants of the old road and zero-in on prominent landmarks and roadside goodies.
You can still feel the history.
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