Connie"s "farewell" letter

My dear ones,

David and I are in the final throes of preparation for our long-
awaited Rt. 66 trip. Our plan is to leave on Tuesday, the 12th, on
what would have been my parents' 69th anniversary.
We are expecting to be gone for about a month. We will have the car
packed to the gills, have the XM radio that Paul gave me cranked up,
have books and CDs and everything else ready to go.


We have tons of information about our route and everything along it.
But I am sure we won't be limited to it or by it. We have been known to
deviate greatly from a chosen path. We will stop when and where we
want. Our only hotel reservation is in Albuquerque for the Balloon
Fiesta in early October. We may travel 20 miles a day or 200. (I
very much doubt that we would ever do much more than that, but who
knows?) We might find something or somewhere that strikes our fancy
and just decide to stay for a couple or few days.

Needless to say, we have no idea if we will get all the way to L.A.
or not. That doesn't seem all that important right now. We believe that IT'S
THE JOURNEY, NOT THE DESTINATION that's important.

It is possible that in our wanderings we may get to within shouting
distance of family or friends. If so, we will try to give you a shout and see if
we can come up with anything. Rt. 66 will take us through parts of Illinois,
Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California.


We also hope to get to Arkansas. Course, Utah, Nevada, Colorado are all
not that far away eithe. How about returning through Memphis?)

I expect that we will be able to retrieve e-mail messages every once
in a while, so if you would like to keep in touch that would be fine. I hope,
though, that you will hold on to those "forwards" until we return.

The best way to keep informed about our travels may be to check
David's blog:
http://db-cf-route66.blogspot.com/
He hopes to be able to update it periodically, technology permitting.

Weather and health have been, are, and will be important
considerations, of course. Our final decision about when to leave
was based on the weather forecast for the weekend. I have not had a
vertigo episode since the one in upper New York State on July 5th.
David has felt better in the last couple of weeks than previously,
possibly because of some changes in medications. We are hopeful that
we will be able to maintain our state of relative well-being for the
next month. Or minimally that we both don't get stricken at the same
time.

I am very excited about and really looking forward to this trip, as
is David. Take care and be well.

Love you, Mom/Connie

All the way to LA?

My friend Kathy wrote today, asking if we might get all the way to the end of the Mother Road, which is Santa Monica. She lives out in LA. Actually, I would be very surprised if we do--but it is not impossible!

We've also had an invitation to stop by and see an old friend in Phoenix. And Connie has relatives in Texas.

Who knows where we will end up??

See America before its gone

There is a "philosophy" behind our travels, which I would call "see America before its gone," or "while its still here." This applies to man-made and natural artifacts and environments.

Every day, buildings or businesses from an earlier era disappear. Many small towns, and many family farms, and many steel mills and other industrial sites, have essentially "dried up." The same is true, of course, of areas of natural beauty or ecological importance.

Meanwhile, the U.S. (and the world!) is becoming much more homogeneous. The same restaurants, the same stores, everywhere you go. Essential signs of "localism" and regionalism are disappearing.

Driving the "old roads" is a way to see some of what is left, and elements of what is now closed or gone. Often one travels just a couple miles away from the interstates, but still, it can be a whole different world.




That is what Connie and I like to do. It is a fascinating, charming, nostalgic, and also melancholy business. But it is our way to travel, and it is also our philosophy about where our money should best be spent.

We will leave on Tuesday--5 days to go!

In the end, the weather decided. It seems like there might well be rain along much of our route on Sunday and Monday. So we will leave on Tuesday, after the weather changes for the better!

When will we leave?

Exactly when this trip will start is not yet determined. It could be as early as Sunday the 10th, or it might be up to a week later. But it can't be soon enough for me!



After we get started, we are expecting to be "on the road" for three or four weeks. That is, we will return sometime around October 10th-15th.

Distance

The total distance from Chicago to Santa Monica is about 2280 miles. The half way point is Adrian TX (near Armarilo). We certainly hope to get at least that far!!



The precise distance depends on the exact route you follow. US 66 was re-routed several times. For example, one route went through Santa Fe, while a later route did not. That shows in the little map, above.

The only reservations we have made in advance are for the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.

Our prior 66 trips

Earlier we have traveled the distance between Chicago and Bloomington IL (where Robert lives) and most of the old road down to St. Louis as well. So this time we are not going to focus on that closest section.






These photos were taken at the time of Rob and my birthdays in late August last year.

We visited again for birthdays this year, too.

Road conditions

A fair amount of the old pavement is gone or out of service, but in other places, it is still "driveable." And in some states anyhow, it is signed with "Historic Route 66" markers. Illinois is one where it is.

License plates

To show our dedication, we got Illinois Route 66 license plates for the Pacifica. Because of Barbara's interest, we got Illinois "cardinal" license plates for her CR-V.

This trip has been long in the planning

Barbara and Dave had hoped to undertake it in the summer of 2003. Now Dave and Connie are getting to do so in the late summer of 2006. A variety of health concerns have been obstacles, but now we feel ready to go! And are very very excited!

Specifically for this trip, I purchased a Chrysler Pacifica last summer. It is a good "road car," and also suitably named. Up til now, we have taken it as far east as Jersey, as far north as Lake Superior, south all the way through Illinois and down into Misourri, and west as far as Independence.