Back in time on Route 66

There is no On the Road-journey that can compete with the travel par excellence, the one that retraces the historic Route 66, once the "mother road" that connected East to West, the backbone of America, the main communication route of the United States, now a faded furrow in the endless American plains that clings strenuously to its roots, refusing to surrender to modernity.

Perhaps one of the most predictable journeys to be made in the United States, and yet so predictable as to be unmissable. One cannot say to have seen America until one has become part of the history of this road.

A piece of American history, inaugurated in the 1920's, one of the first highways in the United States that was born in Chicago, in a point of the city now encompassed by the skyscrapers of the center, and went as far as the port of Santa Monica, in Los Angeles.

Intensively used during the migrations to the west coast in the '30s and '40s, it then began to fall into disuse in the '80s, when it was gradually replaced by the more modern and equipped highways and high-speed interstates.

It crossed as many as 8 states, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, and in the years of its most intensive use, it promoted the growth of numerous centers and communities in its vicinity. Entire villages developed their economies around the needs of this road, traveled by truckers and travelers who needed workshops, gas stations, cafes and motels.

As the road was later replaced, many of these towns were either abandoned or simply weakened. 

It wasn't until the 1990s that the various states crossed by Route 66 began to create associations for the protection of what was left around the mother road. 

The road was included in the Historical Heritage of the USA and acquired the name Historic Route 66. Some sections of the route are also marked as Scenic Byway, and today many of the businesses that have made the history of the mother road have been restored, reactivated, or become living museums, and help keep the history of this road alive.

Route 66 has been detoured in different steps, especially in 1937, when some sections were abandoned and replaced by new routes.

Many of the pre-1937 stretches have now disappeared, but in some areas there is still a junction between the two routes, and you can choose which one you want to take. Bear in mind that the older stretches often die, and you will have to go back or reconnect to the nearest Interstate. 

Moreover, in some segments Route 66 has definitely disappeared: it is not uncommon to reach a barrier that marks the end of the road, or to see the asphalt gradually getting lost among the uncultivated fields, and you have to take these singularities into account to plan a more or less continuous route. In these portions it is necessary to return to the nearest detour and take the Highway until the next stretch.

Signs indicating the route of historic Route 66 are located along the road; when you are forced to take the highway, you will probably find a sign indicating the first exit that rejoins Route 66.In the states of Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, the distinction between the two pre- and post-1937 stretches is well marked and the signs are very detailed. Less in the following states.

In fact, just because it is better signposted and preserved, sometimes the first part of Rote 66 seems more fake, something more artificial, preserved purely for tourist purposes. As you venture on the more abandoned portions of the Mother Road, you can better perceive the delightful decadence, you jump back in the 50s and everything acquires more charm.

The fields are littered with abandoned vehicles, pick ups or old Chevrolets that have been rusting for almost a century. Desert towns begin to be outposts faded by the sun, with dangling neon signs, old diners frequented by bikers and truckers, barely readable signs and crumbling buildings.

The people who still inhabit these places are suspended in time like everything else, clinging to what remains of Route 66, without having been affected by modernity.