The Griddle

Route 66 runs from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, passing through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Route 66 was a numbered U.S. highway that was designated in 1926. Over the years, the route was modified, re-routed, tweaked, truncated, bypassed, and eventually decommissioned in the 1980's.

Its legacy made a lot of folks eager to preserve the spirit and story of the highway for future generations. Some states designate the path of Route 66 (or a close equivalent) as a scenic route, byway, or a specific state route, like parts of Oklahoma state route 66. The route is also used as the basis for U.S. Bicycle Route 66, as part of the U.S. Bicycle Route network.

NO! It bother's Dave's OCD to no end that someone opened a Route 66 gift shop in San Francisco.

Parts of the original route can still be driven. Other parts cannot for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: abandonment, destruction, reuse as a private drive-way, and conversion to bicycle-only and/or walking-only paths. Other parts are still able to be driven, but have been converted to modern highway standards.

This is a very subjective question, but most folks agree you should spend at least two weeks to get the best experience. It's impossible to see and do everything, though, so the best advice is to do research on the parts you want to see the most and plan around those.

Yes, but parts of the road in western Arizona have sketchy switchbacks and it's quite tricky to navigate those with a larger vehicle. For that stretch, it's best to take an alternate route and backtrack with a smaller car or some alternate method.

No, it's nearly impossible to drive the historic route with signage alone. Since the highway was officially decommissioned, the signage along the route is maintained by each state individually and can vary quite a bit in style and quality. Additionally, the numerous spurs, alternate alignments, and repurposing of the highway can lead to confusing navigation and get you off-track quite easily. Most importantly, the highway being as famous as it is lends itself to folks slapping stickers on the signs or even stealing signage as a souvenir, so the signs may be illegible or missing altogether. It's better to have a GPS or navigation app available as well as a dedicated book or map for navigating in areas with low signal.

Probably not. For the most part, the route does not overlap any major tollways and can be navigated without encountering them.

If you plan to do a mix of actual Route 66 roadway and some modern highways, you may encounter tolls in Illinois and Oklahoma.

For Illinois, you can go to the Illinois Tollway website and register your license plate to pay online, which is recommended if you do not already have a transponder and do not plan to drive in areas where one is needed in the future.

For Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority can bill you by mail via your license plate, but it is more expensive than if you register ahead of time and obtain a Pikepass. Oklahoma also interoperates with nearby states, so drivers from Texas and Kansas should check to see if you already have a tag that works with Oklahoma's turnpikes for automatic billing.

If renting a car for your road trip, your best option is to check with your rental company for terms and conditions related to toll roads and set your navigation app to avoid toll roads when able.

So far Dave has only driven a little over half of Route 66 — mostly the eastern half — mostly covering sections from Chicago, Illinois through Santa Fe, New Mexico. Some of his favorite places along the route include:

• Doc's Just off 66 in Girard, IL
• Route 66 State Park on the site of the former town of Times Beach, MO
• The Blue Whale of Catoosa in Catoosa, OK
• Buck Atom's on 66 in Tulsa, OK (The Land of the Giants!)
• Pop's Soda Ranch in Arcadia, OK
• Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, TX
• Dream Maker Station at the midpoint of Route 66 in Adrian, TX
• Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe, NM
• Santa Monica Pier, the unofficial “End of the Road” in Santa Monica, CA

The print version of the book isn't available yet, but Dave hopes to get it into some of the shops along the way for enjoying on your road trip, either as a passenger through the quieter parts, or after hours in your motel room or the back of the RV. If you work with or own a shop along Route 66 and would be interested in carrying the book, please e-mail Dave for information!

The following shops plan to carry the print edition when it's available:

• Dream Maker Station at the midpoint of Route 66 in Adrian, TX
• Antares Point, home of Giganticus Headicus, near Kingman, AZ