Sunday, April 27, 2008

Pulling thoughts together

Don't go away Blog fans. Come back and visit. Now that the whirlwind trip is over, I can finally put my thoughts together and I'll do my best to share them with you.

I still don't know if I was gone nine or ten days. Regardless, what I do know is that it just wasn't enough time to really see 66. There is so much to explore on Route 66. I strongly urge any of you who think you might be interested, or are evenly slightly curious, in checking out Route 66 that you DO IT! Try it in small pieces, make it an adventure! There is so much to explore, so much to see of America. There are lives out there so unlike our own, and yet, they are still similar. It is amazing to see how this one road influenced the lives of so many people and cultures. Communities were literally left high and dry when the limited-access freeway came along. Towns got up and moved in order to be closer to the road.

66 is closing up, little by little. At least 8-10 of the places in my guidebook (published in 2005) were closed, out of business, or entirely unable to be found (demolished?). My only guess is that "progress" prevented their continued success. Businesses that had been open since the early years of the 20th century were closed, having survived the first storm when 66 was shut down, but unable to keep up business in the many years later. It is true that 66 is experiencing a resurgence in interest in our country, but it won't keep these businesses open forever. Now is the time to see 66. Do it before its too late. Don't make excuses. Tomorrow will be too late. See time as it stands still in some of these places. See what the world offered then when 66 was in its heyday. Open your eyes. I promise its worth every bit of trouble you may encounter in getting there.

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