I recieved the book within a week in excellent condiion. I am very pleased with this seller.
Rating: 5 / 5

Route 66 is also known as the Mother Road. In the early 1900′s roads were built on the local or regional level. Work was spotty and haphazard. It was not until 1926 that the federal highway system was launched. In order to qualify for federal funding highways had to meet standards for surface quality and so on. Marking of highways became consistant across state lines. At first highways were marked by posting black and white shields along roads that already existed. So even though they were not originally built as a connected route, they became one. The major routes ended in a “zero” and stretched from coast to coast. Route 66 was a lesser route stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles.

So how did Route 66 become the “mother road?” In 1939 when John Steinbeck wrote _The Grapes of Wrath_ and gave it that nickname. The Mother Road got a further boost just after WW II when Bobby Troup wrote a song called “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.” About the same time Jack Rittenhouse realized that travel would increase in America and wrote _A Guidebook to Highway 66_. In the 1950′s the federal government began construction of what we now know as interstate highways.

Interstates often paralleled highways like Route 66. Unfortunately their limited access was often the death knell for small businesses that had existed alongside the older highways. Traveling Route 66 is a chance to see what was left aside so many years ago. Knowles organizes his book by state: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Knowles writes charming tales of Americana beginning with Chicago.

My only complaint with this book is that Knowles too quickly begins with the Chicago fire of 1871 and progresses into the 1930′s gangsters. Oh well. Along the route one just has to see the Cadillac Ranch. At the end of the route, Los Angeles (actually Santa Monica is the end of the route) is the site of the La Brea Tar Pits.

This book is for the “heritage tourist,” the person more interested in experiencing the roots of America than its theme parks.
Rating: 5 / 5

I enjoyed the book very much. Our trip is next month, and I can’t WAIT!! The book is coming along, of course.
Rating: 5 / 5