VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION Meets, Tours & Events Route 66 Tour in 2014

Approximately one year from this week, a bunch of folks are planning on departing the Pacific Northwest for a tour of Route 66. In our early planning we expect to join the route at Oklahoma City and then tour the remaining half from there to Santa Monica, CA.

This will be a VCCA tour with no restrictions on the cars that can attend.

Does anyone have suggestions for places that we should stop at - or where we should spend Memorial Day Weekend (probably in Calif by then)?

--Bill Barker

I'm having second thoughts about going through Oklahoma City one year from now.

Our condolences to all.

--Bill B

Bill are you and your friends setting up the tour or joining one already organized? There are plenty of potential stops along the route. Are you going to try to drive as many miles on the actual route (some sections are now just dirt trails, dead ends, etc.)? We have done several sections on other VCCA tours in the area. There is a bunch of interesting stuff to see. Just be aware that the route changed over the years and in some places there are more than one that were part of Route 66.

The whole Route 66 tour was made in 2006 by a lot of Norwegian owned american cars. They planned for a long period and searched all opportunities to drive all the old roads, and most of the route was experienced.

You may contact Harry Kjensli hk@bionature.no to ask the route 66 plan a little later as he along with a lot more Scandinavian people is at this very moment moment celebrating/driving the Lincoln Highway 100 anniversary.

Route 66/2006: http://www.cruise66.com

http://astro4.ast.vill.edu/66/66.htm

http://route66news.com/2006/03/26/swedish-group-will-drive-route-66-in-vintage-cars/

http://www.webformation.co/directory/index.php?c=Recreation/Roads_and_Highways/Route_66#.UaX6m5zVQls

Lincoln Highway 2013: http://lh2013.com/

Good luck to you all from !!

Thanks all.

So far, I'm planning it all from scratch. Have purchased some books, maps and researched a lot on the web. Some states and cities do a great job of promoting.

I understand that lots of the old highway is unusable, or just not worth trying to find. We're looking for the most memorable visitor spots without being too concerned about missing original stretches of nothing.

Hi Bill,
In 2007 my wife and I made the Route 66 trip from Illinois all the way to Santa Monica, CA in our 1950 Plymouth. It was a wonderful, adventure filled trip and well worth the effort. We used "EZ66 Guide for Travelers" by Jerry McClanahan and have recommended it to several people. Everyone that we have told about it has found it to be very helpful.
It is set up to take you either East to West - or West to East.
It not only gives you all of the available routes that you can follow, it tells you which ones were used in the 1920's, 30's, 40's etc. It contains all points of interest including the history of each place.
It also contains some very good suggestions for lodging with addresses and phone numbers, places to eat, museums and even some places that you might want to avoid.
It is published by the National Historic Route 66 Federation and the ISBN is: 0-9709951-4-8.
I hope this is of help to you.

Bill. Write to or call Harry and ask him about the possible, usable roads. He used months long time before the tour to search for the original highway and should be able to give you valuable help. They had all accomondations reserved and had a very special tour. 50 people and 17 cars. A short call on his cell phone will give you an idea of his knowledge: ++47 900 88 078. Harry is often working in USA too, so the communication with him should be very close for you. He is in USA now on the Lincoln Highway tour.

The Heart of Route 66 Region of VCCA used to drive portions of this route every August in Oklahoma. There is not only one old route 66 but in some area multiple old route 66 routes. The original route had many 90 degree turns, and through the years they softened these curves changing the alignment and sometimes they moved the highway by a mile or more. The neatest alignment in Oklahoma is between Miami, Oklahoma and Afton, Oklahoma. Some of this is called the "nine foot alignment", because the highway is only nine foot wide and the orignal paving is still there in spots on what today is county farm roads. A VCCA Southern Fall Tour, toured on these nine foot alignments about 4 years ago. Europeans, especially Germans love to tour the old Route 66. I saw a large group of older Volvo's once driving on the route and most had european tags. 20 years ago I had some older gentlemen that were in their late 80's to early 90's then show me the route through Tulsa because I could not quite figure it out. That was a great day because they shared many Route 66 stories.

Dang, this is exciting. I just spent 90 minutes at AAA yesterday getting maps, books and ideas. I told her that I'd be back in December or January to make the motel reservations (for May 2014).

Still trying to figure out miles per day and SPECIFIC evening stops.

Have heard from a bunch of folks who "think" that they want to join us. Our original group of 4 has now ballooned to 12. Wow.

Once I get everything documented, I'm thinking of posting it in the MEMBERS area so that others can take advantage of my research. I've got some spreadsheets built with mileage and scenic stops identified.

The biggest thing that I can't control, is "How much is gas going to cost us?"

I can't remember... was Obama Care going to help us old foggies with our gas expenses too? If so, then maybe I should include medical stops along the way. Ha ha.

Bill, I would like to meet your group in Oklahoma. And tour with you, probably as far as Needles, CA. Keep us posted.
Cleon

Okay Cleon. Be sure to check back here in August, December and January.

(PS. Jim Farris told me to say "hi".)

--Bill Barker