Route 66

ajmoney

Hi,

I was wondering if any of you have road tripped it on route 66, how you did it, if you organised it yourself etc?

Thanks in anticipation

Mr_Lahey

I have drove on huge parts of it, probably 2 thirds and I have to say - It is just a bunch of roads. Nothing special and not what you might be expecting.

A few tacky gift shops every 100 mile or so, other than that nothing but desert and plains. Not actually that good at all.

ajmoney

Would we be better touring round the national parks or the coast etc then?

Mr_Lahey

Undoubtedly, the classic is (or a variation of) LA - San Fran up the Pacific Coast, then to Yosemite (in winter go via Lake Tahoe instead) Then head down Death Valley to Vegas - Grand Canyon - LA.

Thats a decent 2 week itinerary, if you have longer look at putting in Monument Valley, Utah and even Colorado.
Give yourself 2 days in LA and no more, the same goes for San Fran, make sure you arrive in Vegas on a Monday and leave by Friday morning (hotels go up 200%+ Fri/Sat/sun)
Maybe look at hitting Laughlin and London bridge if you get to Vegas at the weekend.

A lot of good stuff to see can be seen within a day out of the car window - A perfect example is Death Valley with the odd stop here and there en route to Vegas.

Distances are much quicker to travel in the US and 500 miles can be done within a day, 400 easily.
200 miles before lunch. The speed limit is 65/75 (usually 65) but you can quite easily sit at 100 for the whole day and never be bothered.

C_Mababejive

ajmoney wrote: »

Would we be better touring round the national parks or the coast etc then?

Dont base all your trip on route 66.

There are some interesting bits but you need to plan a trip round other things and just dip in and out of certain route 66 sections.

Paddy2eyes

Mr_Lahey wrote: »

The speed limit is 65/75 (usually 65) but you can quite easily sit at 100 for the whole day and never be bothered.

DO NOT heed this advice. If you do there is a reasonable chance you will be caught and fined. It is totally irresponsible to infer that you can break the law unchallenged. In my experience US traffic cops are not always the most gracious and friendly people.

neilbond007

Paddy2eyes wrote: »

DO NOT heed this advice. If you do there is a reasonable chance you will be caught and fined. It is totally irresponsible to infer that you can break the law unchallenged. In my experience US traffic cops are not always the most gracious and friendly people.

Cops are cracking down on speed over here at the moment.
I normally drive as I did in the UK. If it's a 65 - about 72. If it's 70 - about 76.

It's much more relaxing driving this side of the pond. Flick the cruise control on and sit back and enjoy...

PS - I've been here 13 months and have yet to overtake a car on a single carriage road

greenface

Mr_Lahey wrote: »

Undoubtedly, the classic is (or a variation of) LA - San Fran up the Pacific Coast, then to Yosemite (in winter go via Lake Tahoe instead) Then head down Death Valley to Vegas - Grand Canyon - LA.

Thats a decent 2 week itinerary, if you have longer look at putting in Monument Valley, Utah and even Colorado.
Give yourself 2 days in LA and no more, the same goes for San Fran, make sure you arrive in Vegas on a Monday and leave by Friday morning (hotels go up 200%+ Fri/Sat/sun)
Maybe look at hitting Laughlin and London bridge if you get to Vegas at the weekend.

A lot of good stuff to see can be seen within a day out of the car window - A perfect example is Death Valley with the odd stop here and there en route to Vegas.

Distances are much quicker to travel in the US and 500 miles can be done within a day, 400 easily.
200 miles before lunch. The speed limit is 65/75 (usually 65) but you can quite easily sit at 100 for the whole day and never be bothered.

You are so well travelled since your parents told you to run away from home.
Well take this advice well as you dont get bothered have yourself a bottle of gin before you set off and some crack for the journey load your gun for robbing a few gas stations on the way.
Stay at home because your village misses their idiot.

Mr_Lahey

greenface wrote: »

You are so well travelled since your parents told you to run away from home.
Well take this advice well as you dont get bothered have yourself a bottle of gin before you set off and some crack for the journey load your gun for robbing a few gas stations on the way.
Stay at home because your village misses their idiot.

Pardon?

Re the speed limit - There is very very rarely any police in the deserts (in my experience) and you will find that many drivers are sat at 80/90.
I have been caught speeding twice in the US but both were in built up areas (once Orlando and once Los Angeles) both times i got a simple lecture and let off.

dzug1

Mr_Lahey wrote: »

Pardon?

Re the speed limit - There is very very rarely any police in the deserts (in my experience) and you will find that many drivers are sat at 80/90.
I have been caught speeding twice in the US but both were in built up areas (once Orlando and once Los Angeles) both times i got a simple lecture and let off.

maybe - but police in the deserts can be in spotter planes and radio their chums who won't be seen until you are caught.

Clearly many get away with speeding - as they do here - but habitual ones will eventually get caught.

C_Mababejive

Paddy2eyes wrote: »

DO NOT heed this advice. If you do there is a reasonable chance you will be caught and fined. It is totally irresponsible to infer that you can break the law unchallenged. In my experience US traffic cops are not always the most gracious and friendly people.

I agree. In my experience, Cops in the US are not afraid to enforce the law and challenge people. Its common to see cops parked up speed trapping and they will nick you....anyway,you can cover a lot of miles in the US in a day simply becuase of the space and lack of traffic. Bring a good sat nav as roads around major cities such as LA can be busy and you need to concentrate on driving rather than navigating.