Hot Rods Route 66

The previous posts remind me of my Grandparents. This recalls me to a time in the early '50s my grandparents' trip from East to the Pacific. He was recovering from surgery at the time.
She needed to be taught to drive,,( '50 Plymouth ex-taxicab ) And gearshift.
I'm certain they wound up on 66, by the 'souvenirs' they presented.
I have of spoke this before, but always amusing to me is a visit I made to My MomMom, In '88
During our visit I mused about the cost of gasoline on their trip.
With no hesitation, she half turned in her chair reached back to the book shelves and produced a small book.
Showing me the last page I learned,,,, Round trip $72

 

I have driven parts on the bike . That was America at its best , for me . The Blue Ridge Parkway is one also if you ever can get to drive on and enjoy America

 

I turned 80 in June. 66 has been a big part of my life. I have done the whole thing but not on one trip. We lived in the Texas Panhandle and my grandparent moved from there to Northern California in 1940. We made at least one trip a year until we moved to CA in '59. My brother & I took his '39 Ford coupe to CA in 1858. He was 18 and I was 13. Much of the trip was the familiar Route 66 we knew.
Break downs and amazing roadside repairs were all part of our trips. Dad pulled the pan on a '42 Dodge to remove a rod that was knocking at Peach Springs AZ. When we got to Hackberry he paid a gas station/shop owner to use his shop. He smoothed the crank with emory cloth turning the engine with the plugs removed with the starter. He replaced the insert well enough to Get us to Pittsburg CA. There he pulled the bottom end with the block still in the car. Rebuilt the bottom end installed new rings, lapped the valves and had it ready the night before we headed home.
In the early 50s movies were mostly black & white. We had no TV. Neon lit towns at night. Neon was an art form. Bright and colorful signs were everywhere moving light shows. Cowboys roping steers, Indians shooting buffalo & cowboys, windmills pumping water, lightning flashes and rain falling from clouds, shooting stars, planes with turning propellers., running streams with swimming fish, wild animals moving through forests .......if it could be thought of there was a neon image.
We could not afford "Motor Lodges" so Dad drove "straight through" with a couple of naps when Mom drove. At night I asked him to wake me up every time we came to a town so I could see the neon. The closest I get to that feeling now is at Disney Cars Land at night. I actually tear up!
This month we will be heading to a family gathering in Amarillo and I'll do as much Old 66 as I can.