WEST ON 66
Page 27
"I know, Princess. Take your time. There are a whole lot of tomorrows out there."
And there are.
Like a lot of my generation, I've read some Jack Kerouac. I understand only about half of what the guy is saying, and I agree with only about half of what I understand. There was one phrase, though, that did stick in my mind, something about "a fast car and a coast to reach and a woman at the end of the road."
Well, I have a fast car and I've reached my coast. But my woman ran with me down every long mile of that road.
What happens now? Like Lisette, I truly don't know. Our relationship was conceived out there on the highway. Like the flight of the Okies down the Mother Road, it was something born out of fear and desperation, necessity and need. Whether it's also something we can make grow in a more or less normal world, that we'll have to learn. The Princess and I are the kind of people who understand that "happily ever afters" can be hard to come by sometimes. But we'll live it out, one day at a time, and see how it goes.
Life is like a run down Route 66. You never know what's waiting for you around the next curve.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
On October 13, 1984, near the town of Williams, Arizona, the last stretch of old Route 66 was decommissioned and bypassed by Interstate 40. On that day, the Mother Road ceased to be a highway and became a legend.
Route 66 is the last Great American Trail. It is one with the Natchez Trace and the Great Platte River Road—a pathway etched across the land, not by pork barrel politics or for the convenience of national policy, but born out of the needs and desires of the people who wished to travel it. It's a thin thread of concrete that stitches together the defining places and events of an era in the history of the United States. It was and still is a uniquely American adventure. In the author's opinion, a journey through the heartland along the remnants of Route 66 is one of the best ways conceivable to bring yourself in tune with what we were, with what we are, and with what we are becoming.
About 85 percent of the old two-lane can still be driven. The states and communities along the 66 corridor have done an excellent job of marking the old alignments as historic and scenic byways. Many businesses and even private homes along the route also proudly display the 66 shield. In addition, every corridor state has a Route 66 Association, eager to provide travelers with information on the old road
Portions of this book were written 'on location" during the author's own exploration of the Mother Road, and many of the story's events are set at actual sites along Route 66. Some of the concerns mentioned, such as the Coral Court motel, are gone now, victims of economic decay and urban development. Other's, such as the Dixie Trucker's Home, the El Rancho hotel, the Wigwam Village Motor Court, and Juan Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive In, are alive and thriving. The only truly "made up" locale in West on 66 is the town of Peerless, and even i is a composite of the numerous bypassed and abandoned road communities that can be found along the western inter -states.
Likewise, Jack D. Rittenhouse's A Guide Book to Highway 66 is also quite real. The epigraphs as well as the plot points used in West on 66 come verbatim from this source. A facsimile edition of Mr. Rittenhouse's fascinating book, possibly the first complete travel guide for an international highway ever written, is available through the University of New Mexico Press. It is a must-have for anyone interested in the history of the Mother Road.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank the members of the Federal Way Writers Group for their support, commentary, and assistance in the development of this book. Marv, Robin, Eric, Jean, Brandon, everybody, I'm not saying that it couldn't have been done without you, but it would have been a lot harder and the end product wouldn't have been as good. My thanks also to the many and varied friends, relatives, and other assorted hangers-on here at Otter Truth Enterprises. You're all part of the package.
I would also like to acknowledge the inspiration of Tom Snyder, the author of The Route 66 Traveler's Guide and Roadside Companion, Michael Karl Witzel, the author of Route 66 Remembered, and finally, especially, Michael Wallis, the author of Route 66, the Mother Road and the Commander and Chief of the Road Warriors. Thank you, gentlemen; you got me started.
The author of West on 66 may be reached at DDG 79 @AOL.COM. All criticism and commentary gratefully accepted.