Route 66 memories.......anyone?

[grantgeneral78]

Here is that video we were talking about at the get together PAPA......GUYS CHECK IT OUT! Will Rodgers at his best he was amazing!
YouTube - ROPIN' FOOL (1922) Will Rogers Reel 1

[BB37]

Wow, lots of memories.

We made a trip to San Diego in '63; my folks, my brother and me, and my grandfather, to visit my uncle (dad's brother) who was in the Navy stationed at Coronado. Seems like right after we crossed into Texas we started seeing roadside signs with a picture of a rabbit and "xxx miles." We saw those signs all across the Tx panhandle, New Mexico and Arizona. Finally, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Arizona we drove up to the Jackrabbit trading post. I remember thinking, "that's all? (I was only 9, and not cynical)"

And yeah, we got suckered into buying one of those canvas water bags and hung it on the front grille. Never used it again -- that bag hung in the garage for years until it finally rotted.

I also remember those 50-yard long, painted roadside signs for Whiting Bros. gas stations. Those also were scattered along 66 through the panhandle, NM and AZ.

We went south at Flagstaff, and stopped for lunch in Yuma. Got out of grandad's air conditioned Olds and stepped into a blast furnace.

[hagrid]

My family made the trip from L.A. to OK on Route 66 between 1958 and the early 60s at least 10 times in my early childhood. We have a lot of great memories from those trips.

As a small child, it was the greatest adventure in the world. We always crossed the desert outside Needles, CA during the night time. I remember once it was 87 F at 2 AM. We rarely, if ever, stayed in motels. My parents always pulled over and we slept on the side of the road. We would get to know other cars on the trip. And seeing OK tags was always a welcome sight while traveling.

Some highlights include seeing a tornado somewhere in NM. We pulled over to some people's house and they let us come inside their house when the hail came down right after we saw the tornado. I remember they were two old white ladies. Very prim and proper. And I was about 4 years old. They asked us lots of questions about what tribe were we and they had a lot of Indian artifacts in glass shelves. They were very nice people. I thought they were rich people.

I remember our car breaking down, and some old man stopped and helped us. Then after our car was fixed we got on down the road and later my Dad stopped and helped the same man when we were driving on black ice. It was the middle of the night when we stopped to help him.

I remember sitting in the car watching the snow flurries for what seemed like hours while they worked on his car. I remember my Dad and that man lying beneath his car for a very long time. I was very proud of my father for recognizing that man's car and stopping. It was like a miracle to me at my young age. But I think people were like that in the old days. I mean people helping each other out in times of need.

Most of all I remember my Dad bringing a large folgers can, because he would not stop for us to go pee!

We used to laugh at the tourist signs too. The shaver cans. For some reason, my parents never stopped at Stuckeys. While my cousins remember Stuckeys as a mainstay of their Route 66 trip.

[Generals64]

Does anyone remember the name of the filling stations along Route 66?....Whiting Brothers.............Big Yellow signs .........The signs are still out along the road in Arizona but now they are Love's or some other chain....

[jmarkross]

Does anyone remember the name of the filling stations along Route 66?....Whiting Brothers.............Big Yellow signs .........The signs are still out along the road in Arizona but now they are Love's or some other chain....

Terrible Herbst...my favorites