Get Your Kicks...

So for the past two days we've been following the basic route of Route 66, without following the actual "Route 66". I didn't realize this until I was researching this trip, but "Route 66" technically doesn't exist anymore -- that is, you can't actually get on a highway called Route 66 and continuously drive it from Chicago to LA like you could once upon a time. You can to some extent follow the basic path of the highway formerly known as Route 66, but it involves some seriously difficult navigation, since the route (surprisingly) isn't very well marked in some areas. You've got to turn here, turn there, and the whole exercise is kind of difficult and time-consuming, and with just one week left in our trip and a bunch of stuff we still want to see, we just ain't got the time or patience.

So we've basically been following the interstate with occasional forays on to Route 66. One of the highlights so far has been Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas:


Not quite Carhenge, but a pretty good consolation prize. Cadillac Ranch is a good "Only in America" kind of attraction since it really does seem to serve no other purpose other than just looking weird. It's just in the middle of a big field along the side of the road. There's no admission fee, no gift shop next to it, no explanatory sign or plaque -- it's just a bunch of cars sticking out of the ground for no particular reason. Not that I'm complaining or anything. It's good stuff.

We do like taking Route 66 at night because the towns along Route 66 are totally frozen in time -- hotels and restuarants with cheesy neon signs right out of the 1950s, buildings of old businesses that look like they haven't been operating for 25 years, that kinda thing. Here's the restaurant where we ate last night in New Mexico:

And then there have been some pretty good road signs, like this one near Amarillo, Texas:

That's right, you can get a free 72-ounce steak at Big Texan Ranch in Amarillo, Texas! All you have to do is, uh, finish a 72-ounce steak. I was kind of obsessed after seeing this sign so I looked it up on the Internet after we got to our hotel room. The most interesting stat I learned is that about 20% of the men who try to finish the big-ass steak succeed (about 200 out of 1,000 per year), while about 50% of the women succeed (about 2 out of 4 per year).

Basic moral of the story: men are macho idiots.

I also would give anything to have somehow seen the 69-year-old grandmother who reportedly did the deed...