"If you ever plan to motor west, travel my way, take the highway that is best. Get your kicks on Route sixty-six was Nat King Cole's advice. But the highway John Steinbeck labeled the Mother Road in The Grapes of Wrath (1939), was not built for kicks. The so-called Main Street of America was established in 1926 to connect Chicago, Illinois, with Santa Monica, California, through the states of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona."
"During World War II it was crucial for the movement of troops; in the 1950s and 60s it attracted families on vacation, then featured on TV with the series Route 66. In the 1960s and 1970s, hippies and beatniks turned it into the road trip par excellence. In the 1980s, the express highway plan rendered it all but obsolete. It has only survived thanks to local associations keen to preserve the Historic Route 66 together with travelers from all over the world."
Route 66 was established in 1926 to connect Chicago with Santa Monica across Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The road served as a key troop movement route during World War II and later attracted families on vacation in the 1950s and 60s, then inspired a television series. In the 1960s and 70s it became emblematic of countercultural road trips. An express highway program in the 1980s rendered much of the route obsolete. Local associations and international travelers have preserved many stretches, but the highway is fragmented, with missing or closed sections, confusing signage, and sparse services.
Read at english.elpais.com
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