Interesting happenings from 1937

Jim asked, "What about I 25 through Sante Fe and Albuquerque? I found references to that."

This is why I think this is a hard question to get a definitive answer to! My answer is still five, though. Here's my reasoning. Route 66 up through Santa Fe and down to Albuquerque was the pre-1937 route. So I-25 didn't really bypass Route 66...it bypassed itself in 1937 when they changed it so it ran from Santa Rosa directly to Albuquerque, and then I-40 bypassed that section.

Thoughts?

It's a small world after all

Joe and Sandy! I hope you stop by again before you head off on your trip. I wanted to tell you that when you posted, I thought I recognized your names from somewhere, and after a little investigation, it turns out I'm not crazy. (Yay!) We actually met at the fair last year. You know my father, Don, from the postal service, and I believe you've even stayed at my house during RAGBRAI!

All together now...it's a small world after all!

Have a wonderful trip!

Two weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, a year

David - Thanks for stopping by and posting. We did our trip from Chicago to Santa Monica in 8 days. I know some people out there are aghast that we moved along so quickly, but we're young and not necessarily drowning in vacation time and/or money, so we worked with what we had. I feel like we still saw nearly everything we wanted to see, so if 8 days is all you can manage, it will not be a waste of your time.

If I had to do it again, though, I wouldn't do it in any less than two weeks. I think my parents are looking at taking a month to six weeks (this would certainly allow you to do many side trips to attractions that are slightly off the Route).

One thing that did catch me off guard - because we're Midwesterners, we planned longer days across Illinois and Missouri, figuring "Eh, we've seen Illinois and Missouri a million times!" But there seemed to be a lot more Route 66 attractions along the first several hundred miles of the Route than you might find in, say, New Mexico. Just something to keep in mind.

I hope you'll stop back and let us know how your plans are going!

Now it's fractured into many new numbers. How many?

First off, we are so excited that Joe and Sandy stopped by to visit the site and left a comment. Ann and I had a great time chatting with you at the Iowa State Fair and I hope you'll come back when you've finished the next leg of your trip and give us a recap. We want to know where you stopped, where you stayed, what you ate, who you met - all those good details!

Second, Jim is my new best friend. Thanks for posting and please come back again! Really - all you Marlboro types, we're very happy to help out and happy to see so many people visiting the site. I hope someone will report back and tell us how the contest goes. When is it supposed to wrap up?

With regards to clue #39, I'm guessing they're talking about major interstates, so the answer is five: I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15 and I-10 all bypassed Route 66.

Any chance you've seen a video related to the contest that features interviews with road trippers?

And o-rings? Like NASA?

Unfortunately Sherrie has been swamped with work and grad school lately, but we'll keep bugging her to post about her re-visit to New Mexico and Arizona. I did hear from her that eating at the Route 66 Malt Shop in Albuquerque was another stellar experience. *drool*