Route 66 - Remnants of the American Dream

Since the first time we came up with the idea of trav­el­ing the very best parts of the world famous Route 66, we have always been amazed at the sights we have seen and the won­der­ful peo­ple we have met. In 2026 things are going to be even more excit­ing as The Moth­er Road cel­e­brates 100 years, 1926 to 2026, we will be there to join in the cen­ten­ni­al cel­e­bra­tions! As part of this incred­i­ble road trip, we will be stay­ing in two of the most famous and icon­ic motels that were wel­com­ing road-trip­pers in its hey­day, The Blue Swal­low in Tucum­cari and El Ran­cho in Gallup.

We trav­el from Texas to Las Vegas across desert lands and through the orig­i­nal Route 66 towns soak­ing up the atmos­phere, cul­ture and his­to­ry. Route 66 was by far one of the most famous high­ways in the world and it
orig­i­nal­ly spanned two and a half thou­sand miles from Chica­go to Los Ange­les. Clear­ly, we will not be trav­el­ing the entire route, but we have cho­sen the very best trea­sures that remain today.

We will begin with all of us meet­ing up and begin­ning our adven­ture in Amar­ril­lo in Texas before we head west to the aban­doned towns along this stretch of ​“The Moth­er Road” such as Glen­rio and San Jon. We will stay in the amaz­ing town of Tucum­cari for two nights which is still a thriv­ing town lit­tered with rem­nants of the hey­day and where the world-famous Blue Swal­low Motel still wel­comes guests. 

As we trav­el futher west will stop to pho­to­graph the famous Art Nou­veau style Route 66 Din­er and we will be stop­ping at towns en route such as Grants and Gallup which are lit­tered with old rust­ing clas­sic cars, gas sta­tions, motels and clas­sic Amer­i­can din­ers. We will not be dash­ing through. We will spend time explor­ing these fas­ci­nat­ing places, each of which has its own unique arti­facts, all of which offer a wealth of pho­to­graph­ic oppor­tu­ni­ty. Each day will be packed with char­ac­ter, fun and quite frankly bizarre places, not to men­tion the peo­ple we will meet along the highway.

Towns that are a ​‘must vis­it’ are Hol­brook with the icon­ic Wig­wam Motel which was inspi­ra­tion for the Dis­ney ​“Cars” movie, and of course we will be stop­ping at Winslow which was the inspi­ra­tion for the Eagles song, ​“Take It Easy” which fea­tured the lyrics, ​“Well, I’m stand­ing on a cor­ner in Winslow Arizona”.

There are too many places and sights to men­tion here, but rest assured it will be the trip of a life­time full of expe­ri­ences and one that will con­clude with a night in Las Vegas where we can pho­to­graph the lights of this icon­ic casi­no city. What a road trip this will be vis­it­ing Texas, New Mex­i­co, Ari­zona and fin­ish­ing in Nevada!