By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman
MotorwayAmerica

(July 1, 2016) Mom and pop motels, camp grounds and trailer courts were filled with visitors during the summer months at the height of Route 66's popularity from the 1930s through the 1960s. So part of the fun of recreating the Route 66 experience from Chicago to Santa Monica is staying at vintage stopovers. There are several and the MotorwayAmerica crew has jumped on the opportunity to discover how it really was to get "your kicks on Route 66."

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

(June 29, 2016) Truck stops are known for their good — if somewhat greasy — food and for that reason have become popular eating places in communities all over the country. We found the food at the massive Russell's Travel Center at the Texas-New Mexico state line on Interstate 40 and old Route 66 to have excellent all-American eats, but there's more to Russell's than just the food, gas and a big convenience store.

(June 29, 2016) You probably won't find it on many travel guides, but the five Volkswagen Beetle frames buried nose down in the dirt near Conway, Texas — called the "Slug Bug Ranch" — is an obvious answer to the nearby and considerably more famous Cadillac Ranch. But at the Slug Bug people are urged to bring their spray paint and add their own touch to the colorful display.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

(June 28, 2016) Only 13 miles of the historic Route 66 that connected Chicago with Santa Monica, Calif., via a hard-surface road runs through Kansas linking Joplin, Mo., with Miami, Okla. We discovered Monday that the short stretch of Kansas road has been preserved in its original state in several places, one of Route 66's most historic bridges is still standing — and we drove across it — and the people in the towns of Galena, Riverton and Baxter Springs have gone to great lengths to preserve their little section of the national treasure.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman
MotorwayAmerica

(June 27, 2016) PARIS SPRINGS, Mo. — George Boswick came ambling out of the nearly 100-year-old  garage at Gary Turner's Sinclair Station on old Route 66 in the village of Paris Springs where he had been working in the 90 degree heat. "How can I help you," he asked, obviously ready to help us.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

(June 26, 2016) CUBA, Mo. — He collects rabbits — the furry kind and the Volkswagen kind — at his roadside gift shop, collection of automotive relics, and real, live bunnies on historic Route 66 in Stauton, Ill. His name is Rich Henry who has become rather famous for his "rabbit ranch," which attracts dozens of tourists a week who are traveling the old road.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman
MotorwayAmerica

(June 25, 2016) — Back in the 1950s and '60s a great many people may have planned their Route 66 vacation to include a stop in Springfield, Ill., to visit President's Lincoln's house and the train station from where he left for Washington to begin his first term in 1861. So we took a day out of our hectic schedule down the old road through Illinois to look at all things Lincoln.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman
MotorwayAmerica

(June 24, 2016) The biggest takeaway from our first day on old Route 66 is that we did not allow nearly enough time traveling the old highway out of downtown Chicago through such cities and towns as Joliet, Odell, Pontiac, Bloomington, Lincoln, and Atlanta on our way to Springfield. The route is teeming with small museums highlighting the glory years of the road, restored gas stations, diners and drive-ins of the past, and dozens of old car displays. One day simply is not enough for the serious visitor to discover the past glory of famous 66.