US Highways

While not an original Route 66 restaurant, the reviews and looks of this place will certainly make me consider stopping here if I'm hungry while passing through Flagstaff either on my way out on May 6th or on my way back on May 19th.

This trip actually begins in Rancho Cucamonga, California just one block south of what used to be US Route 66. There's no stops listed from there to here because, frankly, Yahoo's switch over to "Travel Guides" is pretty lacking in content so far. I guess it will be up to people like me to help fill it in.

Anyway, this first stint unfortunatley had to follow the interstates in the interest of time. "Historic Route 66" (aka Foothill Blvd) hits I-15 which I will take north to I-40 where I'll head east.

I've stayed at this Motel 6 before, but so long ago that I won't be writing a review until after I stay there again. Especially with the first leg of this journey mainly intended to just get some miles behind me, there's no need for anything fancy or "touristy." All I need is a clean, comforatble, and inexpensive place to sleep for the night. I know that Motel 6's in other areas such as southern California are generally to be avoided. But, I have found that all of the ones in New Mexico along the major highways I have traveled over the past 20 years are clean, safe, and staffed with friendly people. I hope that will once again be the case.

Well, here we'll be in Broken Bow, Oklahoma after coming northeast out of Lubbock and then heading east on US-70 after crossing the Red River. Pretty damn sad that Yahoo had none of my other stops in between, huh? This is almost as bad as their home page redesign where business and regional searches suddenly disappeared! Why do I complain and keep doing this? Only in the hope that somebody from Yahoo will read this and realise that maybe they should have converted some of the data from the old City Guides (which, of course, those that still exsist aren't compatible with this over-programmed crap).

Anyway, this stretch of the trip will be one of the longest hauls with not as much time to look around and take photographs. This Microtel hasn't been bagged on too much in the reviews as I write this, and it's another inexpensive stop. And, it has free wi-fi, and I'll certainly need to get some of my photos off my laptop with the puny hard drive and upload them to my server for safe keeping.

Since Yahoo hasn't seen fit to get more info added on this city, all I can see is that Broken Bow is near Beavers Bend. Well, if the beavers bend, it will certainly help to have a broken bow. :D

As a World War II buff, I hope that this will be a nice monument to take a picture of. At the very least, it's a good spot to aim for to get out of the car, stretch one's legs, and just look around at a nice small town.

From Franklin, it's north up US-31W to the Microtel Inn in Bowling Green. Hard to believe that Bowling Green doesn't have one of these fancy schmancy Yahoo Travel Guides yet when much smaller places like Cave City and Russell Springs do. But, then again, when has anything Yahoo done since about 1999 really made any sense?

Anyway, I was going to go all the way up to Cave City and spend the night at the Wigwam Village. But, I haven't been hearing or reading too many good things about it. And, with one's vacation time so liminted, I'm going to go out of my way to stay out of dirty places that might make me sick.

After what I hope will be a good night's sleep, it will be yet another odd route out of Bowling Green as I head east and then north. Towns of interest along this stretch will be little oddball places like Knob Lick, Black Gnat, Neatsville, Bourbon, and Honeybee. From there, the route gets northerly as I try to find the place where I lived in the late 1960's where I have most of my first memories. It's somewhere between Corbin and London, and very near the very first Colonel Sanders restaurant. A slight jog to the northeast comes next as it's out to Manchester to see the trailer park where I used to live as a very small boy. Yes, only a Kentuckian would go on vacation to visit a trailer park. ;)

And, from that point, it's north on US-421 to Richmond for the next place to get some sleep.

After heading east out of Louisville on US-60, I eventually end up in the capital of the Commonwealth. This may sound stupid, but I'm looking forward to seeing the floral clock that adorns the grounds of the building. As for the insides of the building, I'd better stay out of there. As much as I love my home state, it has to have the most corrupt set of politicans other than Louisiana. I'd end up telling somebody off and getting hauled out of there.

After Frankfort, it's on to Versailles and then Lexington.