Get your kicks on Route 66


Posted On: Saturday - July 25th 2026 3:26PM MST
In Topics:   Music  Americans  Geography  Peak Stupidity Roadshow

I got a brochure recently that taught me that Springfield, Missouri was the birthplace of Route 66. One would think the road would have started at one end or the other, Chicago, Illinois, or Los Angeles, California, likely the former because LA was not so big a place a century back. OK, but a century ago, in 1926, a stretch of Missouri Route 14, going from St. Louis to Joplin was designated the first stretch of the famous US numbered highway Route 66.



That's the full route, all 2,450 miles of it. That's obviously not the most direct route - one can go across the whole country on one of the southern routes in about that distance - but there are cities to pass through and mountains to avoid.

A Chicago to LA Great Circle route, the shortest distance without tunneling through the Earth, something Peak Stupidity discussed long ago, would look like a curve toward the north instead. It would arc up north of a straight line on the normal map projection through northern Iowa, a bit of S. Dakota, across NW Nebraska, SE Wyoming, the NW corner of Colorado, NE to SW diagonally across Utah, and a bit NW of Lost Wages, but I don't know exactly, not having a globe on my person today.

Alas, no not really, the numbered US Highway system was upstaged starting in the mid-1950s with the Interstate System, an amazing job in that old can-do country of ours.

There are plenty of US numbered highways extant, of course. I don't think many a Peak Stupidity reader would be more than 10 or 20 miles from one, unless he's out in the real boonies. The most famous US Highways are probably the US-1, Key West through Maine (nearly) east coast route, the US-2 across the whole country on the northern route, and US-101 up from Los Angeles, mostly a bit inland up California, then across the Golden Gate, more up through California, then up the Oregon coast, more inland in Washington and up the west side of the Olympic Mountains, across the north slightly inland from the Juan de Fuca Straits and back south on the east side of that square-shaped mountain range down toward Olympia. I can't remember for sure, but I think Washington State got smart and didn't hold to the large-scale N-S system on the signage, i.e., if you're heading west from Port Angeles, signs will say US-101W. Anyone here sure of this?

As for the venerable Route 66, you can't get quite as many kicks anymore on the REAL old road.

Here's a nice site describing that some of the original road has been incorporated into new numbering, some has been realigned or bypassed, and there's even a dirt portion. Please don't bring your GPS (as the only commenter on that page desired)! Where are the kicks then, I ask you?

Hey, and these guys below didn't write* the song, and they weren't even Americans! Yet, how could they not fall in love with the place back in 19 sixty-six four?!
Well, if you ever plan to motor west,
try to take my way.
That's the highway
that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66.

Well, it winds from Chicago to L.A.,
more than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route 66.



Well, it goes from St. Louis
down to Missouri.
Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty.
You'll see Amarillo
and Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino Berdu, ...
Bobby Troup, King Cole, Crosby, Manhattan Transfer, the Stones... all got their kicks, singing Route 66.

Whoa, Route 66 was only 38 years old when Mick and the Stones sang this! Now it's been a whole century... and these guys are still playing... this song? Something's really off here.



* It was written by one Bobby Troup way back in '46, about a 10-day road trip to Hollywood the aspiring songwriter and his wife Cynthia took in their Buick on part of the US-66 from the US-40 rest of the way to LA.

Comments:
Adam Smith
Sunday - July 26th 2026 6:50AM MST
PS: Good morning, Mr. Moderator!

๐ผ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘—๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค, ๐ด๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘š...

Well, indeed you did. (My Bad.) I'm still a bit sleepy eyed and haven't really read any of this yet. (Except for the Detroit ave part of Rob Van Winkle's song.)

So yes. I hope you too have a wonderful day!
(And a wonderful afternoon/evening for Mr. Alarmist!)

(PS: I did notice your response on unz last night, but it was a bit too late to reply.)

Cheers! โ˜ฎ๏ธ
Moderator
Sunday - July 26th 2026 6:35AM MST
PS: Yep, I covered that just below, Adam - one of my all-time favorite songs with a great guitar solo. Studio musician Les Dudek played along with Dicky Betts who sang it, of course.

This song, from "Brothers & Sisters", was recorded only a couple of years after Duane Allman's death, which was from a motorcycle wreck, not on Highway 41, but from my quick look at a map, only about 1/2 mile away from Highway 41, as it goes through downtown Macon.

i will add a couple of more US highways to the post later on.

Have a good morning all! (Afternoon for The Alarmist.)
Adam Smith
Sunday - July 26th 2026 6:22AM MST
PS: One more (for now)...

๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘˜๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ž ๐บ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฆโ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ .
๐‘…๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘–๐‘›' ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐ป๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ 41...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa4DCp6cl2U

โ˜ฎ๏ธ
Adam Smith
Sunday - July 26th 2026 6:20AM MST
PS: Morning, (and evening), Messrs. Alarmist & Newman!

๐ด1๐ด... ๐ท๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐ด๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ข๐‘’...

Kek

(Thanks!) โ˜ฎ๏ธ
Moderator
Sunday - July 26th 2026 6:14AM MST
PS: Ooops, I left out that Telegraph Road is part of US-24.
Moderator
Sunday - July 26th 2026 6:13AM MST
PS: You reminded me, Alarmist, of Telegraph Road, because that's the name of the highway, as it goes N/S through Detroit - pretty nice 4 lane with lights and lots of u-turn cuts. Generally - note the even number - it's and E-W road, and it goes from the Detroit area all the way to Colorado, over 1,500 miles.

Then, there's "Highway 41" from the Allman Brothers great "Ramblin Man" (not Bob Seger's Rambling/Gambing man" though) which goes up from Miami through Chicago ending up in the western portion of Michigan's UP.
The Alarmist
Sunday - July 26th 2026 6:10AM MST
PS

My bad. I looked up the lyrics, and they call it Beachfront Avenue, whi I guess is plausible despite the buildings between Collins Avenue and the beach.
The Alarmist
Sunday - July 26th 2026 5:50AM MST
PS

Vanilla Ice mentions A1A in his song โ€œIce, Ice Baby,โ€ but for some reason his background singers call it Detroit Avenue rather than the Collins Avenue that it is in Miami.

Moderator
Sunday - July 26th 2026 1:29AM MST
PS: Oh, Highway 61, famed in song, right.
Adam Smith
Saturday - July 25th 2026 5:27PM MST
PS: Route 20, Route 5, Route 62...

Highway 61...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hr3Stnk8_k

โ˜ฎ๏ธ
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