We drove from Los Angeles to Las Vegas along Route 66 with our 6-year-old Kidsetter. Driving America’s most iconic highway is the trip of a lifetime. In 1926, the 2,448-mile road was designed to be the first trans-continental, year-round highway. It connected urban and rural America from Chicago to Los Angeles, crossing eight states and three time zones.
It has inspired musicians, filmmakers and writers. Our Kidsetter familiar with the movie Cars was excited to be seeing some of the places and characters that inspired the movie in real life. Along our journey we met Tow Mater, the Sherriff and visited Peach Springs which inspired the town Radiator Springs for the movie.
It was great fun conveying the history of Route 66 to our Kidsetter. Discovering why it’s no longer used and teaching him about the 1950 icons of the day.
We made stops along our journey at classic motels, old-school diners and gas stations to stop at en route for a true slice of Americana.
A highlight was stopping at an all-time classic diner – Peggy Sue’s. An original roadside Diner, built in 1954 situated between Southern California and Las Vegas. The diners décor is frozen in time and we felt like we had been transported back to the 1950’s. Surrounded by various collections of movie memorabilia. Posters and statues of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, the Blues Brothers and Betty Boo are just some of the items you can find within the restaurant. There’s also an ice cream and pizza parlour. We enjoyed a tasty burger and the largest milkshake you have ever seen !
After an enormous meal it’s time to try to walk some of it off. We strolled around the outdoor Diner-saur Park! Giant metal dinosaurs are scattered around the pond whilst baby turtles swim or bath in the sun. A giant King Kong statue takes guard of the park.
Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch was also another highlight. We travelled the National Old Trails Highway, which is a great old stretch of Route 66, west out of Barstow, California. The ranch has two acres of desert and contains hundreds of cacti folk art sculptures, made from welded pipe, antique bottles and industrial equipment by Elmer Long. It’s like being in a Dr Seuss book surrounded by weird and wonderful creations. Our Kidsetter loved discovering and interacting with all the bizarre pieces.
Not only was Route 66 plenty of fun and the epitome of kitsch, it was a great hands on history lesson with never ending interactions and queries from our Kidsetter.
