So What Happened to the Route 66 Trip?

We’ve had several inquiries about our plans to drive the iconic Route 66 that we’d planned. So what happened? Hmmm… our plans changed is the short answer.

After completing the Kingman, AZ to Santa Monica Pier segment a couple of months ago, we had every intention of driving to Chicago in September and driving the route in its entirety to celebrate the Mother Road’s 100th anniversary. I’d done lots and lots of research about our route. In fact, I filled a 1” binder with sights to see and iconic landmarks not to be missed. I’d compiled lists of potential hotels and motels, restaurants and diners, and Roadside America oddities, all separated out by state and city/town. It’s all still sitting in the bookcase, not to be used in the near future.

So why? Many reasons led to our change of heart and change of plans. Good friends who planned to meet us in St. Louis had to cancel for health reasons. We had some minor health issues of our own to handle. Some business and house issues also required attention. We have a Danube River cruise coming up in mid-November to prepare for. And we just decided we weren’t up for a big road trip at this particular time.

Have we lost our enthusiasm for travel and road trips? Definitely not. This was just not the time for this particular trip. Route 66 will still be there, even if it’s 101 or 102 years old.

So instead, we’re concentrating on the upcoming trip that we’ve planned for a year, which will include a few pre-cruise days in Prague, Czechia, then heading to a Viking river boat in Regensburg, Germany, and cruising along the Danube River (which we hope will have enough water) to Vienna, Austria, and on to Budapest, Hungary, with a side trip for us to Bratislava, Slovakia. Stay tuned. This trip won’t be canceled or delayed; we promise!