Route 66 Nearly Broke Me: Heat, Tornadoes, and a Shaking Hotel

Pull up a log, folks, because I’ve got a doozy for you tonight.

California, I Tried

Let’s start at the beginning. After I finished up my trip to the redwoods and got some good family time in southern California, which was genuinely wonderful. I have decided, and I hope no Californians throw marshmallows at me for this: I am not a California guy. The traffic was relentless, roughly 90% of the rest areas seemed to be closed for reasons known only to the universe, and finding parking felt like a competitive sport I hadn’t trained for.

Then, on the very last night of the California leg, staying in Redondo Beach to see my daughter, the hotel room decided to do a little shimmy. Yes, an earthquake. I have decided that a four-story building is simply not supposed to move like that. It’s not natural. It’s not in the brochure. I did not sign up for that ride.

Then Came Route 66 (Mostly)

After California, it was on to the main event: Route 66, from the Santa Monica Pier headed toward Chicago. Emphasis on “headed toward,” because we’ll get to that.

First, a confession. Deciding to attempt a summer road trip across the desert Southwest was, in hindsight, a decision made by a version of me who apparently forgot what summer is. The first half of the trip never dipped below 100 degrees. Not once. When we stopped at Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch, it was 118 degrees. My iPhone, a device engineered by very smart people in a climate-controlled California building, took one look at the desert and staged a full protest, overheating and demanding to go back into the air-conditioned car. Honestly, fair.

Here’s something I didn’t fully appreciate before this trip: a lot of the original Route 66 is either gone entirely or hanging on by a thread. But since it happened to be the road’s 100th anniversary, plenty of towns had decked out their stretches with murals, signs, and roadside charm, and there really is some wonderful, weird, and historic stuff still out there if you go looking for it. We did our best to stick to the original alignment, though there were a few sections where the old road had given way and we had to run alongside it on the modern highway instead.

I also learned a hard truth about myself: if I stopped for every single roadside plaque and hand-painted flag, we’d still be parked somewhere in Arizona right now, waving at you through the screen. So we picked our battles, my wife and trusty co-pilot and I, and had a genuinely great time doing it.

Why We Cut It Short

Now, about that “almost.”

We rolled into Joliet, Illinois, ready to hunt down some roadside oddities, only to find several spots inaccessible thanks to downed power lines and flooded roads. No big deal, we figured, we’ll just hit the hotel and try again tomorrow.

At check-in, we got the full story. Chicago and points south had just taken a beating from severe storms, torrential rain, tornadoes, and straight-line winds. The front desk clerk proudly told us their hotel had come through it completely unscathed.

About ninety minutes later, the lights went out. Six hours without power. We were on the second floor and, if you know anything about how we pack for these trips, hauling all our gear down the stairs in the dark was not an appealing option, so we hunkered down and waited it out. Power finally returned around 1:15 in the morning.

The next day, checking our route, we noticed round two of storms was lining up to hit the very same area. And that’s when I had a moment of clarity: I am too old for this particular flavor of adventure. We packed up, called an early end to the Route 66 portion of the trip, and headed east, tracking the storm system on radar the whole way to stay a couple of steps ahead of it. We later learned that area got hit even harder the second time around, so I’m calling that decision a win.

What’s Next

So now, we are on our way to Long Island for a week of family visits, and then we will be pointed toward home in Florida, a little earlier than planned. I can’t say I’m mad about it. There’s some serious catching up to do with my bass guitar, and it’s been patiently waiting.

Even with the abbreviated ending coming soon, this trip gave me a stack of stories and photos worth sharing, and there’s a lot of great, weird, historic Route 66 material still to come on the site. Keep an eye out, because I’ll be getting it all posted as soon as I’m home and settled.

Final Thoughts

Between earthquakes, 118-degree bottle trees, and outrunning tornadoes across Illinois, this trip had a little bit of everything, mostly things I did not put on my bucket list. But that’s road tripping for you. Stick around, because the Route 66 recaps and motel reviews are coming, and I promise they’re worth the wait.

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