have you ever done a route 66 road trip before? if not, how long have you been wanting to hit the road for this kind of adventure?
Nope, this was our first trip down the "Mother Road" as it's called. Family road trips are something fun that we started when Jenny and I were married 7 years ago. We drove for 3 weeks through 16 different states. We revived our road trips when Jenny was pregnant with Lia. We spent a weekend in St. Louis, and had a blast just waking up and deciding what to do that morning. Having no plans whatsoever, just enjoying our time spent together. Then, last June, we spent 9 days on the road driving through Colorado, and earlier this year it was New Orleans. The Route 66 trip came about because for whatever reason we had no weddings in May, and Max starts kindergarten in the fall, so we felt this was our last opportunity for a while to be gone for 3 weeks.
how many days total was your trip? when did you leave & return? what exactly played a part in planning the departure date for your adventure (weather, work, etc.)?
We were gone for a total of 22 days. We left on April 26 with a goal to make it to Chicago (that's where Route 66 starts) in 1 day. We got home on May 17. Again, we left on April 26th because we had a wedding on the 24th, and no weddings at all in May. It was the perfect time to just pack up and go adventurin' together. It took us 13 days total to drive from Chicago to Santa Monica. All that driving wore us out so we stayed in southern California for a few days with friends & family. We tried to follow along Route 66 as best as we could, but since it's not recognized as a highway anymore, some places you had to drive on the major highways. We also drove along some of the really old alignments as much as possible. I'm talking dirt roads, soft, soft dirt, in the middle of nowhere. Places where you wouldn't want to get stuck in a minivan with 3 young children, but we made it out okay. :)
list some unexpected things you discovered along the way.
1. I always knew our country was beautiful, but not THIS beautiful. And there is so many stories to be found driving along such old stretches of America. Places like Lou Mitchell's (which sits in the middle of downtown Chicago between all the skyscrapers, but hasn't changed much in years.
2. I expected there to be more tiny towns with lots of old businesses. A lot of the vintage soda fountains and diners we wanted to visit were out of business.
3. Meeting Gary Turner at the Gay Parita gas station in Paris Springs Junction in MO. We spent at least an hour there hearing about how he rebuilt the gas station exactly how it was built before it burned to the ground in the 50's. He was also full of tips on places to stop along the way.
4. The bottle tree forest in Oro Grande, CA was one of the coolest things we saw on Route 66. Elmer Long built all of the "trees" from scrap metal and bottles. And, he had a big cowbell in the forest to ring.
5. The movie Cars is a family favorite around the Solar house. It was amazing to notice all the references from actual stops on Route 66 that made it into the movie. Pixar really did a great job of learning the history of the road and incorporating that history into the movie, from characters to all the places in Radiator Springs.
This pic is of "Tow Tater" who is obviously the inspiration for Mater.
6. We also stayed in the WigWam motels one night, which were the inspiration for the Cozy Cone.
7. I expected there to be more tiny towns with lots of old businesses. A lot of the vintage soda fountains and diners we wanted to visit were out of business.
define vagabond:
I think a true vagabond pretty much wanders the world, following wherever their heart pulls them. We like to think of ourselves as free spirits (at least I do, I don't know about Jenny), but with 3 little ones, it would be darn near impossible to live the vagabond life exclusively. So, we live it up on our trips, which we try and take 2 to 3 a year. Sometimes we make the decision on our destination less than a week out, we just know we want to see as much of the world as we possibly can, and we want to be with each other while wandering.
name three ways you and/or your family came back changed or enlightened.
1. It was nice to not constantly check facebook/twitter all the time. I almost feel like I have to check that crap all the time, but it really doesn't matter, what matters is being 100% involved and attentive to my family. Being gone for so long helped me break my addictions to social media so to speak. Don't get me wrong, I still love all that stuff, but when on the phone/computer, you're not paying attention to the life in front of you.
2. Driving along Route 66, we constantly met people surprised at the fact that we were driving the entire thing with 3 little ones. It kind of put it in perspective for me the kinds of things we do with our children, the way we are raising them, etc. I know Jenny & I aren't perfect, but dang it, we're going to raise them the best we can, and we are going to have a LOT of fun doing it. Not to say we "changed" on this trip in that regard, but it's nice to know that the experiences we are giving them are unique. How many kids can look back and say they drove the entire route 66? Who knows, with how bad some of the roads already are, in 20 years it might not even be possible to drive anymore.
3. Driving along and seeing all the old neon signs from all the old run down hotels, you kind of get a sense of history about our country. Some of them are even still around, and still work. In certain towns, like Tucumcari, NM it's almost like time has stopped and you're in a different world. Having a better sense of that "era" in our history helps me appreciate our country a little more.
how do you keep your kiddos occupied for long hours on the road?
Basically, I drive and Jenny tends to the kiddos. We watch for animals, trains, planes, bridges, motorcycles, etc. Our kids are still young enough to get a big kick out of those things. Max & Ava play their Leapsters quite a bit, and our iphones are huge hits as well for all the kiddos. We also know that it's tough for kids to stay cooped up in their car seats for hours on end, so we don't really make any plans on how far we need to drive each day. This keeps us stress free, and allows us to pull over whenever we feel like it, or whenever the kiddos need a break. This involves lots of playgrounds and McDonald's Playplaces. We also do a little research ahead of time and see what places might interest kids along whatever route we're driving. That's how we found out about Oatman, AZ and feeding the wild burros carrots, or the cool VW bugs spray painted along the side of the road and sticking out of the ground. Unfortunately, we didn't have any spray paint to do some tagging of our own. :(
how important is getting out of the house and out of your daily routine to you and your family?
Jenny never had the chance to travel much while growing up. This world is SO big. So we travel 2 to 3 times a year. Our goal going forward is 2 road trips and 1 flying trip. Something that gets me excited is looking back on all the images that we have captured along our journeys so far. Most travel images are of places, but what grabs me and makes me smile are the people. In the case of travelling, it's important for me to not only document the cool things we see, but to capture images of my family in those places. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have a picture of the last brick road left on the old Route 66 alignment somewhere in the middle of nowhere Illinois, but it means so much more to me to have a picture of my family on the last brick road left on the old Route 66 alignment somewhere in the middle of nowhere Illinois.
Each and every state along Route 66 had their own sign. I tried to get a sweet shot of each state's sign, but it's so much more exciting to have a shot of my daughter, Ava, blowing dandelions at me with the sign in the background.
So, I hope I answered the question. Traveling is a part of our lives.
how often do you and/or your family go on vacation/adventures together (from mini-trips to great adventures!)?
The last few years it's been 2, usually a trip (on a plane) to California, and a random road trip. But going forward as our kids get older, we'll be more adventerous and plan more longer trips.
where is your favorite spot on earth to-date?
Mine would have to be the beach, I just LOVE the ocean. It's just SO relaxing. And I could go on and on about the culture of beach living, the surfing, the bike riding. I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about how much I miss it already and we've only been back a week and a half. I would give ANYTHING to raise my family on a beach somewhere.
how do you catalog/archive your trips?
Well, we take a lot of pictures (if you didn't know that already). From our 9 day Colorado trip we took over 3000 pictures. Our New Orleans trip was about 2000. I think we pushed it closer to 4000 on our Route 66 trip. We proof them down, usually keeping between 100-300 from each day. Jenny then goes and narrows them all down some more and designs a VisionArt book (we've yet to have one printed, although the Colorado one is finished, and the Route 66 one is started, New Orleans is pushed to the backburner for now). It's just hard to find time to work on your own personal stuff when both Jenny & I run the business, and raise 3 little ones.
what are some things would you suggest to other families planning a route 66 kind of adventure?
Take your time. We had it set up so that we only needed to drive about 200 miles a day. We also factored in a few extra days just in case. Like when we drove from Tulsa to Oklahoma City, met Carl Zoch and didn't drive anywhere else that day. :)
Bring spray paint for the Bug Ranch, the Cadillac Ranch and some random place in the middle of the desert in California. All places you were encouraged to spray paint whatever you wanted and we wished we would have known this ahead of time. Also, bring colored rocks to write your name on the levee in the middle of the Mojave desert as well. We just pulled over and gathered our own rocks, but some people had brought blue, red or pink rocks and their names were much easier to read from the road.
Somewhere between Danby & Cadiz Summit, you'll see this.
name the most important thing you'll remember to bring on your next road trip that you wish you had on this one.
I like to think that we've got packing down to a science for road trips, and when I say "we" I mean Jenny. She's a pretty amazing woman. I can't think of anything that she forgot, and she doesn't over-pack. This was the first trip we actually remembered to bring our tripod!
Scratch that, the most important thing we'll bring on our next road trip will be our dog Banana :)
list your favorite car games.
Personally, I like I Spy, but our kids don't quite get that one yet. Jenny does a lot of "Ticklefight," "What movie do you want to watch on the laptop?" and our #1 game, "Who wants to stop at the next playground?" This game is where we get to stop at the next playground, but the kids have to find it. Sometimes it could be hours, but they are so excited to find one they keep looking and looking and looking. Lia will continuously say, "Lia. Play. Lia. Play. Lia. Play." as well.
anything else you'd like to say while you have the audience of other like-minded, restless wanderers?
Just GO. Remember what it's like to be a child. Explore. Wander. Smile. Laugh. Love. Worry less. LIVE!
And, most importantly, hang upside down, enjoy the breeze, and bust a move whenever and wherever you feel like it. :)
Chicago to Santa Monica. Here's a little preview :)
Dancing on Route 66 from josh solar on Vimeo.
And, if you care to follow along on the whole trip with us, you can start here and work your way all the way from Day 1 to Day 13 :)The Solar's Route 66 Adventure...in full! Josh & Jenny Solar are portrait and wedding (and travel ... obviously) photographers based out of Kansas City, Kansas. View their photography business blog here.
