Route 66

It’s very likely the café and motel referred to in Gene Pitney’s popular 60’s song, “24 hours from Tulsa”, were situated on Route 66. Only the lyricist would know for sure but to add credibility to this theory, the iconic highway bisects the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Besides, the notion is a romantic fit with a Bazflyer’s favourite song from the past.

With trusty Comanche ZK-BAZ secured indoors at Christiansen Aviation the Bazflyers took a break from their RTW journey to enjoy the homespun company of a family member living in Tulsa. Tulsa was once known as the ‘Oil Capital of the World’ a heritage only too apparent when driving in and around the city. Charming Artdeco architecture is just one such example. However, it was not the city’s fine old buildings or its many parklands that caught the Bazflyer’s attention, it was signage pointing to historic Highway 66. 

  

Highway 66 has a rich and long history. For decades travellers along this Trans-America road have brought prosperity to roadside communities. The road was born from the need of a nation to move about, for trade, work and leisure. It started out as a hodgepodge of different roads, linked together, to became an icon of America.

Soldiers, airmen and sailors coming back home after WW2 fondly remembered their training days in the balmy Southwest, and relocated there abandoning the cold winters of the Northeast. Many drove to their new homes along Highway 66, a feeling of freedom that still lives on.

Nowadays, the eight States through which the 5000 km route goes have legislated to preserve the significance of this iconic Americana highway. A significance that is not only economic, but also social and historic. Whether by motorcycle, convertible or some other mode of transport, each year thousands of folk drive Route 66. For many of them it’s to nostalgically tick an item off their bucket lists. 

Route 66 is indeed a nostalgic highway, a road of dreams. Perhaps the man referred to in that Gene Pitney song really was one of those young World War Two veterans driving back home down Route 66, just twenty four hours from Tulsa, when he stopped to rest for the night...