11 Years Since Our Route 66 Adventure

Next week will be 11 years since my friend Jim Jackson and I set off on an adventure that came close to rivaling my "Public Enemies" experience. 66logo

He and I were given a brand new 1999 Corvette by the Chevrolet division of General Motors -- actually three of them -- to traverse the country on Historic Route 66.

The trip took 8 1/2 days during which we sent stories and photos each day to The Times so readers could follow along on our excellent adventure. And boy did they. To this day I periodically get asked "Aren't you the guy who drove Route 66?"

The answer is yes, plain and simple. I think I mentioned the trip in my piece about The Eagles band. We stood on the corner of Winslow, Arizona on July 23, 1999.

Why three Corvettes you ask? because GM didn't want us to run up the miles on just one. So, we traded cars in Oklahoma City, drove that car to Santa Monica, California. Then we traded cars again and drove back to Oklahoma City where we picked up our original Vette and came back to Chicago where Route 66 started.

I could write tons about our trip. But, if anyone stops at Cadillac Ranch in Texas, check out the axle of one of the planted cars where we wrote "The Last Summer Cruise of the Century."

Probably long gone, but who knows.