Report 5: San Diego CA to Amarillo TX

Route:

Our intention is to head back homeward on historic Route-66; but it no longer exists as an interstate highway. Much of it is gone, parts left to go to seed, and a few parts are restored and maintained, especially through towns seeking tourism. From LA to Oklahoma City Interstate 40 replaces Rt-66. So, we took I-40 except where reasonably maintained stretches of Rt-66 remain.

From LA to Barstow, most of Rt-66 is a bit of a disaster. It has been rerouted many times and has now been overgrown by the LA sprawl. So we stayed on the I-15 and I-215. But, from Barstow to Needles there is an intact section that runs thorough Amboy; parts of it are actually in better shape than I-40. From Kingman to just east of Ash Fork we took the longest continuous bit of Route-66, an easy RV drive. East of Ash Fork there are only little bits and pieces of the Mother Road; so we stayed on I-40. It is more or less uphill to somewhere around Gallup NM, where I-40 crosses the Continental Divide of the Americas (URL Here). From there it's more or less downhill into Amarillo.