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Stop at the Frontier restaurant across the street from the University of New Mexico. They have the best hash browns in the world.

I'll keep that in mind.

I just thought of something.. I need maps.  Unless my iBook has Airport, then I can just scan for unencrypted wireless networks and just use their internet to access mapquest... *ponders*

Do it in the Winter.  The Mojave Desert in the summer is fierce.  Route 66 passes through some of the most desolate parts of the Mojave just West of the Colorado River in California.  However there's a few cool things to see out there:
Mitchell Caverns
Amboy Crater

Winter is too far away   My car will just be ready by late April, if all goes as planned.  Hm. My car is missing air conditioning right now.  I might want to install that again.  Or else just roll down my windows and race real fast

I'm going to have to start a big list of places to stop on the way.  I know I want to stop at Chain of Rocks bridge in St. Louis, MO.  (My boss and I road tripped down there one day this past summer... like 14 hours of driving in that day.. blech)

You're gonna be sorrrrrry.  I'm not kidding.  Your car better be able to take 110 F without overheating if you wait for late May or later.

Thanks for the heads-up.  I'm going to try to find some info on that right now, actually. *hopeful*

The desert cools of remarkably quickly after night fall.  It could be 70 F or lower by Midnight if the sky is clear and the humidity is very low.

That would work.  You'll miss the sights that way though.  That's the point of the drive, right?

Anyways, right now I'm working on my car (a 1974 Plymouth Roadrunner) so that I'll have something nice to drive out there.

I'd rethink my choice of vehicle. Gasoline is expensive in the Northeast, but I hear it's much worse out west (especially California). You'll be using an awful lot of premium with that rig, and that adds up fast at close to $2/gallon. Using the A/C will drag your mileage down even more.

I'm remembering my '71 Chrysler Newport 383; fast car, but man did I blow lots of $ on gas. Better idea: look into car rental prices. Not long ago they were pretty reasonable; better to put all those miles on a car other than your own.

Buy a few paper atlases (Staples carries them), one of the USA and maybe a few of the states you plan to tour. You'll still get lost; road signs are often misleading (sometimes missing)... An auto compass (the kind old people have on the dashboard) for the car can be useful.

Visit the mighty Roadside America and look up the states you'll pass through; you'll almost definitely find some cool stuff you might want to visit. The worst thing is to get home and find you've driven right past something you really would've like to have seen (we did that on our last trip) because you didn't know it was there... The book itself is a worthy purchase (maybe $11.95).

My wife and I have done many road trips over the years, and it's easy to do them on the cheap. Do the obvious things: shop around for hotels and ask for corporate discounts (bring along a business card if any of you have one)... Don't be afraid to camp in the car if you need to (it beats staying in a skanky motel). Bring lots of water to drink, especially in the summertime.

Avoid buying stuff on the road if you can avoid it; bring along anything you think you might need (motor oil, etc). A good tip for food is to hit the local grocery stores and stock up on fruit etc to eat; beats stopping for fast food (which is garbage anyway). Eat at the local places, avoid the same old chain operations.

Get a bunch of traveler's checks at the bank; they work the same as cash, but you're protected in case you lose any.

Cost depends on what you're looking to do. On our most recent trip, we drove our car from NJ down to Tennessee, then toured mostly through Mississippi and Alabama. The whole trip (10 or 11 days, I think) cost about $600 total (gas, tolls, food, admission fees to attractions, postcards, etc), including about $90 for getting married (you'll save on that last one, I think). 

Sounds like fun, of course. I'll post more links (on 66) if I can find them.

Some nice photos, things to see, etc: http://www.national66.com/index.html

Nice stuff from a site I like: http://www.dinercity.com/route66/route66.html


Thought I had more, but that's a start.

In Albuquerque, I've seen gas between $1.28 and $1.46.

That would work.  You'll miss the sights that way though.  That's the point of the drive, right?

Well.. yeah, but I'll see stuff in the morning before it heats up.  And, like dvpierce says, I won't die

Yeah, but he wouldn't die.

A '74 Plymouth? Bring plenty of money for gas, and an extra tank in the trunk.

Get the biggest radiator that will fit under the hood, and A/C is a must - don't think, just do.

I actually already planned to spend most of my money on gas.  Extra gas is most definite.  And I'll have to look and see the biggest radiator that will fit.  I'm not sure it can be much bigger than what I've got in there right now.

Been on many road trips in my day.  As was mentioned, gas is going to cost you a ton in that old car.  I also hope it can stand up to all that driving.

Where are you planning on sleeping along the way?  Are you going to camp?  Stay in motels?  Hotels?  Big difference in money there.

How often are you planning on stopping in resturants and how often are you going to eat picnic lunches? 

How many tourists attractions do you plan on visiting?  Those cost money too.

There are just too many unanswered questions to give you an accurate price.  Also, don't forget to factor in your age.  I can't remember how old you are, but if you're under 21, that may bar you from certain things such as rental cars, in the event that you do need one.

As for where I'm staying... It all depends, I guess.  Camping out in the car is a definite possibility (it's roomy at least ).

Eating will probably be a combo of eating at local restaurants and eating food from grocery stores (fruits, granola bars, etc).

I'm thinking of just taking like $2500 or so, so that I'll be sure to have enough.

Another travel tip: Many people aren't especially clean in their personal habits and hotel maids don't exactly put a lot of effort into their work.

So, bring along a can of Lysol (Clorox makes a similar spray antiseptic that's a lot less stinky). First thing when you get a room, nail anything you might touch that might not be clean: toilet seat, inside the shower, doorknobs, the TV remote (maybe especially that, yikes! Some feelthy hands probably touched that thing, watching porn on the TV; you know they never wash it)... 

That reduces the gross-out factor of staying in public rooms, and could even save you a nasty (plus difficult and expensive to cure) skin or toenail infection.

On an unrelated note, if anything's missing from your room (other than what you nick, of course , be sure to report it to the front desk or they might charge you for it. On our last trip we had rooms missing a remote, a lamp shade, and a light bulb, go figure.

In Los Angeles gas is going for about $1.40-1.60 per gallon of regular unleaded.

It's nice the prices have come down a bit, but it's a drag they've got us thinking that $1.50/gal for regular is a good price! (I pay $1.39, usually; a buck, maybe $1.09 would be more like it.) Anyway, adndgamer's car will probably be swilling premium, so add maybe 40 to 60 cents to the price. It adds up fast.

I heartily agree with dinerfan on carrying some basic supplies (like motor oil), but it shouldn't be necessary to stock up only at the start of your trip. You should be able to get things like oil at reasonable costs in the larger cities along the way (so you can avoid having to spend $5/qt of oil somewhere in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night [like I did ]).

Oil's the big "gouge" item (sometimes hard to find too, if you use 5W/30), but it's also good to bring along premixed antifreeze (make a gallon or two of 50/50), Excedrin, or anything else you might use. Not to go crazy packing, but just so you avoid having to pay convenience store prices for stuff you might normally buy in bulk at Wal-Mart or wherever. Another benefit is that you avoid wasting time finding mundane items in a strange town; I'd rather be looking at the cool stuff, not looking for retail stores.

Related thing to do: If you use any prescription medications, make sure you bring enough for the trip (plus a few days); renew them a few days before you leave.

I disagree with dinerfan on getting traveller's checks assuming that you have an ATM card which works on at least one or two of the major ATM systems (Star, Cirrus, etc). You can always use cash--a lot of places won't take traveller's checks. You do lose the additional safety that traveller's checks give you, but using a ATM card means you don't have to carry your entire bankroll with you. If you don't already have a bank (and maybe even if you do), you might see which of your local banks has the most branches along Route 66 and deposit your money there: that way you can minimize having to pay the fees for using an ATM in the same system but not in a branch of your bank.

I have to disagree with your disagreement. Why bother jockeying money around, opening (then closing in a few weeks, what a hassle!) temporary bank accounts, etc? Why bother with ATM fees? Why mess with maybe losing your ATM card somewhere, and being royally screwed (imagine how long it might take to get a replacement)?

We've used the traveler's check method over the past 5 years or so, on about 4 long (10 days to 2 weeks, usually) car trips through the Deep South. It's worked flawlessly each time, using a credit card as a backup. You just have to pick and choose where you'll use what form of payment (credit where it makes sense, to conserve cash). Works like so:

1. Get the checks at your local bank; our bank gives them to us free (no fees). $100 and $50 denominations are good.

2. On the road the checks function as a miniature bank. When you're starting to run low on cash, simply make your next small purchase with a trav check and presto, your change is your cash: A fee-free ATM that's available almost everywhere (more places than ATMs are, no question)!

We used trav checks at roadside restaurants, gas stations, hotels, Wal-Marts, bla bla. In fact, I was surprised at how many places did accept them. (They're more widely accepted than personal checks, especially out of state.) We had maybe one place that didn't want them (the kid at the counter didn't know what they were, way out in the country somewhere), so we used cash or credit; no big deal.

3. Better than ATM because they're easier to use (can get cash almost anywhere, any time), they have no fee, there's no "ATM network" to be down (leaving you stranded), and you're protected if they get lost or stolen (like Karl Malden says, "Don't leave home w/o 'em."). If they're lost or stolen, just call American Express and they issue new ones right away; just pick them up at the nearest bank. (Each check comes w/sort of a "receipt," which you keep separate from the checks. That's how you'd phone in any missing checks.)

4. If you have any left when you get home, just deposit them in your bank account (to pay off your credit card) or use them as cash at home.

It's a really easy way to work your money on the road. I was a bit skeptical the first time we used them, but now I'm convinced.