PeterPanPlanet Route 66 Tour 16 d

Day 1 ° > Chicago

Illinois

Gathering together at our hotel in Chicago. Would be great if you are here latest 8 pm, so we would have time to meet and have a 'Budweiser' or two and some verbal preparation for the tour. It is good to know that if you leave Europe in the morning you are in Chicago on the same day’s afternoon. If you have a straight flight from your hometown, you can leave in the afternoon and you will arrive in the early evening same day! ;) 

Day 2 ° > Chicago - Milwaukee

Illinois - Wisconsin ° 148km, 1h 43m ° b,d

Our adventure on the road starts with a relaxing and nice day. When all paperwork is done we drive north... to the heartlands of Harley Davidsons, the famous Milwaukee HD Museum, which is also the best HD Museum on the earth! First, we check in to our Milwaukee hotel and then you can take as much time as you want for the museum! Naturally, there is a shop also, where are all the things you did not know in the morning that you need! And there will be many similar shops on the way, so no need to fill up your bags yet.

Day 3 ° Milwaukee – Springfield

Illinois ° 451km, 4h 55m ° b,d

Our historic Route 66, also called “The Mother Road“ starts! When you shut down your engine tonight you know wherefrom all the corn flakes are coming into Corn Flakes packets. Springfield Illinois is also the state capital and the hometown of Abraham Lincoln and you will see his home before we drive to our hotel. Springfield claims also to be the birthplace of the corn dog, locally called the “Cozy Dog.” 🌭 The Cozy Dog Drive In, opened in 1949 along Route 66, says it was the first place to serve hot dogs on a stick dipped in batter!

Day 4 ° Springfield – Lebanon

Illinois - Missouri ° 422km, 4h 22m ° b,d

Today you are driving from flat cornfield Illinois to green and hilly Missouri over the famous Mississippi river which is the border line for the states. And immediately after entering Missouri, you are in St Louis, the gateway city to the west which is known for its 162-meter high Gateway Arch. We will naturally visit the arch, and if you don’t have the dread of cramped places, you can go up with a small lift. Our driving day ends at the small Lebanon, which had its heydays about 40 years after Pacific Railroad reached the town in 1860. 

Day 5 ° Lebanon – Tulsa 

Missouri - Kansas - Oklahoma ° 432km, 5h 4m ° b,d

Missouri - Corner of Kansas - Oklahoma. Route 66 USA does not have a long stretch in Kansas, only 20km, but that is enough to put Kansas on the Route 66 map. We will have a stop at Galena, which is the Route 66 heart of Kansas. From Galena, we drive to Oklahoma and we have almost immediately the oldest motorable stretch of Route 66 under our bikes. Overnight in Sapulpa near Tulsa. Sapulpa was founded in the mid-1800s and was named after the Indian chief Sapulpa.

Day 6 ° Tulsa – Amarillo 

Oklahoma - Texas ° 586km, 6h 12m ° b,d

After breakfast, we will head out to Amarillo. Our route takes us from the green hills of Oklahoma to the great plains of Texas, cowboys homelands. When the evening comes and we are out of our saddles, we go to the Big Texan Steak Ranch. In this restaurant, you can test if you are a motorcycle man or a woman, who eats a 72-ounce steak in an hour. That is 2 kg of meat! Plus a roll, plus a big baked potato, plus a salad!

Day 7 ° Amarillo - Santa Fe

Texas - New Mexico ° 471km, 4h 41m ° b,d

Our 1st sight today is 'Cadillac Ranch'. It's a big field where the Cadillacs are buried nose down in Texan black dirt. But you see today also nice cars without dirt. We have 2 car museums in our program. The 1st one is at Russel's Truckstop and the 2nd is Santa Rosa Car Museum. Both have very cool cars. Our destination today is also very cool and different from all the other small US-cities. It's the unique Santa Fe where we stay 2 nights.

Day 8 ° Santa Fe

New Mexico

Day off. You can climb to Sangre de Cristo mountains (with your motorcycle) that rise above the city, or visit the oldest church on the American continent, or go horseback riding or chill out by the pool or walk around in the lovely Santa Fé city. And / Or go for an afternoon ride with your tour leader to Los Alamos. To the home town of Manhattan project during 2nd World War. It’s a 45 min ride one way. Plus the time we spend in Los Alamos. 

Day 9 ° Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Gallup

New Mexico ° 476km, 5h 20m ° b,d

Our adventure in New Mexico continues towards the Mid-Western Indian capital, Gallup, but naturally not on the straightest route! After breakfast, we ride via iconic Madrid to Albuguergue and follow the old Route 66 down to Las Lunas where from we turn to the west again. Our destination is the historical Gallup. Gallup’s heyday as a Western movie location was roughly 1937 – 1965, when its rugged scenery and authentic Old West atmosphere made it a Hollywood favorite. Many John Wayne and Errol Flynn Westerns were filmed there.

Day 10 ° Gallup - Monument Valley - Page

New Mexico - Arizona ° 384km, 4h 27m ° b,d

Today we leave New Mexico and drive to Arizona with big views, big sights magnificent biking roads. One of Arizona's World Class sights is Monument Valley. And yes, it's on our route today. We drive to Monument Valley through Navajo areas and via Mexican Hat. From Monument Valley, we continue to Page, which is a small city near Colorado river and Antilope Canyon.

Day 11 ° Page - Grand Canyon - Jacob Lake

Arizona - Utah - Arizona ° 343, 4h 52m ° b,d

This day is an awesome wow... most gorgeous driving day of the tour. You will have the most beautiful canyon in the USA, Antilope Canyon, and biggest canyon in the USA, Grand Canyon. Plus Marble Canyon, Kaibab Plateau, and the world's biggest horseshoe, Horseshoe Bend. We visit Grand Canyon North, which is more magnificent than Grand Cayon South. Northside is also much quieter. Here are only 3 hotels, because it's closed from November to May. We stay at Jakob Lake overnight, but if the sky is clear, it isn’t a bad idea to stay at the edge of the canyon to look at the sunset before driving to the hotel.

Day 12 ° Jakob Lake - Zions Canyon - Las Vegas

Arizona - Nevada ° 492km, 5h 40m ° b,d

Yesterday was an awesome wow... so this day might be just awesome... There is no lack of great views today either. Our Crown of the day is also one of the highlights in Arizona, Zions Canyon. You will love to drive on the bottom of it. In the last days, we have seen a lot of magnificent sights made by nature. In the afternoon today, you will drive into a crazy magnificent sight made by human beings. It is called Las Vegas. Las Vegas is dividing opinions, but it's one of those places on the earth, everyone should visit at least once in life. 

Day 13 ° Viva Las Vegas 

Nevada

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Day off. On the menu amongst other things are; New York, Paris, Rome, Venice, Luxor… The main street of Las Vegas is hard to imagine before you are on it, and even when you are on it, it ain’t easy to believe it's real. 

Day 14 ° Las Vegas - Death Valley - Barstow

Nevada - California ° 498km, 5h 26m 

Today we ride in the desert heat. We will visit the famous Death Valley. Unique nature destination of California. It's the lowest point in America, 85.5m below sea level. It's also the hottest point in America. Here you will discover how it feels to drive in the sauna. But yes, because we are in America, there is a big air-cooled oasis in the middle of the valley... so no worries. Death Valley is a part of Mojave desert and our final address of the day is on the edge of Mojave, Barstow.

Day 15 ° Barstow - Santa Monica - L.A

California ° 252km, 4h 6m ° b,d

Times flyes on a tour because every day is a Saturday. And it's our last driving day. But it's also a beautiful day. We follow the old route to Victorville. From there it's a must to drive a bit on Interstate 15, but then we have one of the best curvey roads on the tour before Hollywood. We drive up to Angels national Forest and take the awesome CA2 up there all the way to Hollywood, wherefrom we drive Santa Monica Boulevard to Santa Monica Pier, our final destination of the tour.

Day 16 ° Los Angeles >

California ° Departure day

The end of our Route 66 motorcycle tour... we return our motorcycles if we did not do it already yesterday, and then it's time to say bye-bye to Los Angeles if you do not stay here an extra night or two. Hollywood Studios is one very interesting place to spend a day if you have not been there before.