A classic Route 66 trip

Ken Ehresman of Pontiac, Ill., and 14 members of his family are planning a Route 66 journey from Los Angeles to Pontiac.

But according to the Pontiac Daily Leader, they won’t be piled into a couple of minivans. Instead, they’ll be driving down the Mother Road in three classic cars — a 1976 El Camino, a ’57 Buick and a ’76 Pontiac Trans-Am.

The newspaper explained:

The cars are going to be driven down to L.A. on a trailer while the family travels by airplane.

Once they get to Los Angeles, the Ehresman Clan will be traveling roughly 250 to 300 miles per-day on Route 66 and hitting classic diners, hotels and site-seeing destinations along the way, including the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest National Park.

“This will be somewhat of a memorial trip back on Old Route 66,” said Barb Ehresman. “The whole thing will be great for the family. Probably everybody is going to have an experience that is specific to them.”

Ken Ehresman traveled Route 66 in 1956 when he was in the Army, and his wife’s family also journeyed down the Mother Road when she was 18.

Ehresman has been in contact with the Route 66 Hall of Fame & Museum in Pontiac to get some tips for the journey ahead. He said this was instrumental in not only giving good ideas for tourist destinations, but also for providing contacts and people who could help along the way.

Driving those old beasts, the Ehresmans had been make sure they have a AAA membership, too, just in case.

UPDATE 4/7/2012: The Daily Leader posted this update after the family completed the trip. The Ehresmans encountered mechanical issues with all three of the vehicles, but the matriarch of the family wishes the journey had been longer.