I’m pleased to report that the Route 66 section of the newly published sixth edition of Jamie Jensen’s popular “Road Trip USA” (Avalon Travel, 1,002 pages, paperback) contained no errors that I could detect.
That seems an unusual way to begin a book review. However, longtime readers of Route 66 News may remember my 2009 review of Jensen’s “Road Trip USA Route 66.” That book — and its companion, “Road Trip USA” — were riddled with factual errors a simple fact-check would have found.
A few days later, Jensen emailed an apology for the errors, and Avalon Travel pledged to edit future books more carefully.
I’m glad to see Jensen’s book return to its usual excellent form. For many years, I kept an early volume of “Road Trip USA” around during my early two-lane highway days. It was a good influence. Apparently plenty of other people like Jensen’s work as well — since 1996, he’s sold more than 500,000 copies of his “Road Trip USA” books.
The new “Road Trip USA” contains 10 chapters of long, interesting drives in America, including the Great River Road, Pacific Coast Highway, U.S. 83, U.S. 93, Appalachian Trail, Atlantic Coast, U.S. 2, Oregon Trail, The Loneliest Road, and the Southern Pacific route.
The Route 66 chapter, as in the rest of the book, contains a colorful and eye-pleasing layout that intersperses maps, trivia, photos, old postcards, and side stories.
Side stories in the Route 66 portion include recommended books; a short history of Cadillac Ranch; two pages about Santa Fe; a side trip to Buddy Holly’s stomping grounds in Clovis, N.M.; songs of Route 66; four pages on the Grand Canyon; and the story behind London Bridge in Lakes Havasu City, Ariz.
The lean main text serves as a thumbnail guide to the best highlights, so don’t expect “Road Trip USA” to be all-inclusive. However, he updated the material recently enough to include the Campbell Hotel in Tulsa, which reopened to the public less than a year ago.
Don’t-miss places come in boldface type, with a street address and phone number in parentheses. (However, no Web addresses are listed; Jensen ought to consider including those in future editions.)
Here’s an example of Jensen’s writing, on the Route 66 town of Seligman, Ariz.:
One of the best places to stop and get a feel for the spirit of old Route 66, the sleepy little town of Seligman (pop. 510, pronounced “SLIG-man”) is a perfect place to take a break before or after rejoining the Interstate hordes. The town retains a lot of historic character — old sidewalk awnings and even a few hitching rails — and offers lot of reason to stop including Angel Delgadillo, the town barber, whose shop (217 E. Route 66) has been a pilgrimage point for old-roads fans for decades. His brother, Juan Delgadillo, created and ran the wacky Snow Cap Drive-In (928/422-3291) a half block to the east, where the signs says Sorry, We’re Open, and the menu advertises Hamburgers without Ham. Behind the restaurant, in snow, rain, or shine, sits a roofless old Chevy decorated with fake flowers and an artificial Christmas tree. Juan died in 2004 (at the ripe old age of 88), but his family carries on the Snow Cap traditions, and the burgers, fries and milk shakes (not to mention the jokes!) are worth driving miles for.
Having driven long stretches of the Pacific Coast Highway, Great River Road, and Loneliest Road, I read those chapters in “Road Trip USA” as well. Like the Route 66 chapter, those entries seemed up-to-date and informative.
As I said, “Road Trip USA” isn’t an end-all, be-all book about America’s historic highways. But it remains a very good guide for novice travelers, and likely will inspire others to do more research on two-lane roads that intrigue them. And here’s hoping that Jensen adds the Lincoln Highway and the National Road to future editions.
Recommended.