Monday, we traveled on historic Route 66 from Williams, AZ to Kingman, AZ. The photo of the road is what I remember from 1955. I was 10 years old and our family was moving from Norman, OK to Hawaii. We traveled on Route 66 to Los Angeles, stopped at the brand-new Disneyland, the brand-new LDS Temple in Los Angeles and visited some relatives in Oakland, CA on our way to Hawaii. It was so fun to be there again and see Burma-shave signs too.
I also remember carrying a canvas water bag tied to the bumper of the car - water evaporates from the canvas and cools the water inside to a tolerable temperature.
The picture above is of a centerpiece in one of the two museums in Kingman. It depicts the plight of the Okys who traveled Route 66 from all over the depression and dust bowl times and places hoping for a better life in California. The scene ripped my heart out. Reading about those times is one thing. Seeing what it actually would have looked like was quite another.