That first night being by myself was kind of weird. It was nice to have the time to be alone and gather my thoughts and to let my choice to make this trip and move to Nashville sink in more. Cell phone service was dismal, but wi-fi was good enough that I could watch the "Cars" movie — fitting since there were so many references in that movie to Route 66. 

Day five was a more designated relaxing day. And I needed it. Apart from the lack of sleep that I had gotten before going on the trip in trying to spend as much time with friends and family and getting all the projects I wanted to finished, as I think you've caught on — the driving was tiring. I was so thankful for this particular Sunday, the Sabbath Day, to have the time to rest. I was able to find a church near Holbrook and then started driving on to Albuquerque.

It was fun to see that — what felt like — in the middle of nowhere Holbrook, that looked like it had one grocery store and a lot of run down buildings, that amidst that there was a beautiful LDS church building with a massive organ that looked out on top of a hill over the land below. 

I had more plans to stop at various places along the way to Albuquerque but the time jump ahead one hour threw me off and my detours onto the actual Route 66 where possible became a not-so-good choice when the road turned into a speed-bumpy road that I couldn't go more than 5-7 MPH on. It extended the time a lot.

Day five itinerary:

• Petrified Forest National Park 
• Indian Kachina Statue {Gallup, NM}
• Continental Divide {Continental Divide, NM}
• El Morro National Monument {Ramah, NM}
• Ice Cave & Bandera Volcano {Grants, NM} 
• El Mapais National Monument {Grants, NM}
• end in Albuquerque, NM

*Did not originally make it to El Morro National Monument, Ice Cave & Bandera Volcano, or El Mapais National Monument so it's not included in the mileage, or drive time but I was able to go to the Ice Cave & Bandera Volcano with Matt, so that's included as a "bonus" at the end.

Approximate mileage: 239

Approximate driving time: 3.5 hours

Approximate expenses: $0 (seriously, nothing)

Read more for map, video, details, and photo journal...

Day three didn't include many stops — but it did include a deadline of making sure Stephanie got to the airport in Pheonix by 4:30/5pm. With a drive time from Grand Canyon to Pheonix of about 4 hours, and a mule ride that ended around 11am, we chose to stop at one location on the way to the airport and drive straight through to Pheonix the rest of the way.  

Our day three itinerary:

• Grand Canyon South Rim Mule Ride {Grand Canyon, AZ}
• Montezuma Castle National Monument {Camp Verde, AZ}
• Gilbert Arizona LDS Temple {Gilbert, AZ}

Approximate mileage: 262

Approximate driving time: 4 hours

Approximate expenses: $191.16

• Gas: $32.49 @ $2.699/gallon, 11.589g
• Food: $20 
• Experiences: 
  • $128.67 Grand Canyon Mule Ride
  • $10 Montezuma Castle National Monument
• Stay: $0 (staying with a friend is priceless)

Read more for map, video, details, and photo journal...

I was still kind of tired when we woke up for our day two drive. Luckily, we had less driving to do and more to stop and explore.

Our day two itinerary:

• Roadrunner Cafe {Kingman, AZ}
• Hackberry General Store {Kingman, AZ}
• Grand Canyon Caverns {Peach Springs, AZ}
• Bearizona Wildlife Park {Williams, AZ}
• Flintstones Bedrock City {Williams, AZ}
• Grand Canyon National Park 

Approximate mileage: 189

Approximate driving time: 3 hours

Approximate expenses: $104.61

• Experiences: 
  • $21.33 Grand Canyon Caverns (for one regular tour)
  • $22.08 Bearizona (tickets are per person not per vehicle)
  • $5 Flintsones Bedrock City
  • $30 Grand Canyon Park Entry Fee
• Food: $8.20
• Stay: $18 at Grand Canyon Mather Campground

Read more for all details, map, video, and photo journal...

Well, I finally put it together! A day by day guide of Route 66. Over the next couple weeks, expect the route, with approximate mileage, driving time, projected itinerary (of things we meant to stop at and sometimes couldn't, but maybe you can), and the approximate expenses for what I saved/recorded (I split some of the expenses with the person I was with, but I included the whole amount as if you were driving yourself). 

I also just drove into Los Angeles from Nashville, putting me on part of the route again, so I'll feature some of that trip as a bonus at the end of the post. Hope this helps anyone looking to travel Route 66 or just want to check out the trip! 

Day one was a long one... I packed the night before and morning of #typical so I was a little stressed about leaving on time. I almost convinced myself and Stephanie that we should leave later like around 8am. But that would throw off a lot of our plans and put us in the middle of Los Angeles traffic, and honestly, less sleep is worth more than sitting through that.

Our day one itinerary:

• Santa Monica Pier {Santa Monica, CA}
• Randy's Donuts {Inglewood, CA}
• Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch {Oro Grande, CA}
• Harvey House {Barstow, CA}
• Bagdad Café {Newberry Springs, CA}
• Pisgah Crater {Barstow/Needles, CA}
• London Bridge {Lake Havasu, AZ}
• Oatman Wild West Town {Oatman, AZ}
• End the drive in Kingman to sleep

Approximate mileage: 399

Approximate driving time: 7.75 hours

Approximate Total Expenses: $106.54

• Gas: $38.19 @ $2.859/gallon, 13.359g
• Food: $5 at Randy's Donuts, $12.82 Bagdad Cafe
• Stay: $50.53 at Economy Inn

Read more for the map, all details, and photo journal...