DROVE ROUTE 66 TO GET MARRIED IN VEGAS

’d always dreamt of driving on the iconic Route 66, so when I met my husband and we both shared the same passion for road trips, we decided that we just had to do it together. Getting married along the way was simply a bonus!

So, in 2012, we flew to Colorado and started our holiday there, skipping the first part of Route 66, which has now largely been taken over by cities or reclaimed by Mother Nature. The trip didn’t exactly have the best start; we missed our flight out of Colorado destined for Texas and the start of our road trip due to a mix-up with transfer buses. Our next flight was cancelled due to a snow storm. It wasn’t all bad as we were put up in a hotel, but our bags had already been checked in so we had nothing but our hand luggage.

The lady on reception was very understanding and gave us some basic toiletries, which we gratefully accepted. After she gave us all the basics, she asked me if I wanted a lady stick. I gave a little sideways glance to my husband, who looked equally puzzled, so I asked in a hushed tone, “What’s a lady stick?”. “I’ll show you!” she replied, and she reached under her desk and pulled out a roll-on deodorant. My husband and I giggled and sighed in relief, and I took the sample-sized freebie gratefully. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when my husband then turned around and asked the lady if she had a ‘man stick’ for him.

IS THIS THE WAY TO AMARILLO?

We eventually made it to Amarillo, Texas on a tiny plane just three seats wide. The Texan dry air blew the plane all over the place and it was easily the worst flight of my life; that’s saying something as I’ve experienced engine failure, a plane being struck by lightning, and even a loop-the-loop! The lady sat next to me was terrified and, at one point during a particularly long drop, grabbed my hand. She didn’t let go until they turned off the seatbelt sign on the ground at the airport.

Things continued to work against us, as our hire car was gone and our luggage was delayed. We now needed to race to our next destination in a smaller hire car (we’d wanted a big American Chevrolet Tahoe or GMC Yukon, but ended up with a Jeep Cherokee) as we were 24 hours behind our planned itinerary. We ate at the ‘Big Texan’, which is a restaurant that featured on the very first episode of the TV show Man vs Food. We ate at a lot of the restaurants featured on that show along the way, but didn’t try any of the challenges. After all the hurdles, the trip could start properly from here on in.

As the sun set we drove to the Cadillac Ranch, a public art installation. It was an amazing start to our trip. We sprayed our names on the cars and added to the everchanging artwork using the paint left there by previous visitors. It was the first time we had relaxed and enjoyed just being out on the road. It was so freeing. The sunset gave everything a warm red glow and it was lovely to look down the road and realise our dream of driving Route 66 was happening.

VEGAS BABY!

Our next stop was Las Vegas (no, not that one, the one in New Mexico) and then onto Arizona. This was my favourite part of the trip. Most of the roads were still there, although no longer maintained, so we could stay true to the original route. The road was old and nature was finding its way into the cracks, and you could hear the rumble of the big rigs and semis on the parallel Interstate 40. But the painted ‘66’ on our road remained, as did the magic in the air, and we often found ourselves pulling over and getting out of the car just to look up and down the empty road thinking about everywhere we had been and everywhere we were about to go.

Lots of the shops in Arizona celebrated the history of the towns and how they had sprung up along the famous route, and it was here you could see where the animated cars would have been set in Disney’s Car films. We spent some time looking in the little touristy shops buying trinkets. It was lovely, but not as lovely as being out on the open road. We left the busloads of tourists to get back out on the tarmac and find as much of the original road as we could.

We reached the end of Route 66 in Arizona and carried on over the border to Nevada, which Route 66 doesn’t go through. We drove to Las Vegas (yes, that one) and stayed in the Riviera hotel, which has now sadly been demolished – although in utter Vegas style,

Snap happy: Gemma and husband-to-be get their kicks on Route 66, spraypainting old cars, enjoying Texan cuisine, and simply stopping and taking in the view it was done in party fashion. There we were joined by family and friends so we could get married in good company.

The Riviera was one of the last old-school hotels from the Las Vegas Rat Pack era. Four years later, as the hotel was about to shut down, Matt Damon drove a SWAT truck through it in the film Jason Bourne The Riviera was also used for many of the scenes in The Hangover, and although the film tells us they stay in Caesars Palace, you can see the iconic ‘R’ of The Riviera on the blackjack tables when the Wolfpack gamble back their money.

The final leg of the trip took us through the Mojave Desert to get back onto the final part of Route 66 to Los Angeles. It was a sobering thought, knowing we were coming to the end of our trail, but we also couldn’t help thinking about all the people that had travelled along the same route we had, all those years ago across the Dust Bowl to make a new life in California.

If you’ve had a journey that has changed your life or made a lasting impression, email james.scoltock@ thinkpublishing.co.uk to feature in our next edition

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