Once upon a time families could travel across America on Route 66 and make stops in small towns along the way for ice cream and burgers.
Today, that is no longer the case as the old roadway is either grown over or completely removed in certain areas.
However, in some small towns you still travel on Route 66 which was once the main artery through a bustling town. While the road may still be the main thoroughfare, the businesses along the way show that towns are no longer alive and well.
TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO: Paradise Café, once a stopping point for great burgers and a tank full of fuel in the 1950’s. The location also became the site of the Paradise Motel. However, fire took the motel while vandalism eventually took the small gas station and restaurant. Both, are now a memory along the scenic Route 66.
While the old route is filled with abandonment, the foundations still remind us of the past.
“Memories and thoughts age, just as people do. But certain thoughts can never age, and certain memories can never fade.”
Route 66 was once the main artery through the desert lands of the west leading to the metropolis of Chicago.
The route was dotted with only a handful of mom and pop gas stations along the way. Some still standing while others fall in decay and are now abandoned.
"Because the greatest part of a road trip isn’t arriving at your destination. It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.” — Emma Chase
Somewhere between California and Arizona on Route 66... A small piece of what our history once looked like.
The old phone booth stands in front of a closed / abandoned soda shop.