Getting Your Kicks on Route 66 With the Newest Auto Club Map

    LOS ANGELES--May 14, 2001--Nostalgia, adventure and good food become words to live by in the Automobile Club of Southern California's newly released Route 66 map.
    An Auto Club travel writer and photographer chronicled their Route 66 adventure starting in Chicago in a bright yellow 2000 Chevrolet Corvette hardtop, and traveling west 2,400 miles to the Santa Monica Pier for a road trip of a lifetime.
    Roadside eateries, historic motels, trading posts, ghost towns, scenic natural wonders and offbeat attractions are served up on this latest map that describes this unique ribbon of asphalt referred to as America's "Mother Road."
    Don't have the time for the entire trek through eight states and three time zones? The Auto Club took the very best of Route 66 and broke it down into six road trips that allow travelers to experience as much of the historic highway as they have time to drive.
    For example, Road Trip One, "The Romance of the Open Road" takes visitors from the Cajon Pass Loop to the old-time diner, Summit Inn, to the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum and on to the Route 66 Mother Road Museum in Barstow. The trip ends at Sitgreaves Pass, a twisty mountain road, between Oatman and Kingman, Az.
    Drive-it-yourselfers can also sample Road Trip Three: "High Country and Homey Cafes," a 423-mile segment of Route 66 between Gallup, N.M. and Amarillo, Texas. A scenic view of high country landscapes and sunsets, stops in small towns, cafe dining and a new Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa, N.M. are featured on the trip.
    "The Auto Club's new maps, including Route 66, are handy laminated publications that combine the best features of a guidebook and a map," said Auto Club Editorial Director John Austerman. "Route 66's colorful history, once captured in a Bobby Troup song and a popular television series, is now captured on a new Auto Club map."
    This is the latest publication in a series of maps where the Auto Club's travel writers and photographers put together the best "can't miss" spots on a unique map -- the third in the "GreatestHits(TM) Map" series.
    The first map, "Southern California Car Culture Landmarks," features restaurants, supermarkets, shopping centers, drive-ins, and car washes designed decades ago with the motorist in mind. The second issue, "Southern California Attractions" includes tourist-oriented spots ranging from Hollywood movie studio tours to Westside shopping, theme parks, museums and beaches.
    The Auto Club's Route 66 map is available to members for $4.95 in Auto Club local offices and on the Auto Club's Web site, www.aaa-calif.com. A special Route 66 photo essay "Get Your Pix on Route 66" is also available on the Web site's home page under "Highlights."
    The guide map also can be found at specialty map and travel bookstores, selected Barnes and Noble Bookstores and other retail vendors throughout California for $7.95.