The Mother Road

So how do you know you are destined to do something, meet someone, go somewhere?

Simple.

You look out for signs.

When Jagruti dragged me to the Lufthansa dinner one fateful evening in May 2004 despite my vehement protests, I should have 'seen the sign' and given in easier: there was a Lufthansa sticker on my main door, stuck by some former resident ... right above the place where I inserted the key every evening after coming home from work and muttered 'damn bird!' on bad days and just 'bird!' on good ones. A 'lufthansa bird' sticker noticed by Arfiman on our second date ... the first time he cmae upstairs to collect me.

I met him at that Lusthansa event that I had been dragged to.

Never ignore the signs.

I think it was six years ago that I bought a cheap T-shirt that I fell in love with. It was so comfortable. And since it had a collar, I could 'smart casual' wear it. Until I wore holes in it. How many T-shirts does a person own in 25 years of life? And how many of those t-shirts have labels that you read and remember? Well, I never knew i had this one commited to memory.

Until someone, some years down the line - when the t-shirt had long been stretched beyond recognition and discarded as unwearable - mentioned a word in passing that made a bell ring in my head.

Out came the t-shirt from the back of the closet and I knew right then, that one day, I was destined to travel The Mother Road.

I was destined to 'Get My Kicks on Route 66'.



I made plans. I was going to go to film school in LA. What luck ... route 66 ended in LA. I would start my trip three weeks earlier and 'do' Route 66. But fate had other plans. I met Arfiman and film school was forgotten with no regrets. So was Route 66.

What are the chances of living in a desert country, where the first language is Arabic, where you have no know American neighbors and you approach your car one day to find scribed on your bonnet 'R-66'. You look at the letters in dust and you know it can't be ANYTHING BUT A SIGN.

So, I am falling in love with the idea of Doing Route 66 all over again.

What exactly is it? It's an almost 2,400 mile stretch spanning 8 states and is a legendary route for the great american roadtrip. It goes from Chicago, Illinois to LA, California and passes through St Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Amarillo, Albaqurque, Santa Fe and Flagstaff.



Route 66 was a highway spawned by the demands of a rapidly changing America. Contrasted with the Lincoln, the Dixie, and other highways of its day, Route 66 did not follow a traditionally linear course. Its diagonal course linked hundreds of predominately rural communities in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas to Chicago; thus enabling farmers to transport grain and produce for redistribution.

In his famous social commentary, "The Grapes of Wrath", John Steinbeck proclaimed U. S. Highway 66 the "Mother Road." Steinbeck's classic 1939 novel, combined with the 1940 film recreation of the epic odyssey, served to immortalize Route 66 in the American consciousness. Route 66 symbolized the renewed spirit of optimism that pervaded the country after economic catastrophe and global war. Often called, "The Main Street of America", it linked a remote and under-populated region with two vital 20th century cities - Chicago and Los Angeles.

Today, it's the ultimate road trip.

Classic gas-pumps teamed with quaint motels and quintessential diners ... 66 passes through some fairly large cities but most of it traces a path along fairly unpopulated terrain. How cool would that be in a classic American car?



Or a bike, if we had the guts?



"Have you NOT seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'?!!!!" is what most people say when they find out I want to do Route 66.

Or Jeepers Creepers
Or House of Wax
Or Detour
Or Freeway
Or Hitchhiker
Or any of the dozens of episodes of X-Files decicated to the follies of th underbelly of America: hicksville, THE BOONIES.

My comback?

Have you not seen Sideways? Road Trip? Cross Roads? The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants? Thelma & Louise? Road to Perdition? Get on the Bus? My Own Private Idaho?

We could be Bonnie & Clyde! Only, we'd take pictures instead of money :) LOL

Yes, Route 66 could be so much fun. So will we? Or won't we?

Maybe I could entice Arfiman with talk of driving a '55 Thunderbird for three weeks ...