Joshua Tree National Park was one of the side trips we added while driving Route 66, and it ended up being one of my favorite stops of the entire journey. I’ll admit that part of the appeal was simply that I got to spend a few days wandering around a…
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We Visited the Real-Life Route 66 Locations That Inspired Cars
Disney and Pixar’s Cars might be an animated movie about talking cars, but many of the places and people that inspired it were very real. Before creating Radiator Springs and its colorful cast of characters, the Pixar team took multiple research trips along Route 66, meeting business owners, exploring small…
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Discover Route 66 History at Lebanon, Missouri’s Free Museum
If you’re looking for things to do in Lebanon, Missouri, the Route 66 Museum is a great place to start. Located inside the local library, this free museum explores the history of transportation through the Ozarks, the development of Route 66, and Lebanon’s role along the Mother Road. During our…
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A Look Inside Springfield’s Incredible Route 66 Car Museum
During our three-month Route 66 road trip, we visited quite a few car museums along the Mother Road. That probably isn’t surprising considering Route 66 and classic car culture go hand in hand. From vintage cruisers and restored classics to flashy muscle cars and movie vehicles, there are car museums…
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The Strange Past of Route 66 State Park and Times Beach
Route 66 State Park ended up being one of the most unexpectedly interesting stops during our time exploring Missouri’s stretch of Route 66. At first glance, it seems like a quiet state park near St. Louis with hiking trails and river access, but there’s a lot more history here than…
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Route 66 In Kingman, Arizona: A Full-Time RV Travel Recap
Kingman, Arizona ended up being one of the most unexpectedly memorable stops of our nearly three months traveling Route 66 as full-time RVers. What originally started as a planned stop along historic Route 66 quickly turned into multiple visits thanks to truck repairs, which honestly gave us the chance to…
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One of the Best Things to Do in Springfield, Missouri: History Museum on the Square
There are a lot of small city history museums across America that mostly feel like collections of old artifacts and faded signs. The History Museum on the Square in Springfield is definitely not one of them. This museum takes the history of Springfield and the Ozarks and turns it into…
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The Red Cedar Inn Museum: A Small Town Route 66 Stop with a Big Story
If you’re driving Route 66 through Missouri, the Red Cedar Inn Museum in Pacific is one of those stops that’s easy to miss, but absolutely worth pulling over for. It’s a small, free museum right off the Mother Road, but it does a great job of telling a much bigger…
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A Week Near Flagstaff: Hidden Gems, Crowds, and Unexpected Favorites
We spent part of our Route 66 trip based just outside of Flagstaff, using it as a home base to explore both Flagstaff and nearby Sedona. While we were in the area for most of the week, our time was actually pretty low-key, we stayed in Munds Park, worked during…
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The Ultimate Land Between the Lakes Bucket List (15 Things to Do)
Stretching across the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, Land Between the Lakes is one of those places that’s packed with outdoor adventure but still somehow feels a little under the radar. With 170,000 acres to explore, it’s easy to fill a few days here, or even longer…