What was it like 50 years ago??

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

SWMBO and I just finished an after dinner ride (on Connie, Battle Cruiser still is being cantankerous) and did about 100 miles on three "US" routes, 68, 42 and 40. We are blessed with an abundance of US routes in Southwest Ohio - 35, 36, 40, 42, 50 and 68.

Anyhoo, I was reminiscing about road trips early in my life and how it was to travel on these two lane roads to major destinations. One trip in 1970 sticks in my mind. Michigan to Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa (to quote Seinfield. "They didn't want to move to Florida, but they were 65, it's the law!") I 75 wasn't completely finished yet and I remember the cuts between 75 and US 23 (I think, 10 year olds aren't real navigational whizzes).

Remember roadside cabins? Motels laid out with 10 or 20 units in a line and if you were really lucky, a pool out front? Drive in restaurants (Sonic is close, but not the same)? How about full service gas stations? Souvenier stands? Stuckeys?

How cool was it to pump your fist up and down and get some trucker in a bull nose ford to sound his air horn? How about the rear facing seat in the old Vista Cruiser (not to mention the hyper cool "skylight" windows in the back)? 60 OW AC? (for the younger XS'ers, that's Hit 60, Open the Window)

Remember rolling through some small burg and seeing other kids doing exactly the same things you did at home? How about stopping at the afore mentioned motels and playing with kids from six other states while your parents compared notes in really cool steel chairs that looked like clamshells?

Ever stop at a truck stop along a 2 laner? Nothing like today's sterile cookie cutter Petros and Super Americas. What about the Fireworks stands? (OK, I have to admit, today's firesworks superstores are pretty cool)

I could go on forever. Just some rambling thoughts... Maybe someday I'll get to take my excursion across the US using just the "US" routes...

[prometheus578]

yeah, Papa Gino... those road side cabins... or the indian teepees.
Or the way different places looked...red clay soil, moss hangin' from trees, the way Florida smelled near the ocean.
Rest areas and campgrounds...
Sinclair gas stations with the big dinosaurs!
Sleeping on the floor, or up on the shelf under the rear window of a '65 Impala... seat belts?
Two lane highways... would look at that water mirage thing on hot days... and how the heat would make the pavement buckle, and you'd blow a tire if you hit it too fast.
Allowances spent on cheap feathered headresses and plastic tomahawks.
Yeah, fireworks, too, which Dad confiscated when we got home.
Roadside attractions like Reptile Gardens... and meeting Buffalo Bill's grandson in Cody, Wyoming.
Motels with those vibrating beds... and electric bug zappers hanging outside.
Eating sandwiches and drinking Kool-Aid kept in the ice chest in the trunk.
Ahhh.. root beer from the A+W next to the gas station!
Sadly, Papa, all the road side stands and attractions are gone... just memories, now.

[olebiker]

[i]
Sadly, Papa, all the road side stands and attractions are gone... just memories, now. [/B]

Yep but thank God the memories aren't.

[Mathh]

Nowadays everbody makes fun about older people saying that "in the older days everything was better".

I still think they are telling the truth...

[kf4anm]

teepees

only 3 of the original 7 left in the US.

My brother and his fam visit this one yearly and love it.

true american nostalgia.

http://www.wigwamvillage.com/

[COOL TOM]

Old Times

Yea, you could get gas for 10 cents a gallon, chilly dogs at AW were $1 for 12. Like BLUEJEEPLAB said the road side stands were great. Noboby had road rage back then either, and like prom said the rest areas and camp grounds were fun when you got to play with different kids and see cool things. You could go out in the woods behind the house and find all kind of stuff to play with and it didn't cost $50 like today. I wish they still had route 66 still up, would like to ride my bike on old route 66 cross country.

[planedick]

Probably earlier...

I remember trips to the Sears Roebuck store in Hornel, NY in the '40's. Even though it was only about 35 miles as the crow flies, but probably 50 miles by the road through the hills and valleys of upstate NY. Grandpa would spend the day before getting the old car ready and Grandma would pack a picnic lunch and put it in the trunk of the old '40 Plymouth. We would stop at this roadside picnic area near Hornel where fresh spring water came out of a rock on the side of the road and have lunch. The road then was narrow and crooked and the trip took about 2 hours to the lunch stop. About an hour at Sears then the long ride home. It was an all day ordeal.

There is an old wigwam motel in Jasper, NY, about 6 miles from my home town and it is now a museum.

There is a lot of old rt 66 here in Can't afford ya and I get to ride it sometimes. Lots of old museum type things left on it.

[madmax-im]

The THING

Back in '67 my father decided to up and go to the desert SW..Tucson to be exact.Prior to that my whole life was spent living in one house.When we moved ..we sold everything that we couldn't pack into 2 Lincolns and off we nt.Once we got thru the midwest states then we started seeing roadside signs for the Thing...see Hitlers car etc... all the touristy trappy stuff..I remember Stuckeys and lots of Mom and Pop motels and restaurants too.Gas was 18.9 cents a gallon and it was dirt cheap to fill up...the spped limits were posted at 70 on the interstates and I clearly remember my father cruising along at a comfortable 85 mph.And most of the interstates were still in new condition.It was an American adventure back then..today its just routine driving.Alot of the local color has faded..America's byways are still there..you just have to look for them

[randy]

Yeah, I remember A&W and Stewarts and drive-in movies and the family car didn't have seat belts, they were optional! We had a 1956 Buick and a '59 Olds.

Hey, this thread got me thinking about a Route 66 rally, how about running it like a relay, where the local or regional group runs a piece of the road and meets up with the group that's going to do the next leg and "hands off" the rally. It would be a cross-country rally.

Just a thought.

[Paintman]

AHH Nostalgia

I remember my dad was teh king of the family Rd trips. he would let us kids find something cool on the map and thats where we would go my self and my 4 Sisters god knows how i managed to survive. in the old Country Squire wagon. you would meet some of the best people while traveling everyone was a;lways pleasant and always would lend a hand if you needed it . ONe trip sticks in my mind was the worlds fair. all the world of tomorrow and the stuff from disney was amazing. we were always outside and wuld get a treat of going to Stewarts Root Beer for a hot dog and a Root beer float. Ahh now being older i tend to appraciate al the little things we got to do as a Family.


John

[The Lorax]

I seem to remember a few months ago when I was out in Granite City IL, they have markers up to direct you on route 66. it's a scenic byway, almost like a national park now, the route is still laid out (at least in eastern Illinois) and I believe one can still travel it cross country.....in fact, I believe 5 years ago or so, my mom and 2 of my sisters took route 66 out west to visit the other two sisters in CA. look around, there might be some touristy preserved road to less travel. have a nice day and ride safe

[olebiker]

Yeah if I remember right a few years ago HOG and Harley had some kind of Route 66 ride for one of their anniversaries.

[chrisso]

Man I would love to have seen the US in them thar days Id be cruising in some Big Block Dodge doin 7 mpg & drinkin Moonshine and thinking I was Hunter S Thompson.Your not alone in the US, Australia has gone to ****e.... Gas(Petrol) is $1.75 a litre, Speed (Greed) Cameras everywhere and to many Hyundais
Ah but we can dream............

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

Chrisso,

I had the privilege to experience Austrailia in the early 80s courtesy of the US Navy. I loved it.

I loved the people. If I had known the ex was going to dump in 11 months, I'd have stayed and found me a Sheila.

Austrailia was also the first place I ever heard my son test his lungs. Sure, it was over a wire 7 thousand miles long, but it still was a great moment.

We rented dirt bikes and took a spin in the outback. Fun, fun, fun, dodging kangaroos and looking for a bar.

I'm looking forward to another trip to the Land Down Under. I am sure it's changed, but still would be great.

[wa407mpp]

You guys are living in the wrong place, there is still a roadside motel with cabins at the top of Eaglemont on Rt. 20 with your choice three motorcycle roads to get there. and there is a drive-in movie at the junction of Rt.19 and Rt 20 and Don's pharmacy in Port Townsend, has an old fashioned soda fountain with all the favorites including real cherry phosphate Cokes. This is probably one of the most motorcycle friendly areas there is in existence.