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MY BEST ROAD trip was driving America’s most iconic and historic highway.
Who: Sean Kelly, NBC’s News at Ten, originally from Shrewsbury, England
Route: Los Angeles to Chicago
Distance: 4,025km
Time: 5 days
When: January – February 2016
Vehicle: Audi RS4
To many, the idea of “getting your kicks on Route 66” is nothing more than a cliché, one of those things that sound wonderful only in theory. I openly admit I was one of those people.
My motivation to drive Route 66 was born of necessity, simply because I was moving house. Driving an iconic route was just a way of relieving boredom over the ensuing 2,500 miles, but my early cynicism was soon overcome.
Driving my Audi RS4 away in the uncharacteristic heavy rain at Santa Monica Pier, I drove what could be considered the “wrong” direction, west to east. Anyone with experience of Los Angeles will know Santa Monica Boulevard takes about an hour to negotiate thanks to the dystopian level of traffic. Only once you are out of LA does the fun begin.
Turning north toward Las Vegas, you meet the sort of road your mind conjures when somebody says “Route 66”. Open, undulating, and as fast as you can get away with, what grabs you is that yes, this IS driving freedom. That is if the road surface doesn’t rattle your teeth out, or you don’t drive off the end of the road in the desert when a 10-mile straight concludes with a random 90-degree left turn, as I so nearly did.
Sunset at the diner in the ghost town of Amboy (deserted 1972) is a prelude to the most demanding section of the entire route, the Sitgreaves Pass mountain road at Oatman, Arizona. It was dark when I arrived and freezing rain was setting in, and perhaps it’s best that I couldn’t see how far I’d fall if I went over the side….
Resuming in Flagstaff, passing the Meteor Crater and then unashamedly standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona (as expressed in The Eagles song “Take It Easy”), the asphalt runs out at 702 miles, and you find yourself on mud at the New Mexico border. Simultaneously the most fun section and the most expensive, I lost a few bits of bodywork but trust me it was worth it!
A snowed-in Santa Fe was my second overnight stop, a prelude to inevitable Tony Christie references driving the freeway-heavy way to Amarillo, Texas, containing the bizarre Cadillac Ranch, a load of cars placed front-first into the ground (!)
A spiritual epiphany strikes once you reach Oklahoma. No matter your moral persuasions, once you’ve experienced gun-toting Nazarenes and realise you’re on the same road where you passed gay hipsters in West Hollywood, only then can you truly appreciate the diversity of the United States.
True driving nirvana is found in the pre-1952 section at Rock Creek in Sapulpa. The tree-lined banked corners make it more Monza than Midwest USA, ending on a glorious bridge seamlessly welcoming you to Tulsa. From the sublime to ridiculous, the 9-foot-wide “Ribbon Road” stands as a testament to engineering ingenuity in 1922: an improvised long narrow road when the budget would have otherwise meant a normal road of only half the required length.
Blink and you’ll miss the 12-mile section through Kansas, but you can’t miss the 2,000-mile mark at the Gateway Arch in St Louis. The run to Chicago is an unexpected treat, as many parts of the original 66 were bypassed in the 1940s and 1950s.
Because of this, the well-signposted 1920s sections are deserted and fantastic to drive, the long sweeping corners through open countryside coming straight from a 1950s Grand Prix venue. Petrol stations have a retro look, and the brick road segment is a nod to the original Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The old roads of Illinois are such a pleasure that Chicago, one of the great cosmopolitan cities of the world, is almost a letdown – especially as the only fanfare to greet your arrival after 2,500 miles is a single sign that says “End Route 66” at Jackson Blvd and Michigan Avenue.
Against expectation, ’66 was life-affirming, full of memorable driving experiences (I drove on wood, asphalt, dirt, gravel, ice, brick and through a river), but perhaps more importantly, culturally enlightening in a way I could have never envisaged.
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Ireland has an extremely low rate for prosecution of rape cases, very few people come forward, less get sentenced and less again get a lenght sentence for what is considered to be the second most violent crime in Irish statute books. These stories whilst horrific only distract us from harrowing regular occurrence that take place on our shores. Read the SAVI report, see that
1 in 3 women are sexually assaulted in Ireland and 1 in 5 are raped and regularly these assaults are done by people they know. Worry about how your brother’s, fathers, nephews seek consent from women, rather than looking to a county far away that does messed up crap and point the finger while ignoring the nonsense in your own country, that you can help break down.
@Maggie Corrigan: Didn’t they also report 1 in 5 men have been sexually assaulted. If you consider rape a crime of violence you may also have to consider how men are often violently attacked. Not belittling rape just pointing out that men live with dangers often ignored with victim blaming a huge issue. Violence is a problem but putting extra emphasis on sexual violence may obscure and diminish the impact on all of society
@Maggie Corrigan: i agree with your sentiment, but 1 in 3, 1 in 5. Where did you pluck these numbers from? Exaggerating the problem is exactly why the #metoo is now just a pathetic fame seeking device which harms the real victims of abuse.
@Maggie Corrigan: making up statistics like 1 in 5 doesn’t help change the situation. It makes people doubt everything else you’re saying. Our justice system needs a compete overhaul as it’s not fit for purpose on prosecutions and sentences for all crimes, not just rape.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: I actually think the 1 in 3 is correct but it covers everything with sexual assault being any small interaction such as an unwanted touch on the arm.
@Maggie Corrigan: genuine question, how could it be 1 in 3 or 1 in 5 here but only 1 in 15 in Japan which the article states as an incredibly patriarchal society with near no support for victims? Trying to get my head around how incidence can be proportionally higher here if we are more supportive.
I thought Japan had moved on past that carry on to the same extent as the western world ,not near good enough but would look down on rapists
I’ve visited 5-6 times and found that women are extremely safe and very well treated. I worked with lots of women in powerful positions. However there are strict gender roles that may seem unusual to western society. Like at a business meeting in a bar it’s common for girls in the group to top up your beer if it’s getting low. At the same time everyone is very respectful to each other and having a great time. Japan is so far ahead of western society in so many ways. Maybe the gender subjects don’t fit western leftist ideals but there’s no argument that their culture is beautiful and their people unique among the worlds 1st works nations.
@René Laurent: Japan it’s still a fundamentally misogynist country where rapists are rarely prosecuted and at best settle out of court. Of course Japan is far more advanced in other ways. Japan still largly shuns the Comfort Women from the war and raped women are often thought and treated as tainted. A change is needed in this multilayered society and thats the point.
@René Laurent: rapes don’t take place at high level meetings ,I would imagine .If the article is a fact and the women who are affected are looked down on by their fellow women I don’t know where to go from there
@René Laurent: interesting perspective. However demanding equality for women is not “leftist”. Removing impunity for rape is not leftist either. The Japanese obsession with “face” is nothing to be admired. Embarrassment is to avoided at all costs. Shame appears to be a strong societal controlling factor. They need to evolve just like western society. Hopefully they can keep the best while losing the medieval shackles.
@René Laurent: still no chance of getting groped on a train then?
@J: Japan is 20 odd years behind the west. There is a quagmire of anomalies there re: women’s right to speak out and sexuality. I lived there for 15 years. There is very much a “ put up with it “ culture. It is so sad that there is no recognition of the scars that rape can leave. The women though have compounded the situation themselves by not speaking out against all gender inequalities within their society. They thought I was so strong ? I was normal but the strong bit may have been I voice my opinion. Love Japan fascinating place but advancement of women will never move like the west. ( I wish it would )
@John R: maybe they should be let evolve on their own though. Why must we impose western cultural values on them? It’s their culture, not ours. Leave them to get on with it on their own. The Me too people constantly portray western culture as a patriarchy that must be changed yet on the other hand say it’s soooo much better than other cultures. Maybe it’s all a smokescreen and just women jumping on a big bandwagon…and crying because their Japanese sisters aren’t joining in droves. Feminism and Me too doesn’t isn’t as pure as the driven snow you know…there is a lot of misandry wrapped up in it too…maybe many Japanese women don’t want to get wrapped up with it for just that reason.
@Kevin Tyrrell: Not ignoring the rest of your comment but the phrase “as pure as the driven snow” does not mean something is pure. It means the opposite in fact.
Very backward place in many ways. Woman are basically treated like dirt
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