Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers

This guide has a lot to recommend it, and McClanahan deserves our thanks for chronicling easy-to-overlook delights along the path of the Mother Road, but let's not confuse "EZ" with "Small." The same information displayed on pages large enough to permit juxtaposing it with the strip maps would be much more user friendly. It's very EZ to lose your point of reference on any given page, which requires forward and backward thumbing through the text to retrieve the corresponding map, and the celebrated spiral binding actually contributes to this.

It's interesting to note that several of the reviewers rated it five stars without actually having used it, which speaks more to the cuteness of its appearance than its practicality. McClanahan's syntax and terms of art also can be fairly frustrating. The route instruction "Stay Ahead" not only lacks any intuitive meaning, it's also misleading because whereas "staying ahead" implies going straight ahead, it doesn't rule out the need to watch carefully for required turns. In the intro, he says "Stay Ahead" means "do not turn off the road you are traveling," but is that the street name, the route number or the pavement? Rally nomenclature is much more instructive, e.g. "Turn onto Jones Road and follow," where "follow" is the operative term meaning "stay on the road marked Jones Road until instructed to leave it." Based on last week's real-world experiences using the guide from Oklahoma through Arizona, I would strongly recommend studying each section thorougly before entering it, and using color-coded highlighters, Post-Its or other such devices to facilitate quick cross referencing.

I wish I could gush over this work as other reviewers have because I truly appreciate the work McClanahan has done to improve awareness and appreciation of this once-lost natural treasure. Good info? Absolutely. EZ? Not so much.

The following was added to my review after a second experience with the book:

My wife, who is a seasoned navigator, had a heck of a time using the EZ Guide last week. We enjoy taking motor trips together, do so frequently, and have excellent navigator-driver communication. I can't recall the last time we lost our bearings when she was using conventional maps or even AAA Triptiks. Instructions for navigating Amarillo are especially poor. And even having run much of the same route with my son last summer, I wasn't much help.

By way of practical advice, I strongly urge anyone planning to use the EZ Guide to take Mr. McClanahan up on his offer and obtain updates before setting out. We found several motels he mentions in the book out of business. In this regard, the user should take special care to avoid using the Guide to project an evening's final destination -- in our case there was nowhere to stay when we did, and had to press on for a larger city.

Finally, I would also suggest taking McClanahan's caveats about restaurants and motels he mentions in the Guide seriously. Even in the context of the faded and funky world of Old 66, his comments on some of the places he more-or-less recommends are somewhat optimistic. Unfortunately, this may have more to do with the declining health of commerce along the route than a divergence of opinion on what constitutes a good meal or a nice place to crash for the night.

I've spent two months out of the past three years traveling Rt. 66 for an upcoming photography book. I wish I had had this guide on all of my trips. It is the most user-friendly guide available, down to the rather compact size and choice of spiral binding, so it always lies flat and stays on the page you need while in the car.

The author is incredibly knowledgable about the history of 66, and the maps in this book are as extensive as just about any traveler would need, but perfectly clear and easy to follow. Alternate alignments are clearly marked.

I have used the book for Missouri, Kansas, and for parts of California, and only wish I had the book for earlier trips. Using other 66 guidebooks got me hopelessly lost, this book kept me right on course.

I reserve one star because the text and the maps don't always align perfectly (requiring some flipping back and forth) and some of the pages in my copy seem to be bound out of sequence. But don't let that stop you from buying this inexpensive, invaluable guide to 66!

I used this book on a recent motorcycle trip on Route 66. Most route books are written to take you westbound from Chicago but this one can be used for traveling either direction. The spiral binding along with the overview and detail strip maps make the route especially easy to follow, even on sections where there are many turns, such as in Missouri. The details allow the traveler to find even difficult places on abandoned sections of road, such as the "sidewalk highway" in Oklahoma and "John's Modern Cabins" in Missouri. For those traveling with children the book even contains "scavenger hunts" and other games to keep them interested. Highly recommended... if you plan to travel the "Mother Road" or just want to dream about it get this book!

I used this book on a recent motorcycle trip on Route 66. Most route books are written to take you westbound from Chicago but this one can be used for traveling either direction. The spiral binding along with the overview and detail strip maps make the route especially easy to follow, even on sections where there are many turns, such as in Missouri. The details allow the traveler to find even difficult places on abandoned sections of road, such as the "sidewalk highway" in Oklahoma and "John's Modern Cabins" in Missouri. For those traveling with children the book even contains "scavenger hunts" and other games to keep them interested. Highly recommended... if you plan to travel the "Mother Road" or just want to dream about it get this book!

I was very disappointed with this book. I purchased this because my husband and I were driving from SF to Chicago and taking the old route 66. This book really did not have a lot of useful information...just weird random tidbits that weren't even interesting. The maps were confusing and drawn in a way that was cartoonish and distracting. I guess when it comes to travel guides, I prefer informative to a weak attempt at entertaining. You can find and download better information online just doing google searches.

This book has all that I want to undertake a 2-3 week drive along the entire length of Route 66. The maps are comprehensive without overburdening the traveller with too much detail. There are alternative routes suggested and the major roads are clearly indicated if you have to catch up time or move around an accident site or similar long-delay issue. There are restaurant reviews and accommodations suggestions. Must-see locales are clearly indicated and there are many common-sense points made as well. I like the book-size format rather than the large fold-out map. We are really lookinfg forward to doing Route 66 and expect that EZ66 will be the bible on the seat for our vacation.

I've used several Route 66 map guides and this is the best. The spiral binding makes it easy to hold in one hand and reference while driving and its offering of driving instructions both east-bound and west-bound makes it particularly user-friendly.

I also find that McClanahan mentions what I would consider, having driven almost the whole route, to be the highpoints.

The inclusion of various older routings of 66 (many of which are only sporatically drivable) along with notes on the condition of pavement (or lack thereof) are useful when weighing whether one's vehicle should be used in the attempt and whether one should subject one's travel companions to it.

I do hope McClanahan issues updated versions every few years to keep up with demolitions, new openings, and other changes in the various roadside businesses.

This book has a great deal of useful tips and facts, very interesting. I do find it a little confusing in spots. I am going east so I have to start at the back of the book and go forward. I don't know how it could have been done better but I do find it confusing at times. One spot in particular is thru NM with the jumping from page to page.
All in all I have found it useful for helping to map my trip.

I purchased this book as well as the Motorcycle Guide to Historic Route 66. Both of these books are excellent and Not only have great directions, enabling me to ride as much of the old road as possible, but they both have great historic and interesting site reviews to enhance the trip.

Purchased with the COLLECTOR'S EDITION: [[ASIN:0312254172 Route 66: Traveler's Guide and Roadside Companion]], and the [[ASIN:0967748143 Here It Is! The Route 66 Map Series]], the guide alone would almost be enough. I have the entire route mapped on Microsoft Streets and Trips 2006 with GPS from Eastern Start to West End. Our laptop is mounted on a special fold-back pivot arm that lets the computer swing/lock between driver and passenger in our motor home. I was using the Roadside Companion from the Library (had to return before I was finished) to plan most of the route, but much more information was desired. The EZ66 Guide had all the additional information I needed to complete the planned trip. I have all the routes and historic locations with notes flaged on the MS Strts&Trps computer/GPS map, along the entire multi-routes marked. And the visibility of a 15" LCD Laptop monitor with GPS to guide us on all the exisiting, drivable "OLD Route 66" even with the many route changes made between the 1926 starting of construction and the present. However, it is still best to have the Roadside Companion and maps!