ROUTE 66 by Cristina Pastor Jiménez

It has had many names in the past and is most often called the Main Street of America or Mother Road. Route 66 originally ran through 8 states and covered almost 4,000 kilometres.

A plan was drawn up to connect a series of state roads to one big national highway. In 1926, US Interstate Highway 66 was officially opened. It became America’s most famous road, passing through many cities and crossing deserts, valleys, and mountains. Route 66 was especially popular among travellers because it did not cross the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, but instead, led through the flatter part of the American southwest.

The highway served as a major path for those who migrated in search of a new life and new jobs, especially during the Great Depression of the 1930s. As a result, many stores, gas stations and other businesses opened up along Route 66.

The original route was often altered. As traffic westwards increased, the American government started building bigger, broader roads on which cars and trucks could travel faster. When a new highway system was introduced in America, Route 66 was no longer important. It officially ceased to exist in 1985.

It played a major part in John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath. In the 1940s, Nat King Cole recorded a song about America’s prime highway which became a major hit and has been sung by many bands later on.

In the past ten years, the government in Washington has provided millions of dollars to revive America’s mother of roads.

Visitors can see stalagmites and stalactites in many different forms and colours. Cadillac Ranch is a sculpture that is made up of old painted Cadillacs buried halfway into the ground with their tails pointed upwards.Petrified Forest National Park is one of the natural wonders of Arizona. Trees that are millions of years old have turned to stone in unusual shapes. Painted Desert has bands of colourful rocks that have been deposited there over millions of years

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