Originally Posted by Fuellady
Wismgari, I forgot to quote your previous entry 
Ooh, I'm thinking September next year might be a good option too  We'll maybe see you there! I love a spreadsheet, and did have one to start with but if I'm honest I prefer a list, so I changed my planning to list form. It's really good to have a rough plan to start with and you can move things around from there. Three weeks sounds fantastic... a good amount of time to see a lot of things on the route and some side trips too. Hijack away - I've loved reading about your preliminary plans.
Oh my goodness - a trip to Marceline. I have to confess to having a look on Google maps early on in my planning to see if it was close to R66 but with our tight timeline it would be too much of a stretch. That will be fabulous, I would love to see the museum and the inspiration for Main Street USA. Springfield IL has so much to see - I really hope if we manage to add a couple more days to our trip that we can spend a bit more time there than we currently have planned.
Are you staying at the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba? I really wanted to stay there but couldn't get the timings to fit 
You have some really interesting side trips planned. I haven't heard of some of the national parks you're visiting, I'll have to look them up. Santa Fe looks amazing doesn't it - I'm desperate to find a way to fit it into our plans. If I don't succeed you'll have to tell me all about it!
So pleased you're staying at the El Rancho... it's one of those stays that I really feel has to be done. Classic Route 66! I hope when we re-jig our plan if we have more days that we can still stay there - despite being the cheapest hotel we had booked, it was the one I was looking forward to the most (apart from the Venetian ).
Have you looked for accommodation in Flagstaff yet? It was the one we struggled with most. A lot of places just didn't look nice, or had bad reviews and as far as I could tell there aren't any really iconic R66 motels there. It mostly seemed to be cheap chains like Motel 6 and even they were expensive there. If you find anywhere reasonably priced and nice or iconic please let me know.
I think I'd be torn between a second night in Williams or a night in Seligman too. Williams looks such a cool place and I was (am!) really looking forward to being there. However, Seligman has the Delgadillo's and is a must stop - I'm not sure I know of anywhere to stay there though but then I didn't really look into that.
Ah, the Wigwam Motel - I so wanted to stay there as well. I think it is a "must" for the novelty value. How I wish we had some spare days for Disneyland. It will make such a great end to your trip finishing off with a bit of Disney. San Diego too - I've heard it's a lovely place but I think I would be tempted by an extra Disney day or maybe Universal.
The Utah national parks also sounds like a great trip in itself - it makes perfect sense for you to do Monument Valley along with the others. It's unlikely we would do that so fitting it into this trip is a must for us.
Your plans are great and I've really enjoyed reading about them and getting more ideas for our own trip. Please feel free to pop onto this thread any time with more of your planning - I'm thrilled to have someone to "chat" Route 66 with. It becomes such an obsession (for me anyway ).
Will you be doing your own report? If so, you know I would read it! Thank you for all of your comments and info so far, hopefully we can share some more  See more...
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So far my spreadsheet is just places I am interested in seeing on the route and then what category they belong do (town, quick roadside attraction, side trip etc) and then suggested points we could stay overnight with v rough mileage (was using Google maps who are not keen to keep you on Route 66). I can imagine it getting very long by the end and then a more compact daily list would be more useful!
Marceline is definitely my dream, my partner is less impressed with the idea! I am worried about adding in too many side trips and then having to rush the route... but also there are things I really want to see and I may never end up in that part of the States again... I am not sure there is much dragging my back to Missouri!
Wagon Wheel is definitely on my radar... There may still be big changes though! Same for El Rancho... looks like a classic motel so would love to stay if we can! I am not sure any of them will live up to the Venetian though!
I haven't looked much into hotels yet, so if there isn't much in Flagstaff that one may have to change! The big appeal of spending a second night in Williams, of not having to pack up all our stuff and leave it in the car at the Grand Canyon...
We have done Disneyland once before and I loved it, but my partner was less impressed and prefers Disney World. However, after our cancelled Disney World and Florida Keys trip this year I need my Disney fix! I could happily spend a week there, but two days and then a day in San Diego seems a good compromise (there is also a Disney outlet in the outlets near the Mexico boarder but don't tell him that... )
I got quite a few tips and side trip information from this YouTube video:
It is long, but really informative so I would recommend watching if you haven't seen it yet.
I always think I may do a trip report, but then it never happens... The only one I have ever managed is a food report for Florida! I took a lot of notes on previous roadtrips (California, Canada, New England, Illinois/ Wisconsin) but then nothing came of them! Maybe this time!
It really is great to have someone else planning the same trip - especially as my partner's attitude to planning is "yeah, whatever you think is best, as long as there is coffee!". Route 66 seems like the biggest planning I have undertaken yet for a trip (I am quietly very excited, just don't tell him! )