Nat King Cole fan? My dad was, so I became one, too. The yesteryear spirit of Route 66 is more compelling than the actual roadway to me — the idea of hitting the road and heading West, back when there were greater adventure and unknowns, is cool. No GPS, cell phones and such.
Winslow? Did you see the nearby Meteor Crater?
I’ve been on various parts of Route 66, but only for a few miles if it was on the way as we road tripped. Been to some parts multiple times — there are large gaps between major cities when you drive cross country, so what the heck, grab lunch and some kitschy photos.
Williams is conveniently near Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, is in good shape road condition wise and probably has the most amenities. (There’s a scenic train you can take from there to the Grand Canyon, so it attracts more tourists.)
Seligman and Kingman are convenient for pit stops between the Grand Canyon and Vegas. Seligman is supposed to be the origin of Route 66, so it gets more tourists and is in better shape roadwise.
Maryland might have looser rules to accommodate foreign diplomats who reside in the Maryland suburbs of DC. Might be worth contacting your country’s embassy in Washington for inside info.
I would go as far as asking the homeowner about how local to them the transport is. I did a sit in the US this year that had “accessible by public transport” listed and it was a 45 minute walk down a very dangerous highway to get to it, I think the HO meant that her area was accessible, which it was, but once I was at the house I was pretty trapped. She did let me use her car to do a big grocery shop before she left but for two weeks I was confined to a very small 55 and over community with a whole lot of nothing going on.
I live in a beautiful, small beach town about 20 minutes (by car) from Seattle, WA. Because we are close to Seattle, there is an abundance of transportation options (three trains including Amtrak and a commuter train), light rail to the airport and beyond, State ferries, buses, etc) throughout the area. Both coasts (Pacific and Atlantic) tend to have good transportation options provided you are reasonably close to a major city. In more rural areas, public transportation often consists of a bus system, that may be painfully slow or infrequent.
Yes, we stumbled across the meteor hole. Fantastic information from the guide.
I agree, it’s what it means to you. To us it’s a symbol of the spirit of adventure.
If you are interested in a sit in the greater Seattle area, I highly recommend looking at Bainbridge Island (City of Winslow), City of Edmonds, and Port Townsend, They are lovely, smaller waterfront cities on the Salish Sea.
In addition to large cities, cities with large universities will typically have decent public transportation, at least for getting around town if not getting to other cities