Where to hit the brakes and wander a spell

SOME PEOPLE take on Route 66 in one epic driving session.

- BY CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS

Embroidery by JENNA BLAZEVICH (Vicheraft) For The Times

Others nibble at it mile by mile, year by year. Either way works, so long as you don't hurry. I covered fewer than 200 miles most days, which would get a long-distance trucker fired by lunchtime. En route, you are likely to meet travelers from Europe, innkeepers with Indian roots, photo geeks, recent retirees, commercial archaeologists, families, car guys, nostalgic boomers, and maybe an influencer or two. Talk to all. And choose independent operators over chains. Also, don’t fly blind. I traveled with Jerry McClanahan’s folksy spiral-bound EZ66 Guide for Travelers and Drew Knowles’ Route 66 Adventure Handbook while keeping my phone tuned to Touch Media's Route 66 Navigation app ($40 for an annual subscription). Over the course of the 2,448-mile route, there’s enough to keep any explorer busy. Here are the stops I made that I'd recommend to anyone. Get out there and find some surprises of your own.

Note: The state-by-state mileage figures used here are from the route’s 1926 alignment.

Photographs by CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS Los Angeles Times

ILLINOIS

Begin at Navy Pier, where Route 66 never officially started

If you're a Route 66 purist, you're already angry, because throughout the road's official life from 1926 to its decommissioning in 1985, Navy Pier was never on the official route. But it's worth a look. Built in 1916, redone in the 1990s and 2010s after many lean years, the pier covers 50 acres and stretches 3,040 feet into Lake Michigan.