Route 60 Short-Story Journals March 20, 2004              In Search of Route 66    Clovis to Amarillo — Route 60 jumped on a freeway, so I drifted into Amarillo through the southwestern (as in direction) suburbs looking for Route 66. A New York Times article by Wayne Curtis, one of the many searching for the defunct Route 66, says it “follows Amarillo’s West Sixth Avenue, and between Georgia and Western Streets, there’s a strong sense of small-town cordiality.  A blue water tower even rises over low-slung buildings (some in a brick Spanish colonial style) and former gas stations (some now shops) crowd in on the road.” He describes The Golden Light Cafe, on Sixth, as retaining the smoky feel of a classical road joint and serving “the best green chili stew between Tulsa and Tucson.” Don’t know how Tucson got in the bragging though, neither Sixty-six nor Sixty goes anywhere near Tucson.    When Sixty-six was a federal highway, it and Sixty drew a lazy figure “8” across the Southwest. They began the trip east in Los Angeles, crossed here in downtown Amarillo (center of the "8"), and parted ways for the last time in Missouri.    I sighted the blue water tower and found my way east on West Sixth to The Golden Light Cafe for supper, and it was the best chili…this side of Clovis, anyway.    On through Amarillo I picked up Route 60 east and there among the car dealers and strip malls sat the Route 66 Inn, right on Route 60. Providence dictated that I check in here. I asked the East Indian clerk if the motel had once been on Routes 66/60, as routes frequently follow the same street when passing in cities. He didn’t seem to know what I was asking.    Whatever it was it isn’t anymore. Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985, losing its second fight with Route 60. The first came in 1926 when a federal highway from Chicago to Los Angeles was proposed to be US 60.  However, several states argued that even-decade routes should be coast-to-coast highways. They won out and US 60 became a major transcontinental highway, Atlantic to Pacific, Virginia Beach to Los Angeles. The lesser Chicago to Los Angeles Route was relegated the number “66”.    I will resume my ride on the alive-and-well Route 60, and resume my search for the gone-but-not-forgotten Route 66 when I come across its ghost again in Oklahoma.