The iconic Route 66 has inspired music, movies, and books and has become a pop culture icon. The highway was initially established in 1926, and fast became one of the most famous roads in America. Covering 2448 miles, the original route crossed eight states and crossed three time zones.The original starting point was in Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California.During the 1930 Great Depression dustbowl, the highway served as an escape route to new opportunities out west as well as supporting the roadside culture of roadhouses, Mom and Pop stores and cafes, and the many gas stations that sprang up along the route. John Steinbeck penned his novel, The Grapes of Wrath, in 1939 and dubbed Route 66 “the Mother Road”, which became a symbol of loss, escape, and new hope.