Thunder, Lightning, Rain, and Mud: Route 66 Grand Wagoneer Road Trip

Traveling Route 66 during the summer months can be an interesting endeavor. Traversing the Midwest through Tornado Alley in late June put us at risk for getting caught up in severe weather. Thankfully, the 2022 Nitto American Road Tour found the most beautiful weather imaginable. For the first half of the trip, we'd had temperatures in the 80s and 90s, and relatively low humidity. It was a gorgeous summer week. For better or worse, however, our luck was about to change as a storm system was set to move through New Mexico at the same time as our group of adventurers.

Leaving early in the morning—since this was also set to be our longest travel day at about 550 miles—we departed the Big Texan and made tracks for the official halfway point of Route 66. Situated in Adrian, Texas, the halfway point is marked by the MidPoint Café, located 1,139 miles from both Chicago, where Route 66 begins, and Santa Monica, California, where it ends. The MidPoint Café has great food and a neat gift shop and is definitely worth the stop.

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Crossing into New Mexico, there is so much to see along the way, and we made quick work of exploring the towns of Tucumcari and Santa Rosa. Despite the rain starting to fall and the need to get miles under our belt, we made time to explore the Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa. This museum had a fantastic collection of classic cars and trucks, and a few oddballs like an early 2000s Ford F-150. Maybe F-150s of that generation are considered classic in some circles—we're just not quite sure yet. Clines Corner's in Moriarty, New Mexico, is an interesting place if you're looking for gas, snacks, or random souvenirs. It's also another roadside trap with a million (exaggeration) billboards along I-40.

After lunch in Albuquerque, we popped back onto I-40, which at this point is also Route 66, and were making good time when news came that the road ahead was closed. An overturned semitruck was blocking all lanes, and those involved in cleaning it up were saying it would be a 4-hour delay at least. Not wanting to quit and just wait in traffic, we dug up every map available to us and began searching for an alternative. If we could get just a couple miles west, we could reconnect with Route 66 and bypass the whole mess. What seemed like a solid plan turned into a comedy of errors that led us and the guys from Big 10 Garage about four miles out into the untamed New Mexican desert. Days of storms had turned the otherwise solid dirt roads to mud, and despite being four-wheel drive, our Grand Wagoneer's 22-inch street tires were no match and quickly filled up with sticky gunk.

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With our main path blocked by an angry lawman (we're still not exactly sure why) we turned down a road that, in hindsight, we shouldn't have. The wet but solid sandy mud quickly turned to a soupy consistency that grabbed the Grand Wagoneer and wouldn't let go. With another large storm cell bearing down on us, we threw in the towel, got a tow from Jason Bowman and Bryan Crofts, and made a beeline for pavement. We hit the hard stuff just as a pounding, white-out-condition rainstorm complete with hail and lightning unleashed its fury.

Our detour took so long that by the time we were back on pavement the freeway was moving again. While it was definitely a fun detour splashing through the puddles, there's still a bit of regret as we know the Grand Wagoneer will never be the same. There's likely mud in places that a Grand Wagoneer should never experience and will likely never come out. Sorry about that one.

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The biggest tragedy of the whole experience was that, because of the freeway closure and our unlucky detour, we were forced onto I-40 for the remainder of the drive to Holbrook, Arizona. That means there are still more than 100 miles of Route 66 that we'll have to return to drive … someday.

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