Route 66 is a lonely road

Famous Roy's cafe, gas station and hotel is seeing a revival after being closed for decades. The gas station now pumps gas again, and travelers in this hot part of the desert can get a cold soda in the store. Roy's is located on one of the most desolate stretches of Route 66, between Needles and Barstow. - Photo by Stuart Palley/Orange County Register/MCT

Romanticised in a song and popular culture, this famous route actually weaves through the desert.

ROUTE 66 stretches over 2,000 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Though Kingman (in Arizona) and Barstow (in California) both make it into the song Route 66, the original alignment between the two towns is among the loneliest stretches anywhere from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean.