it must have seemed like magic once. families loaded in a massive chrome and steel chariots with powerful v-8 engines and took off down that blacktop highway. they slept in whimsical motor lodges and bungalows, swam in kidney-shaped pools. then it all went redundant. route 66 was decommissioned, chopped up, largely forgotten, except by desperate and lazy travel show hosts. >> does anyone else at cnn do this, like drive around 10:15 at night looking for tacos? >> yeah, probably. >> i'll say this. the strip takes on a much more interesting look at night. you can imagine dennis hopper huffing nitrous and dismembering somebody over an unrolled tarp in any one of those sinister-looking motel rooms. cool. >> hopefully the tacos first, because after you do the meth you really aren't going to want to eat. in ancient times, drivers would hang the testicles of their enemies on their rear-view mirrors. >> best case scenario around here, in my humble opinion, taco truck, of which there are quite a few. parking lot, the smell of mystery parts on a griddle, yes.