If I was allowed to pick only one road to represent America, the selection would be historic Route 66. A vehicle could start in Chicago and take the road all the way to the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles, encompassing pieces of Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Route 66 began back in 1926 and has turned 75 years old.

The route goes straight through my hometown of Albuquerque, known to everyone here as Central Avenue. It took me a couple years to realize that Central and Route 66 were one in the same (young men have a hard time focusing on the little things). After a bit of reflection, I've realized the Albuquerque chunk of Route 66 has influenced my life more than any road in the world.

I went to college on Route 66. Part of the University of New Mexico takes up a city block right off Central Ave. I spent many a year crossing and recrossing Central, coming and going to class. With parking on campus always a risky endeavor, I parked my car in the Student Ghetto on the other side. For day classes, it was at the corner of Lead and Princeton. For night classes, I would park at the meters next to the Denny's at the corner of Central and Columbia. Last fall, I took my first college since graduating five years before, and my parking spots still worked like a charm.

My first job in Albuquerque was on Route 66. The Frontier Restaurant (which is historic in its own right) hired me at minimum wage to be a cashier as they do many teenagers. I donned the orange paper hat, made tortillas, prepped the onion rings, and took everybody's order on the swing shift from 4-10. I did this for eight months before I found a better paying job at UPS. Three months after I left, the restaurant had the fight to end all fights (and the route has had a few) during what would have been my shift. A bunch of frat guys starting fighting on Route 66 and ended up throwing one of the Frontier employees through the window. The fight went on for five minutes with dozens of people wailing away at each other. The Frontier has had AKAL security ever since. To this day, the evening managers still remember me, and we grin and wonder where the years keep going.

All the entertainment is on Route 66. Okay, not all of the entertainment, but enough for anyone to fill up a lifetime of fun and sin. Tattoo parlors, head shops, adult theatres, bars, clubs, movie theaters, play houses, eccentric video stores, art galleries, motels, diners, music shops, clothing stores, Chinese restaurants, coffee shops, knick-knack and kitsch stores, and on and on.

Everybody stops by. Bikers and bums, yuppies and preppies, stoners and skaters, folks from the Northeast Heights and the South Valley, queers and fairies, lesbians and dikes, straight and narrow, the stylish and styleless, the healthy and insane, musicians, artists, poets, actors, junkies, homeless, lovers, haters and even a writer or two.

This is why the Albuquerque chunk of Route 66 represents America to me. If you take a cruise on Central from Tramway to 98th street, you will see all the flavors of life. It will excite you. It will depress you. It's what is going on in my town.

I've had the best and worst times on Route 66. I've stood on the roadside, making out with my best girl. I've leaned over and puked in the gutter. I've made money and lost money there. I've driven down the road catching every light, and I've been in traffic jams that take five minutes to move one block.

This road has been around for 75 years, and due to its historic status, it will be around for 75 more. When I hear people mention Route 66, they talk about the cruise across America, Kerouac and the open road. When I recollect about Route 66, most of the memories are about Central Avenue in Albuquerque. I've lived a good chunk of my life hanging out on that street, and I will continue to do so. Of course, if I ever want to run away heading east or west, it's also the simplest way to disappear from the world. You can't ask for much more from one little route.

Chris Jungle uses Coal and Lead Avenues when Central is too crowded.