Local Family Getting Kicks on Route 66
Coote family travels the mother of all roads in new reality TV show
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A sign marks the route through town on historic U.S. Route 66 in Joliet.
It’s an All-American reality TV road trip for one Chicago-area family who are getting their kicks on Route 66.
It’s not often families get a chance to take a road trip documented by a television crew, but for the Coote family that slim opportunity became reality. Now they’re sharing their adventures with the rest of the nation in the new TV show “Great American Road Trip,” -- seven families ... seven RVs ... A cross-country competition -- premiering at 7 p.m. Tuesday on NBC 5.
It can’t get any more American for the Coote family who will be traveling along the pop culture icon Route 66. It’s a trip they’ve desired to take for a long time.
“We wanted the kids to see different parts of the country and see some of the historical sites across the United States," Jennifer Coote told the Chicago Sun-Times.. "We had planned on doing pretty much this exact trip, but with our parents."
The Coote family, 9-year-old Jake, 12-year-old Cassidy and their parents, Jennifer and Keith, auditioned for the show and won the spot they never believed they would get. The eight-episode series tags along with families encountering historical sites along the famous highway. The families face competitions along the way.
Previous vacations the Cootes have taken include Disney World and water parks, but nothing had prepared them for this.
On May 18, the Coote family left from Wrigley Field in their large 35-long RV en route to sites such as the World Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville, Ill., the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and perhaps they will find themselves doing some buffalo-scouting at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.
"It's a little cramped, but it's been great," Coote told the Sun-Times during a phone interview from the road. "We have no cell phones, no Internet, nothing. It's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be."
Each week one family will be eliminated and the last family of four standing brings home $100,000.
"Every day is an adventure," Coote said. "The kids get to see all this now and hopefully they'll be able to bring their kids back one day. And if we win, maybe we'll even pay for it."
The Cootes aren’t in it just for the money, but more for the experience. It winds from Chicago to LA, and the Cootes are hoping to travel more than the two thousand miles… all the way.
Posted Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009 - 2:07 AM CST
