You will take more photos than you can store. The desert light is harsh at midday and golden at the edges — plan your most scenic stops for early morning or the hour before sunset.
Cadillac Ranch, Oatman, the Painted Desert and the Wigwam Motel are all photograph-literate stops, but do not forget the in-between: a single Route 66 sign against endless sky, a rusting petrol pump at Hackberry, the neon of Roy's at dusk.
Carry a microfibre cloth — desert dust and bug splatter coat every lens within minutes — and a spare battery. A dead camera at Cadillac Ranch is a tragedy you can easily avoid.
Every direction seemed to offer another fantastic photograph.