History Main / StockDesertInterstate

A common occurrence in this trope is the [[CityMouse well-off main characters]] from TheCity will have a car break down and they'll have to walk to a dusty, grungy gas station with an octogenarian mechanic and try to get him to fix their [[CoolCar ultramodern sportscar]]. He won't know how to repair anything with that newfangled, and parts won't arrive for a week. Now the couple have a FishOutOfWater experience, as they have to live in a dingy NoTellMotel in FlyoverCountry for a week, with no urban comforts.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega,_Texas Vega, Texas,]] is the embodiment of a Route 66 town. It even features a restored magnolia gas station that dates back to the 1920's.

* ''Film/{{Next}}'': Nicholas Cage travels through Flagstaff which feels and looks a lot like a stereotypical Southwest Desert.

To some degree, this trope is considered TruthInTelevision. If you get far enough away from the major cities in the American west, the little DyingTowns you come across ''do'' start to look like this.

A common occurrence in this trope is the well-off main characters from TheCity will have a car break down and they'll have to walk to a dusty, grungy gas station with an octogenarian mechanic and try to get him to fix their [[CoolCar ultramodern sportscar]]. He won't know how to repair anything with that newfangled, and parts won't arrive for a week. Now the couple have a FishOutOfWater experience, as they have to live in a dingy NoTellMotel in FlyoverCountry for a week, with no urban comforts.

A common occurrence in this trope is the well-off main characters from TheCity will hsve a car break down and they'll have to walk to a dusty, grungy gas station with an octogenarian mechanic and try to get him to fix their [[CoolCar ultramodern sportscar]]. He won't know how to repair anything with that newfangled, and parts won't arrive for a week. Now the couple have a FishOutOfWater experience, as they have to live in a NoTellMotel in FlyoverCountry for a week, with no urban comforts.

Oftentimes characters will be traveling down a road or interstate through the desert, usually in the southwestern US, and the location feels like it's stuck in TheFifties. It'll feature [[GreasySpoon stereotypical diners]], gas stations with old-fashioned red pumps, and dramatic desert landscapes with buttes, most often with reddish hues and beautiful sunsets, providing some nice SceneryPorn. A common occurrence in this trope is the main character's car will break down and they'll have to walk to a gas station like previously described.

To some degree, this trope is considered TruthInTelevision. If you get far enough away from the major cities in the American west, the little towns you come across ''do'' start to look like this.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'': Radiator Springs, the main setting of the ''Cars'' movies, is a desert town along Route 66, surrounded by picturesque rock formations. It was once a thriving community servicing cars driving across the country, but by the events of the first movie, was a DyingTown due to Interstate 40 cutting off its main source of income. It becomes a hot tourist attraction after racer Lighting [=McQueen=] makes it his base of operations.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': One of the playable maps in the game is called ''Route 66'', which features a lot from this trope like the stunning Southwestern landscapes and a Main/GreasySpoon type of diner that players spawn into, along with an old-fashioned gas station called ''Big Earl's''.

* The entirety of ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' essentially takes place along a single stock interstate, starting at the Kickstand bar, passing through the town of Mellonweed (where Maureen lives), the diner where [[spoiler:Ripburger kills Corley]], the Mink Ranch, the offramp to the Old Mine Road, the bridge over the Poyahoga Gorge, and the Vultures' hideout, and seemingly terminating at the Corley Motors factory and stadium. The protagonist Ben generally rides it from one end to the other, occasionally getting stuck or backtracking a few stations, with the climax actually taking place [[spoiler:over the Poyahoga Gorge]].