“The Mother Road” airs next month on PBS

Award-winning filmmaker Lauren Cardillo always wanted to do a documentary about Route 66, but was having trouble thinking of an original angle in which to shoot it.

Then she realized that her mother, Irene, was born in 1926 — the same year the Mother Road was certified. So mother and daughter hit the road together.

The result of that trip is the documentary “The Mother Road,” which is set to air on PBS television stations in August. To find the station in your area, go to the PBS station finder here. From there, you should be able to find broadcast times and dates. I’ve also had good luck finding listings with the TV Guide Web site.

According to the news release about the documentary:

A role reversal on the traditional family road trip, the mother-daughter team hit all the tourist sites, but also chatter along the way, as women do, about the issues of aging in today’s world. They also reflect on the many parallels between the Mother Road and Irene’s journey through life — the pot holes, the unexpected dips and turns, the exciting side trips — and reflect on the memories that made the journey worthwhile. Like most mothers and daughters, Irene and Lauren, both native New Yorkers, enjoy a feisty relationship where nothing is held back and every grudge remembered! […]

The film also tells the behind-the-scenes story that Cardillo and many other baby boomers face each and every day: dealing with aging parents as they themselves are entering middle age. In Cardillo’s case, she chose to position her own mother-daughter journey through life against the backdrop of a national treasure that has, like the boomer generation, stood the test of time.

And here are some of the places where Lauren and Irene stopped:

Among the places featured in the documentary are the start of Route 66 in Chicago; Ted Drewes’ ice cream stand and the Red Cedar Inn in Missouri;, the Ribbon Road, the Blue Whale and the Coleman Theatre in Oklahoma; the Cadillac Ranch in Texas; Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, Oatman and the Grand Canyon in Arizona; and the end of the pavement on the California Coast in Santa Monica.

It sounds really promising. I’ll be able to watch the documentary this weekend. I’ll report back later.

2 thoughts on ““The Mother Road” airs next month on PBS

  1. I watched this program last night around 3 a.m. and was really intrigued at how much it mirrored my own life with my mother. Although my mother is 80 years old she is still very active and independent. Now that I am entering middle age its amazing how much we are really alike… traveling down the same rode, so much like route 66 just at different times. I highly recommend any mother-daughter even father-son to watch this beautiful and funny journey. Well done girls!

  2. My mother and I will be doing the same thing soon. Hopefully next summer, when I am graduated from college. We have done road trips out west multiple times. The most memorable was Winslow, AZ because we are both Eagles fans. We would like to go back and stand on the corner :). Since we are from the Milwaukee, WI area, we are close to the beginning of the Mother Road in Chicago, IL.

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