Join discussion about El Vado

I'm a member of the Duke City Fix blog collective based in Albuquerque, and I posted the latest news about El Vado Motel. Considering it's iffy on whether El Vado can return as a motel if it's saved, I asked for suggestions on other ways El Vado can be re-used, yet keep its historic look. … Continue reading Join discussion about El Vado

Technical difficulties

Don't worry ... we're still alive. Entries to Route 66 News will be spotty for the next week or so because of the historic ice storm that has crippled half of Oklahoma. At one point more than 600,000 customers were without electricity, and more than 75 homes caught fire on Monday alone because of all … Continue reading Technical difficulties

Programming note

A few of you may have noticed more music videos being posted in recent days. We're sliding into the slow winter season at Route 66 News. So I've decided to track down as many road-related songs as possible on YouTube and Google Video, and post them when there's not much to report from the Mother … Continue reading Programming note

Lincoln Highway news site launched

This is a welcome addition. Route 66 has a news site (you're looking at it, obviously), and now the Lincoln Highway does, too. Brian Butko, author of "Lincoln Highway: America's First Coast to Coast Road," has launched LincolnHighwayNews.com in the past few days. In three days, he already has items about Niland's Cafe, new Lincoln … Continue reading Lincoln Highway news site launched

Preventing a motel vanishing act

The Arizona Republic published a good article Friday about slowly vanishing motels along Route 66. The article quotes Emily Priddy of Route66Motels.com and cites the ongoing preservation efforts at Earl's Motor Court and La Posada, both in Winslow, as beacons of hope for Mother Road travelers who love vintage lodgings. I found it especially fascinating … Continue reading Preventing a motel vanishing act

Notes from the road

Road correspondent Mark Potter reports that the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., has been returned to its original 1939 color scheme of blue. For many years, the motel was mostly of a coral color. Folks in Springfield, Mo., who are fighting the proposed relocation of Missouri 266, aka Route 66, in their town have … Continue reading Notes from the road

Another fundraiser on the road

Three men in their 60s from Pennsylvania are traveling Route 66 westward to San Bernardino, Calif., as a fundraiser for KidsVoice, an advocacy program for neglected or abused kids in Allegheny County, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The three have a plastic dinosaur mascot called Carnie that's tagging along for the ride. They take pictures of … Continue reading Another fundraiser on the road

Notes from the road

We discovered that Wings Hamburgers and Brother Arthur's Bililian Fish at 3409 E. Admiral in Tulsa has closed. There will be an auction at 10 a.m. Saturday to sell off the contents -- including a slew of collectibles -- of the recently shuttered Hillbillee's Cafe and Bed and Breakfast in Arcadia, Okla. More details from … Continue reading Notes from the road

The granddaddy of Route 66 sites

Yahoo! interviews Belgium resident Swa Frantzen, whose Historic Route 66 site was established in 1994. It the first World Wide Web site about the Mother Road. He started the site to test his university's servers, but also had a desire to inform computer users about Route 66 and help the Mother Road's struggling businesses.

Notes from the road

Dida Zende, an artist based in Berlin, is looking for at least one old gas station along Route 66 to repaint so it resembles a FIT art gallery (above). It would be repainted mostly white, with a bit of red trim and the FIT logo. Zende wants to come do this free of charge in … Continue reading Notes from the road