The Route 66 Rendezvous is accepting donations to help to cover additional expenses for the Sept. 13-16 classic-car event after the City of San Bernardino, Calif., filed for bankruptcy, reported The Press-Enterprise. The event website, www.route-66.org, is accepting donations in amounts ranging from $10 to $250, classifying donors as a bronze, silver, gold, super or … Continue reading Route 66 Rendezvous taking donations
Significant changes likely coming to Arroyo Seco Parkway
https://youtu.be/flhd7Jr-3qE A number of significant changes are probably coming to the historic Arroyo Seco Parkway (aka Pasadena Freeway, aka Route 66) in the Los Angeles area, reported LA Curbed. The proposals come from the California Department of Transportation, so it's not just idle speculation. A summarized list: Reducing the speed limit from 55 to 45 … Continue reading Significant changes likely coming to Arroyo Seco Parkway
Pontiac continues its tourism surge
The focus has been on the Route 66 town of Pontiac, Ill., in recent stories about the uncommonly strong tourism that Illinois saw in 2011. But this excerpt in a new story by the Pontiac Daily Leader got my attention: Locally, the city of Pontiac last year experienced a 40 percent increase in the number … Continue reading Pontiac continues its tourism surge
Radio series explores eastern Oklahoma’s Mother Road
In the few weeks, KRPS, a public radio station in Pittsburg, Kan., produced a series of short stories about Route 66 in eastern Oklahoma. You can hear them here. The Hogue House, a Sears home, in Chelsea, Okla. [audio https://www.krps.org/archive/r66-7.mp3] Afton Station in Afton, Okla. [audio https://www.krps.org/archive/r66-6.mp3] Totem Pole Park near Foyil, Okla. [audio https://www.krps.org/archive/r66-4.mp3] Hammett House restaurant … Continue reading Radio series explores eastern Oklahoma’s Mother Road
Longtime owner of Truxton motel and cafe dies
Mildred Barker, longtime co-owner of the Truxton Cafe and Frontier Motel in the Route 66 hamlet of Truxton, Ariz., died Thursday at age 87, according to an obituary today in the Kingman Daily Miner. Ray and Mildred Barker purchased the Truxton cafe and its attached motel in 1957. She and her husband were born in … Continue reading Longtime owner of Truxton motel and cafe dies
To & From the Mother Road
If you've got some time to kill, I recommend you sit back and peruse this online issue of To & From magazine, which devoted a special issue to Route 66. You can flip the pages right here, and enlarge them as well: [issuu width=420 height=272 embedBackground=%23000000 backgroundColor=%23222222 documentId=120805235656-d79333313e634ae18d3b353453ca7e88 name=route66_toandfrommagazine username=toandfrommag tag=mother%20road unit=px v=2] Diana Nguyen, … Continue reading To & From the Mother Road
A music video for a festival
The Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau of Springfield, Mo., put together this music video about the upcoming Birthplace of Route 66 Festival. Most of the images come from Route 66 in Springfield or the surrounding area. The music, "The Middle of Everywhere," is by The Road Crew, which has recorded a lot of tunes that … Continue reading A music video for a festival
Remembering Ernie
The Ernie and Fran Edwards Route 66 International Appreciation Day was Sunday at the old Pig Hip restaurant site in Broadwell, Ill. Here's a photo taken by Logan County Tourism from the event. That's Fran Edwards, 90-year-old widow of the recently deceased Ernie Edwards, cutting the ribbon with a big pair of scissors at the dedication … Continue reading Remembering Ernie
A tour of the Wigwam Motel’s lobby
Kumar Patel, operator of the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, Calif., shows the souvenirs, memorabilia, and artifacts that are displayed in the lobby of his historic Route 66 motel: https://youtu.be/GwEhy19cXkQ The old photos of the wigwams when they were being built in the late 1940s are especially fascinating.
An early image of La Bajada Hill
Take a look at the above photo. It's a photograph of a circa-1922 Dodge Bros. Touring Car at La Bajada Hill, southwest of Santa Fe, N.M. Date of the image is unknown, but likely before Route 66 was certified in 1926. The back of the photo read: Ma and Dad. This is at the top … Continue reading An early image of La Bajada Hill