Rock ‘n’ roll film takes place on Route 66 September 18, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Music.3 comments
There’s a film being screened at the upcoming Woodstock Film Festival titled “The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll” that features a significant part of its plot on Route 66.
Here’s the film’s Web site, and here’s the synopsis:
A pair of longtime friends channel their talent and passion for music into a cross-country road trip that brings them face to face with their past, present, and future. A world famous musician, whose debut album is a huge hit, retreats to his hometown after his sophomore effort flops.
There he reconnects with his long lost best friend and fellow musician, the son of a punk rock guitar legend, who became a middle school music teacher. The reunion forces the two, to recall their youthful ambitions and reexamine the choices they’ve made. Accompanied by a raucous crew of musicians, they set off on a cathartic journey along historic Route 66 that brings them closer to each other, their history and their destiny.
Here’s the film’s photo gallery, in which I saw Roy’s in Amboy, Calif., and many other scenes from the Mojave Desert.
And, as you’ll see, the film co-stars Peter Fonda. Yes, that Peter Fonda. I guess he was revisiting some spots from his 1969 movie, “Easy Rider.”
The movie also stars Kevin Zegers, Jason Ritter, Taryn Manning, Lauren Holly, Aimee Teegarden and James Ransone. According to Variety, it also features appearances by rocker Billy Morrison and blues legends Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin and Sugar Blue.
“The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll” was written and directed by Scott Rosenbaum. I’m not sure whether it has a distributor at this time.
(Photos courtesy of the Woodstock Film Festival)
“The Mother Road” September 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
Here’s Chicago-area musician Chet Nichols, a longtime Route 66 fan and traveler, performing his song, “The Mother Road.”
New sign will greet visitors to Holbrook September 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Signs, Towns.add a comment
AzJournal.com reports that new sign marquee will be placed at Gillespie Park at the corner of Navajo Boulevard and Hopi Drive (Route 66) in Holbrook, Ariz. And that may not be all …
The actual total cost for the marquee is $28,135, but $7,000 will be provided by the Holbrook School District, which will be using a portion of the marquee.
The eight-foot square marquee will not be lighted, but will feature a neon overlay of a text. The top three feet of the display will be a welcome to Holbrook, the bottom two feet will promote the Holbrook School District as home of the Roadrunners and the middle three feet will have an LED display announcing local events. [...]
Sullivan spoke at the chamber meeting regarding a grant proposal that was submitted to the Northern Arizona Council of Governments and has since been forwarded to the state. If received, the Arizona Department of Transportation enhancement grant will be used to reinvigorate Hopi Drive with similar lighting as there is along Navajo Blvd., but in a retro style that is more reminiscent of early Route 66 days.
According to Sullivan, receiving the $560,000 grant would be part of a bigger plan. “We (the city) are trying to promote the idea of ‘neon Hopi,’” explained Sullivan. The concept includes encouraging business owners along Hopi Drive to convert their signage to neon with the belief that the view from the freeway will attract visitors.
It sounds like Holbrook is trying to be more aggressive in promoting its Route 66 corridor.
Revving up for Route 66 Rendezvous September 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Towns, Vehicles.add a comment
The Route 66 Rendezvous returns to San Bernardino, Calif., this weekend, and this is the 20th edition of the humongous classic-car event.
A few stories relating to the event:
— The Press-Enterprise reports that 10 percent of the cars registered are from out of state — an all-time high.
— The San Bernardino County Sun reports on the new attractions to the festival, including a Green Area in front of City Hall in which alternative-fuels vehicles are featured. Pianist Bobby Freeman will have his rolling truck museum, packed with rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia. Also, Gene and Clara Hodkin, who recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary — all of those years along Route 66 — will be honored along with their daughter-in-law, Debra Hodkin, curator of The Route 66 Mother Road Museum in Barstow.
— The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin says the Rendezvous will give the region a much-needed economic shot in the arm. So far, corporate sponsorship is off 5 percent to 7 percent from last year, but the numbers on everything else are robust.
– The Rendezvous site has added an online forum in which members can add photos of their rides.
— Elrond Lawrence, author of “Route 66 Railway,” will sign copies of his book Saturday at the Rendezvous near the Our Town booth.
— Here’s a podcast by Inland News Today previewing the Rendezvous.
Wagon Wheel Motel gets a new owner September 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation.3 comments
The Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Mo., an architecturally significant motel which has continuously operated on Route 66 since 1934, has a new owner.
Connie Echols, who owns The Wildflower florist and gift shop on Route 66 in Cuba, took possession of the motel Tuesday from the heirs of longtime owners Pauline and Harold Armstrong. According to a news release, Echols plans to renovate the modernize the motel while keeping its historic integrity.
“I want a clean, modern motel at a reasonable price that will continue to appeal to groups and Route 66 travelers,” Echols said.
The motel, famous for its stone cabins and neon wagon-wheel sign, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The old cafe building of the Wagon Wheel Motel.
Echols also is restoring the building in front of the cottages that served as the Wagon Wheel Cafe until the 1950s to its original appearance. The café building will be used as a gift shop and a motel office.
Echols plans to update the guest rooms’ bathrooms, bedding, and other amenities. Renovations will be done in phases as the motel continues to operate. She hopes to finish the renovations by spring.
As rooms are upgraded and put into use, the motel’s current rates of $17 to $20 a night will be raised. The motel can still be contacted at 573-885-3411.
(Photos by Route 66 News, Jane Reed and Guy Randall.)
Buried treasure September 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Maps, Road trips.add a comment
This is a pretty good idea. Joshua Noble, director of tourism at the Kingman (Ariz.) Chamber of Commerce, has created dozens of geocaches around the city to help attract visitors, reported the Kingman Daily Miner.
And it sounds like the project will expand well beyond Kingman’s borders …
Over the last several weeks, Noble said he’s been working with Shannon Rossiter at the Mohave Museum of History and Arts to obtain historic photographs of the city. His plan is to find the modern-day locations featured in those photographs, then place the historic photo inside a small tin geocache box at the site and upload the coordinates.
“If you think about when you drive on Route 66, it’s a lot like driving through a museum,” Noble said.
“This allows you to be interactive. It allows you to get out of the car, walk down an old roadbed or walk up to an old gas station, or some other area that used to be vibrant and full of life, and then you’re interacting with our museum displays.”
Noble also hopes to work with the local business community in promoting a downtown walking tour for geocachers. Additionally, he wants to start placing geocaches highlighting various hiking sites in the Cerbat Recreation Area and Hualapai Mountains.
“But aside from that, this is bigger than just Kingman,” Noble said. “We can work with other communities on Route 66 to increase the number of caches that are all along the route. Peach Springs is interested already, as well as Keepers of the Wild, Grand Canyon Caverns and Seligman.”
A quick search of Kingman’s ZIP code on the geocaching.com site reveals at least 150 geocaches there. A geocaching map shows that you could spend weeks tracking everything down. Noble’s stuff is listed as NobleRT66.
(Hat tip: Jim Hinckley)
Route 66 rivalry September 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Towns.4 comments
Urban Tulsa, an alternative weekly newspaper, published an interesting article about the longstanding rivalry between the Route 66 communities of Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Among the people interviewed was Michael Wallis, author of “Route 66: The Mother Road” and a longtime Tulsa resident.
The story is long, but worth your time.
Freeway project may improve Route 66 access September 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Highways, Restaurants.add a comment
Improvements to Interstate 215 in San Bernardino, Calif., may ease travelers’ access to Mount Vernon Avenue, an old alignment of Route 66, reports the San Bernardino County Sun.
The improvements include several new exit ramps off the freeway by 2013 for Second, Third and Fifth streets as well as Base Line. Currently, drivers sometimes have to take complicated routes to access the city’s west side.
One of those hoping for more business from the improvements is a historic Route 66 restaurant:
Also on Mount Vernon Avenue, Mitla Cafe has been in business since 1937. The eatery has survived not only the shift in transportation patterns that came with the birth of the freeway system, but also economic shocks like the closure of Norton Air Force Base in the mid-1990s.
Mitla manager Steven Oquendo said freeway improvements could help Westside businesses but the project won’t be an economic cure-all.
“I know it will bring more traffic. I’m hoping it will pick up. People still need the feeling they can spend,” he said.
Governor opposes Mojave monument plan September 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Preservation.1 comment so far
A proposal to create a Mother Road National Monument across California’s Mojave Desert has encountered opposition from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office, reported the Inland Press-Enterprise.
The article says the governor opposes the project because it would halt solar-energy projects there. However, it’s reported that Sen. Diane Feinstein is working on a scaled-down compromise.
At issue is some of the 600,000 acres purchased by the The Wildlands Conservancy that was turned over to the government for conservation. Many of the solar-energy companies, but not all, said they’re willing to develop outside of the conservation area.
The article makes it clear that a compromise will probably be reached:
Keely Wachs, a spokesman for BrightSource, said the company plans to build there and has been working with Feinstein’s office on legislation that would balance conservation needs and energy development.
Elden Hughes, a member of the Sierra Club California/Nevada Desert Committee and a Joshua Tree resident, said Feinstein is crafting legislation for a smaller monument than envisioned earlier by conservationists.
A smaller monument means that the solar companies can develop the land outside of it. As pressure increases for alternate forms of energy, it behooves the nation to use the humongous solar capabilities of the Mojave Desert.
My take on the controversy is here.
UPDATE: AHN reports that one 5,000-acre solar project slated for that area has been canceled.
Critter along the road September 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Animals.1 comment so far
We spotted this tarantula crossing gravel-road Route 66 between Glenrio and San Jon, N.M., a few days ago. With its legs spread out, it was bigger than your fist. It was about an hour before sundown, so it probably was early in its hunting session.
Mike Callens at TeePee Curios in nearby Tucumcari said that after the first frost, usually in October, the old road becomes nearly covered with tarantulas migrating. At that time, tarantulas are looking for a place to hibernate for the winter.