Oklahoma, Arizona Route 66 awarded new road designations October 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Highways.add a comment
Oklahoma Route 66 was designated a National Scenic Byway, and Arizona’s Route 66 was given All-American Road status in an announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation chief Ray LaHood on Friday.
LaHood said:
“By enriching the National Scenic Byways program with their own unique historical or aesthetic quality, these new additions help our national road system tell our country’s story. [...] These routes continue to offer Americans exciting new opportunities to explore the nation – whether they travel close to home or across the country.” [...]
The U.S. Department of Transportation recognizes certain roads as All-American Roads or National Scenic Byways based on one or more archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities.
With the announcement, 46 states now have Scenic Byways. Texas still remains a notable holdout.
Here’s Oklahoma’s listing on the site. Arizona’s Route 66 has already had Byways status for a while. Route 66 in New Mexico and Illinois also have Byways status, and Missouri’s section is expected to become one soon.
The All-American Road status is bestowed on particularly scenic routes.
The byways program enables participants to apply for federal tourism grants and other assistance.
UPDATE: The Kingman Daily Miner has a good analysis of Arizona’s All-American Road designation.
More “Cars” toys released October 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Toys.add a comment
The Disney/Pixar animated movie “Cars” was released over three years ago, and people still are collecting the toys and other memorabilia that the film spawned. “Cars” wasn’t Pixar’s biggest hit, but memorabilia has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.
Longtime Texas Route 66 fan Becky Ransom, who’s a collector of “Cars” stuff herself, pointed out the Take Five a Day blog, which she says follows “Cars” memorabilia as closely as anyone. Take Five a Day reported Sunday on a recent Kmart Cars Collector Day, in which the movie’s “Day 3″ toy line was released to stores. The blog reports that the Day 4 line will probably be out in the spring.
On another “Cars” note, Disney Pixar’s Facebook page announced that a “Cars” short cartoon was posted online. “Mater the Greater” from the “Mater’s Tall Tales” series can be watched here (high-speed connection is recommended). Other short videos can also be viewed at the main “Cars” site.
Hello from Belgium October 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
This is a version of “Route 66″ sung by Elliott Murphy. But the guy who steals the show is blues harmonica player Ben Lambrechts.
Refurbishing old vehicles October 18, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Highways, History, Preservation, Railroad, Road trips, Vehicles.add a comment
The Tulsa World had a couple of articles last week about old vehicles being restored to as good as new in Oklahoma.
The first was about the Maggie M, an electric trolley that served the Route 66 town of Sapulpa from 1919 to 1933. After it was taken out of service, the trolley sat decaying in a field until about 10 years ago, when local preservationists took up its cause. The trolley is now on display at the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway offices, right on Route 66.
Also, a bunch of Ford Model T enthusiasts spent a few days in the Miami, Okla., area, taking in sights along Route 66 in the region. That includes the 9-foot-wide Sidewalk Highway of Route 66, which fits the era in which those Model Ts were built.
Dedication of Red Fork Centennial Oil Derrick October 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Events, History.1 comment so far
David Breed of the Southwest Tulsa Chamber of Commerce next to the Red Fork Centennial Oil Derrick at Route 66 Station park.
I went Friday afternoon to the official dedication of the Red Fork Centennial Oil Derrick, which is an exact-size replica of an important early derrick that stood during the oil-boom days of southwest Tulsa.
The 154-foot-tall derrick has been finished for several months. It’s part of a Route 66 Station park that’s still under development. The park will include memorabilia from Tulsa’s aviation, railroad and Route 66 history. The park is just off Southwest Boulevard (aka Route 66) in southwest Tulsa, across the road from Webster High School.
Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge, a southwest Tulsa native, gave a speech at the dedication.
In case you’re wondering about the Red Fork name, that was the name of the town where the derrick stood before the Tulsa annexed the city in the 1930s.
The oil derrick during the ceremony Friday.
Nice sunset October 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Photographs.1 comment so far
The Southwest regularly has vivid sunsets, as Sandi Wheaton’s time-lapse photos from the Texas Panhandle show:
This is part of Wheaton’s Picture Route 66 project.
Bigfoot near Seligman? October 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Ghosts and Mysteries.1 comment so far
No, it’s not a joke. KTVK-TV reports that a Phoenix resident who’s building a cabin near the Route 66 town of Seligman, Ariz., claims he saw Bigfoot twice in a year there.
“Java” Bob Smallsback of Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. is in Seligman investigating:
Smallsback says he was called in after the most recent sighting and claims he was able to track the creature, finding what he says is a fingernail where the Sasquatch had stubbed his toe on a rock.
Smallsback says a team from Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. will be in Seligman for the next few months in hopes of making contact with the elusive creature.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first reputed Bigfoot sighting on or near Route 66. There was a sighting in 2006 near Funks Grove, Ill. But, as usual, no one was able to prove the creature exists.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Bigfoot hunters provide more comedy — albeit unintentional — than the fun-loving folks at the Snow-Cap Drive-In in Seligman.
UPDATE: KPHO-TV also has video of its report on Bigfoot, including that ugly toenail that allegedly was found and an interview with Frank Kocevar, owner of Historic Seligman Sundries.
UPDATE2: Kocevar has set up a Route66Bigfoot.com site. Kocevar says on the site: “We are in daily contact with Tom Biscardi and ‘Java’ Bob from Searching For Bigfoot, Inc.”
The evidence of some sort of Sasquatch in the Seligman area appears to be a bit scant so far. But at least the investigators appear to be having fun traipsing around the admittedly lovely high desert.
San Fidel property named to National Register October 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Businesses, History, Preservation.add a comment
The former Acoma Curio Shop on Route 66 in the tiny Route 66 settlement of San Fidel, N.M., was named to the National Register of Historic Places effective Oct. 7, according to an e-mail Thursday from the National Park Service.
The shop is now home for Mary Trask’s Gallery66.us, an art gallery that sells and displays mosaics, paintings, photos, jewelry and fine crafts from several dozen artists.
More about the property from Trask’s Web site:
2003, Mary Trask and Mike Petzel left New England to move to New Mexico. They bought a 2 1/2 acre parcel right on Route 66 that included fruit and walnut trees, a house, several outbuildings and two extra dogs. The greatest thing about the place was it had a 100-year-old, 2000 square-foot adobe building with a pressed tin ceiling 11 feet tall that could be used as a gallery. At one time the building belonged to a Lebanese man named Fidel, whose son became a US senator. It’s been a grocery store, bar, shoe repair and tack shop, a church, cabinet shop and who knows what else. There’s lots of history in its thick adobe walls. The wide front porch is great for sitting, taking in the view of Mount Taylor, and watching whatever happens on Route 66.
Trask also told me on the phone that the property also had several motel cabins that she’s renovating.
Trask participated in the Route 66 oral history project in 2007, of which you can see photos that were taken inside her business here.
Multimedia 66 October 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Web sites.2 comments
This grad-school project by a few California State University students is fairly well-explained in this video:
Here’s a summary:
The Mother Road is a Multimedia Graduate team working on a project thesis about Route 66. Taking an actual car, a 1969 VW Bug and modifying it with sensors and monitors, we hope to create a truly unique multimedia experience for our users. We plan to have the project complete by June of 2010. Any guidance, help or advice would be welcome.
The Mother Road
Graduate Project Team
California State University, Hayward, CA
I’ll post more information about this project when I can get it. It sounds intriguing, but I suspect they’ll need more time. The June 2010 launch date sounds a bit optimistic for something this complex.
Also, Sandi Wheaton, with her ongoing time-lapse photography project, is probably going to come as close as a virtual Route 66 road trip as anyone — at least until Google Street View documents all 2,200 miles of the road, which seems inevitable.
Elbow Inn turns into a real biker bar October 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in bicycling, Events, Restaurants, Road trips.add a comment
The Elbow Inn, a grand barbecue-and-beer joint on an old alignment of Route 66 in Devil’s Elbow, Mo., became a full-fledged biker bar Wednesday when it hosted a slew of bicycle riders on a cross-state tour, according to the Waynesville Daily Guide.
Hostel International-Gateway Council of St. Louis was taking cyclists on Route 66 from Miami, Okla., to Eureka, Mo., on a Cycle Route 66 event.
The Elbow Inn is a popular hangout for locals, Fort Leonard Wood soldiers, Route 66 travelers and motorcycle riders. But owner Terry Roberson said it was the first time he’d hosted a bicycle group.
“This is a real biker bar now,” Roberson said, “‘cause we’ve got both bikers here.”
Cycle Route 66 had overnight stops in Lebanon, Carthage, St. Robert and Springfield. Riders will conclude their trip in Eureka on Friday.
This may be the first cyclist event the Elbow Inn has hosted, but it likely won’t be the last. Cycling on Route 66 is gaining in popularity. And the Elbow Inn is known far and wide for its hospitality. One recent traveler can attest.