Blizzard biking February 15, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in bicycling, Businesses, People, Road trips.add a comment
First, a little introduction to this couple:
They are Adam and Christy Coppola, who are on their Give a Bike: 50 State Tour:
[They] will be devoting a year of their lives to help give bikes to those in need. They will be the first to complete an unsupported bike tour of the 50 states in a calendar year. Their focus is on charity, adventure, and physical challenge, all visible through photography, videography, and journalistic blogging.
Their latest blog post, which contains a lot of good photos and a few more videos, tells the tale of them having to suspend their bicycle trip in eastern New Mexico because of a snowstorm and bitter cold. Fortunately, they stumbled onto James, manager of Russell’s Truck and Travel Center in Endee, and a nearby rancher who took them in for a few days and fed them until the weather cleared.
Route 66 Memories may reopen near old location February 15, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses.add a comment
David Allen, who writes for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, dropped in this tiny nugget in his column today:
Word has it that Route 66 Memories, the shop combining Americana and dinosaur sculptures that closed recently in Rancho Cucamonga, may reopen a few blocks away.
It was announced in early January that Route 66 Memories in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., closed after 15 years at its Foothill Boulevard (aka Route 66) location. The poor economy was cited in the store’s shuttering.
Owner Rosa Ramos said at the time she would consider reopening in Rancho or nearby Victorville if the economy improved. If Allen’s report is true, the economy is improving fast in Southern California, or Ramos found a really good deal on another property.
UPDATE: I noticed on the Route 66 Memories website that it touts a new store “coming soon” in Victorville, called La Hacienda del Arte, on Stoddard Wells Road. We’ll see.
From across the pond February 15, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
The person who posted this on YouTube is from Turkey, but I’m not sure this version of Bobby Troup’s best-known song was shot there. I’m certain it was somewhere in Europe or Eurasia. Regardless, this is a fine performance.
“Hooked on 66″ site launched February 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Highways, History, Photographs, Road trips, Web sites.3 comments
Richard Dinkela II’s new website, HookedOnRoute66.com, has been live for a few days. But today was when he announced the launching of the site.
Dinkela, a St. Louis resident, says it isn’t just a fan site, but also a resource for those wanting to find the more obscure alignments of the Mother Road:
What most new explorers of Route 66 fail to realize Route 66 was never just one path. Since its commission in 1926, until its decommission in 1985, the path labeled “Route 66″ was constantly changing and evolving. [...] Today there are many hurdles finding all of Route 66. The greatest hurdle is getting to alignments of 66 that are on private property.
Hard core adventurists like me are driven to find and explore every remnant possible of the mother road. This site will be a resource for the adventurist – a place where travelers learn to go beyond what is found on tour guides. [...]
Hooked On Route 66 is about assisting people in any way possible with their involvement of Route 66 and its people.
Dinkela already has posted “Virtual Tours” of Illinois and Kansas with dozens of photographs — even of the little-known stretches of Route 66. In Illinois, he found 1926 remnants of the original road, a ghost bridge near Carlinville, and plus shot a few terrific photos of the brick Route 66 near Virden.
Dinkela will post more material on the site in the coming days.
Tulsa service station nominated to National Register February 12, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, Preservation.3 comments
Cities Service Station No. 8 in Tulsa has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, according to a recent print edition of the Tulsa County News.
The nomination for long-closed station, at 1648 Southwest Blvd. (aka Route 66), was unanimously approved by the Tulsa Preservation Commission and also approved by the state.
The newspaper story quoted Jim Adelman, property manager for the building.
“The most challenging thing was the porcelain panels along the outside of the structure. [...] They originally were made at Southwest Porcelain on Charles Page Boulevard. But that has been gone a long time. Each piece had to be carefully taken down and numbered. Then each was sandblasted and a powder coating applied before they went back up. Some pieces had to be repaired in a body shop and a few we had to be built to replace the unsalvageable.
“This Historic Preservation requirements are very exact and specific. For example, the molding around the building had to be just so. [...] This isn’t something you can just go out and buy, but has to be acquired — about 1,000 pounds of it. Luckily, we found a building being torn down that had some of that work.”
Whether the station goes into the National Register should be known by late February to early March. Once nominated by a state, National Register listings are seldom rejected.
The station was built about 1940. The station received a $30,000 cost-share grant from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program in 2009 to help refurbish it. You can see what the station looked like just a few years ago here. Tulsa attorney James Frasier is a co-owner of the building, and has it up for lease now.
Part of Cadillac Ranch goes topless — temporarily February 12, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Preservation, Vehicles.4 comments
The roof on one of the Cadillacs at the iconic Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas, has rusted off. But its longtime benefactor says the roof will be welded back on, reported the Amarillo Globe-News.
Stanley Marsh 3, the Ranch’s patron saint, isn’t sure when the top dropped from the vintage auto situated second from the west in the row of 10 buried nose down in the flatlands. But he knows what needs to be done: Amarillo artist Lightnin’ McDuff will have to operate.
“Eventually it will have its head back on,” said Marsh, the millionaire and jester who orchestrated the move of the roadside wonder in 1997 to its current location from a spot two miles east. “Lightnin’ McDuff is a real good welder. I always get the best and give them credit.” [...]
McDuff pledges the repair will begin soon.
“I’ve been waiting for the weather to warm back up. I can’t hardly take that into the shop,” McDuff said. “I’ll have to build a framework to straighten it back out and have something to weld to. If the weatherman’s not lying, I should be doing something on it next week.”
McDuff also said metal fillers might eventually be used to replace a missing door or two from the angled Cadillacs.
I confess to being a bit surprised that any of the Cadillacs have a rust problem, considering the hundreds of coats of spray paint applied over the decades.
The 1974 landmark has inspired countless songs (including Bruce Springsteen’s “Cadillac Ranch”) and videos over the years, including this fairly recent one by Brooks & Dunn:
UPDATE: Kelly Ludwig provided this photo of Cadillac Ranch in December. You can see the roof of the one Cadillac on the ground.
Arroyo Seco Parkway named to National Register February 11, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Highways, History, Preservation.add a comment
The Arroyo Seco Parkway Historic District, a highway that once carried Route 66 in Los Angeles County, was named to the National Register of Historic Places effective Feb. 4, according to a National Park Service e-mail.
According to the e-mail, the historic district covers California Highway 110 from a four-level interchange in Los Angeles to East Glenarm Street in Pasadena. (Map is here.)
Because the Arroyo Seco already was established as a Scenic Byway, I had assumed it was already listed on the National Register. But I found was described as National Register-eligible. At least, until now.
Here’s a video that shows a typical trip on the Arroyo Seco, aka the Pasadena Freeway:
The National American Engineering Record gives a good overview of the highway’s significance:
The Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) was the first divided-lane, high-speed, limited-access road in the urban western United States and the first stretch of road for what would become the extensive Los Angeles freeway network. The approximately six-mile initial stage of the 8.2-mile roadway, completed in 1940,was envisioned as both a scenic road traversing the Arroyo and a vital traffic conduit linking the expanding cities of Pasadena and Los Angeles. Engineers and planners attempted to blend landscaping and native plants into the overall design while implementing safety features appropriate for high-speed travel. Construction proceeded alongside the installation of the federally assisted Arroyo Seco Flood Control Channel, necessary to ameliorate seasonal flooding.
The Arroyo Seco contains some limitations — namely, its tight and short access ramps. But it’s also a joy to drive. If you’re traveling Route 66, I wouldn’t pass it up.