It’s a busy weekend for many roadies. First, the Arizona Route 66 Association’s 22nd annual Fun Run begins Friday. The Kingman Daily Miner has a schedule and a preview.
Second, the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor celebration in northern Illinois is Saturday and Sunday. The Pontiac Daily Leader also has a preview. The Bloomington Pantagraph has a preview, too.
Third, Red Fork Main Street in Tulsa is hosting its inaugural Down on Main Street … a Red Fork Tradition from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. It includes live music, art show, farmers market and a pie-baking contest. The festival is in the area of West 41st Street and Southwest Boulevard, near Ollie’s Station restaurant.
- As an aside to the Fun Run, the Arizona Route 66 Association’s Web site has been issued an ominous “Malware Warning” by Google (hence, the lack of a link to the association). Google says it has at least four pages containing tainted scripts. Someone had better fix that site.
- I’ve been informed by AAA that its 2009-2010 Oklahoma-Arkansas state map contains an image of the Totem Pole Park, off Route 66 in Foyil, Okla.
- For you competitive eaters, the Route 66 Diner in Tulsa will give you a 66-ounce chicken fried steak, plus sides and salad, for free if you eat the whole meal in 66 minutes. If you’re unable to do it, it’ll set you back $66. Several have taken the challenge, but no one’s conquered it. The diner is at 723 W. 23rd St. — not on Route 66, but about a half-mile east off the Mother Road from Southwest Boulevard. Video is here.
- The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies in Palm Springs, Calif., is winding down its season for its much-praised “Get Your Kicks,” a musical tribute to Route 66. Guest performer Susan Anton will close the season May 17. Tickets can be purchased online here.
- Santa Monica, the western endpoint of Route 66, is hosting the newest incarnation of the Gumball 300 Rally, which starts Saturday. Here’s the event’s official Web site. The rally ends May 8 in Miami, Fla. It includes stops at the Grand Canyon and Santa Fe, N.M.
- We’ve written before about the fabulous strawberry jelly doughnuts at The Donut Man on Route 66 in Glendora, Calif. But Jaunted has a mouth-watering photo.
- The Route 66 town of Ash Fork, Ariz., is hosting its annual Ash Fork Pioneer Day on Saturday, with a parade, chili cook-off and antiques appraisals.