I've visited the Blue Whale in Catoosa, Okla., literally dozens of times. But I'd never known about the existence of these things on the grounds until I saw this photo Saturday on the Blue Whale's Twitter account: That's Ron Edwards John Davis taking a break, one of the many Fins of the Blue Whale volunteers … Continue reading The Blue Whale’s magical mushrooms
Category: Web sites
Primitive roads
Here's something fun: A two-part video about the primitive alignment of Route 66 at La Bajada Hill in New Mexico by a brave soul to drove it in an SUV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K_brKoTSpA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DgLAyXwW84 Here's a short clip on the Cuervo Cut-off of Route 66, near Cuervo, N.M. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uGJLtNHYaw A drive on Oatman Road (aka Route 66) … Continue reading Primitive roads
Tucumcari motel named No. 3 bargain motel by Trip Advisor
The Historic Route 66 Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., was named the third-best bargain hotel in the United States in the Travelers Choice 2011 Awards by TripAdvisor.com. The only lodging establishments to beat it were the SeaCoast Inn in Hyannis, Mass., and Cedarbrook Lodge of Seattle. No other Route 66 establishments were ranked in the myriad … Continue reading Tucumcari motel named No. 3 bargain motel by Trip Advisor
Route 66 television show being filmed
Longtime Route 66 advocate Jim Conkle recently started a blog. In one of those posts, he mentioned that he and a camera crew are traveling Route 66 to produce a television show. That included recent filming at Elmer Long's Bottletree Ranch near Oro Grande, Calif., and the Harvey House in Barstow. Conkle wrote: So what … Continue reading Route 66 television show being filmed
Site updates
I've made improvements to Route 66 News in the past few days you should know: The Events calendar has been updated for 2011 to the best of my knowledge. I've fixed broken links, deleted defunct sites, and added new ones to the Attractions, Restaurants, and Lodging pages. Updates on those pages have been overdue. I've … Continue reading Site updates
2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow. Crunchy numbers A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats. The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed … Continue reading 2010 in review
Virtual road trip
This demonstration video by Google shows how you can cruise Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica on Google Street View. A few gaps still exist, but they're closing more each day.
Fifth anniversary
While traveling on the Mother Road in central Oklahoma this afternoon, it occurred to Emily and I that Route 66 News may be nearing its fifth anniversary. Emily whipped out her trusty iPad, linked up to a 3G connection, and within two minutes made this discovery while checking the site's archives. "It's today." I'm back … Continue reading Fifth anniversary
Notes from the road
The documentary "Route 66: Ten Years Later" will have its debut at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Portage Theater in Chicago. Writer Tim Steil and photographer Jim Luning collaborated on their "Route 66" book during a Mother Road trip in 1999. A decade later, they decided to revisit the places they saw and see … Continue reading Notes from the road
“Cars” movie launches online community
Disney has started an online community, World of Cars Online, for fans of the hit 2006 Disney-Pixar animated movie "Cars," reported the Los Angeles Times. The reason for launching the site seems obvious. But in case you're out of the loop: The Burbank entertainment giant plans to begin revving its marketing engine for the virtual … Continue reading “Cars” movie launches online community