Long to-do list for Route 66: The Road Ahead group

The Route 66: The Road Ahead Partnership exited its second annual board of directors meeting Feb. 15-17 in Tulsa with a lengthy to-do list — including a Route 66 navigational app and funding for preservation project — for the months ahead. In addition to approving a 2018 budget and a five-year budget, the group approved … Continue reading Long to-do list for Route 66: The Road Ahead group

Association asks for help to open I-40 in California to cyclists

The Adventure Cycling Association is petitioning the California Department of Transportation to open Interstate 40 to cyclists because old Route 66 through the Mojave Desert is still closed due to flood damage and because the old Mother Road is too rough for most bicycles. So the association is taking for the public’s help so that … Continue reading Association asks for help to open I-40 in California to cyclists

Cross-country driving a century ago

You have people who try to trace the paths of history. Then you have people who really try to re-create the entire experience from many decades ago. These images came a few days ago courtesy of Jim Hinckley of Kingman, Arizona, who explained in an email: In 1915, then 21-year old Edsel Ford and some … Continue reading Cross-country driving a century ago

“Cultural Heritage Tourism: Why People Travel Route 66”

A marketing professor revealed a little-known word — anemoia — he’d discovered only in the past year that probably explains why many people explore Route 66. Nick Gerlich, a professor at West Texas A&M and an avid explorer of old Route 66, explained during his presentation Oct. 31 at the Miles of Possibility Conference in Edwardsville, Illinois, that anemoia … Continue reading “Cultural Heritage Tourism: Why People Travel Route 66”

A closer look at the Bicycle Route 66 map set

I’m no cycling aficionado, but I’ll confidently say the Bicycle Route 66 map series from the nonprofit Adventure Cycling Association will be absolutely indispensable for any cyclist considering travel on the Mother Road. The maps aren’t just a bunch of GPS waypoints slapped on paper. They show two years of research and field work by … Continue reading A closer look at the Bicycle Route 66 map set

Prominent National Geographic writer will travel Route 66

Andrew Evans, a prominent writer for National Geographic with his Digital Nomad blog, in a matter of days will travel the full length of Route 66 for Brand USA, a public and private partnership that promotes international travel to the United States. The announcement of the trip, made in Chicago this morning, contained these details: … Continue reading Prominent National Geographic writer will travel Route 66

Jim Hinckley stars in an upcoming travel video series

Longtime readers will know of Jim Hinckley, an author based out of Kingman, Ariz., who wrote “The Route 66 Encyclopedia” and other related books. This video popped up in my feed over the weekend. Apparently Hinckley is getting into video as well: https://youtu.be/guH1CnEjaxM The video was uploaded by Norman Fisk of Diamond Valley Productions, which … Continue reading Jim Hinckley stars in an upcoming travel video series

Book review: “Road Trip USA” (sixth edition)

I’m pleased to report that the Route 66 section of the newly published sixth edition of Jamie Jensen’s popular “Road Trip USA” (Avalon Travel, 1,002 pages, paperback) contained no errors that I could detect. That seems an unusual way to begin a book review. However, longtime readers of Route 66 News may remember my 2009 … Continue reading Book review: “Road Trip USA” (sixth edition)

Book review: “Route 66 Still Kicks”

You have to admire the nerve or foolishness of two pals who are so determined to travel old alignments of Route 66 that they get stuck not once, but twice, during their journey. That’s what happens in Rick Antonson’s “Route 66 Still Kicks” (Skyhorse Publishing, paperback, 336 pages, illustrated, e-book available). Although this book is … Continue reading Book review: “Route 66 Still Kicks”

Whoops

The Student Life of Pomona College in Pomona, Calif., put together recommendations for great American road trips. Here’s the segment about Route 66. What do you see wrong with it? With the California gold rush and the advent of the automobile, Americans began to long for an independent way to the alluring West. Established in … Continue reading Whoops