The Route 66 town of Lexington, Ill., was going to bury a time capsule during its sesquicentennial in July last year.

But the committee that organized the event decided to allow the residents more time to gather items for the capsule. Among the items will be information from the Route 66 Biking Trail.

According to the story in the Bloomington Pantagraph, the capsule will be buried in the spring.

The Associated Press reports that the old grain elevator at now-defunct Route 66 town of Ballard, Ill., northeast of Bloomington-Normal, was demolished Friday. The 80-foot-tall structure had been closed since the 1960s.

Randy Smith a few years ago contributed an article to the Illinois Route 66 Association newsletter about the history the elevator (picture above). Smith later risked life and limb to climb the elevator for another article (see below). Both articles are well worth reading.

UPDATE: Here is a story about the demolition from the Bloomington Pantagraph.

This is a press release, but it probably contains good advice for winter and early spring travelers. Because the 250-room Maswik Lodge near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is closed for renovations until March, tourism officials recommend booking alternate lodging now.

Some of those alternates sit on Route 66:

Want to “get your kicks on Route 66?â€? Check out the small town charm of Williams (60 miles South of Grand Canyon) or Flagstaff (85 miles Southeast). These communities not only feature major chain hotels, but bed and breakfast and vacation rentals as well. … “Point being,â€? says Bunting, “if you’re coming out over spring break, it’s definitely best to have planned ahead. If you didn’t, start planning now, and you can still have a fun and memorable Grand Canyon vacation.â€?

The release recommends this site to peruse lodging. This link is good, too (shameless plug).

Reuters is reporting that Disney bosses are meeting to decide Sunday or Monday whether to buy Pixar Animation Studios, the maker of the upcoming Route 66 movie “Cars.”