Steve Vaught of thefatmanwalking.com is still a bit dizzy after a whirlwind of TV and newspapers interviews in Indiana last week. His journal gives the details.

The Lope has posted more excellent photos from his trip on Route 66 across California’s Mojave Desert. Check them out.

Don’t look for parties or commemorations from Route 66 aficionados regarding the 50th anniversary of interstates in the United States this year. Interstates are universally cited as the reason for Route 66’s downfall in the 1970s and ’80s.

The Mother Road started a comeback in the 1990s, but not before hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses went broke and disappeared because of lack of traffic.

The man who has received most of the blame from Route 66ers is President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This article tells how the seed of the interstates started:

In 1919, a young army captain was one of almost 300 army troops who departed from Washington, D.C., in the first military auto caravan ever undertaken by the military to drive across America. Talk about bad roads: the group averaged just five miles per hour and it took over two months, 62 days to be exact, for them to reach the destination of San Francisco, Calif. After years of service, including WWII, where he saw the German autobahn system, the professional soldier retired from the military.

And now as Paul Harvey might say, “Here’s the rest of the story!� That man was Dwight D. Eisenhower, and it is to him that we owe a debt of thanks, for he is acknowledged to be the father of our vast Interstate Highway System.

Even before he became president, Eisenhower said, “A modern network of roads for America as necessary to defense as it is to our national economy and personal safety.” He never wavered from these views, and as he began his second term in office, Eisenhower made known his intentions, his demands, for a national highway system.

Yikes! Five miles per hour to move a military caravan cross-country? No wonder Eisenhower wanted better roads. One should remember, however, that much of Route 66 and the rest of the country didn’t have paved roads in 1919. Even Route 66 wasn’t 100 percent paved until at least the 1940s. Even then, I’m not sure the infamous Jericho Gap in Texas — a stretch of Route 66 that turned to mud in the lightest rain — was paved.

Recent books suggest that Eisenhower’s vision of good roads was bastardized. He didn’t want the interstates to go through the middle of urban areas, which would destroy or disrupt many neighborhoods. (Chapter Eight of Dan McNichol’s book “The Roads That Built America” details this well.) Eisenhower certainly would have been dismayed by the effect of limited-access entrances and exits, which killed Route 66 businesses.

But the interstates, in their own way, helped preserve pristine stretches of Route 66 and made traveling them more pleasurable. I can’t imagine driving 66 with traffic levels seen in the 1950s and getting enjoyment from it. And when we drive long section of the old road, how do we get back home quickly? Answer: by driving the interstates.

If nothing else, the rise of the interstates — and their lack of public oversight from those who would be most affected by them — should serve as a cautionary tale for other big government projects.

I was watching the video online of the Albuquerque City Council’s meeting of Jan. 18, searching for any mentions of the introduction of the Landmarks Commission’s recommendation to designate El Vado Motel a city landmark.

Since it was just an introduction, councilors didn’t discuss it and won’t until at least their Feb. 6 meeting. But I found one thing interesting — the council condemned the American Inn Motel on 4501 Central Ave. NE, which is on Route 66.

This should not be confused with the Best Western American Motor Inn at 12999 Central Ave. NE, which is still operating and appears prosperous.

According to testimony during the council meeting, the American Motor Inn was built in the 1950s, but it had become a haven for drug-dealing and prostitution. The building had structurally deteriorated, and the neighborhood residents said it had been a problem for years.

I knew the building was doomed when one councilor said he had driven by the motel for 15 years and hadn’t seen one improvement made. Also, an attorney for the corporation that owned the motel had the misfortune of describing the group that owned it as being “like Enron.”

Since I can’t find any images of the motel on eBay or other postcard sources, I’ll assume the American Inn Motel was a minor footnote in the history of Route 66. It’s unfortunate the condemnation occurred, but it’s understandable. It’s not just short-sighted developers who are the enemy of Route 66 preservation — it’s indifferent or negligent property owners, too.

I found this on the Brand Noise blog’s “Image of the Day.”