A reader alerted me to some "Cars" movie products that Energizer batteries is offering, including a "Cars" flashlight, "Cars" squeeze lights and a "Cars" two-way light. 

Those products can be viewed here. A screen capture is shown below:

Here's also a "Cars" launcher here. Below is another screen capture.

In other "Cars" news, the Sheriff and Mack have been added to the official movie site's showroom.

The site also has added Ramone's House of Body Art coloring book to its Games section. You can create your own paint job for various "Cars" characters.

When Route 66 travelers cruise through western New Mexico, one of the common stops just off the road is the amazing and beautiful Sky City of Acoma Pueblo.

Today, the Gallup Independent reports that the news $10.4 million Sky City Cultural Center, which houses the Haaku Museum, is set to open May 27. The opening ceremony is May 29. It replaces an old tourist information center that burned down in 2000.

Brian D. Vallo is the museum's director.

The center includes a theater, which will be used for American Indian readings, poetry, lectures, training sessions and American Indian films, Vallo said.

In the basement is the first-ever tribal archives including humidity controlled atmosphere room for storage of artifacts and a clean room for restoration, he said.

Tribal members have been bringing hundreds of items to the center and giving or loaning them for archival purposes, including historical photos, documents, leather goods, different types of artifacts and pottery, Vallo said.

The Springfield News-Leader has coverage of Friday's dedication ceremony in Springfield, Mo., for Missouri's Route 66 being designated a National Scenic Byway. Several prominent Route 66 aficionados and historians were interviewed.

Also take note of the side story in the upper right about the historic Best Western Rail Haven motel offering special souvenirs to mark the occasion.

UPDATE: The Joplin Globe has a nice follow-up story about the Route 66 scenic byway designation and the impact tourism is having on the region. 

Gristmill reports that Remy Chevalier, editor-at-large for Electrifying Times, is going to kick off a trip down Route 66 in an electric car.

Here are Chevalier's goals:

• Encourage Toyota to produce a hybrid version of their Scion xB.
• Promote Electrifying Times magazine and shoot a lot of great photography.
• Find perfect spots to install EV chargers all along Route 66 (see map here that appears to have been loaned from Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire) so future tourists can travel the entire length of the old route with an EV or plug-in hybrid.

Go to Chevalier's Web site here for the details and all the stops he and his crew will make on the Mother Road. The tour begins in earnest May 13 in Joliet, Ill.