Buried in this story from the Waynesville (Mo.) Daily Guide about the Pulaski County  Tourism Board is this item:

Thiem said he’s also working to follow up on a request by the Pulaski County Commission to get information on possible grants to restore the Devils Elbow bridge on Historic Route 66, which is in need of major repair work and has already been closed to heavy traffic such as tour buses.

“I’ve already found one federal (grant) site specifically for Route 66 restoration, but they are closed already,” Thiem said. “April is the next (grant) signing. We’ll continue to research that and get it down to the commission to see what else we can find out for them.”

Cars and small trucks can cross the bridge, but the fact tour buses can’t puts a crimp on tourism in the village. You can visit the Elbow Inn barbecue and bar, but you can’t drive a bus across the bridge to Sheldon’s Market and other places in the town.

It’s good the powers-that-be finally realize this problem and are making an effort to rectify it.

If you can’t get to Erick, Okla., to see Harley and Annabelle Russell, aka the Mediocre Music Makers, here’s the next-best thing, posted just a couple weeks ago.

It must’ve been hot when this video was shot. You can usually tell what the weather is like by what Harley wears with his overalls. If he’s wearing a sweatshirt, it’s winter. If he’s wearing a T-shirt, it’s spring or fall. If he’s shirtless, it’s a typical Oklahoma summer.

The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which once carried Route 66 from Madison, Ill., to north St. Louis, has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, reports digitalBurg.com of Warrensburg, Mo.

The nominations will be considered by the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation on Aug. 11 in St. Joseph.

The image above is from an old postcard. The toll building is gone, but the bridge looks the same.

Here’s the description of the bridge:

Closed to vehicular traffic, the Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis still remains an iconic feature of the historic Route 66. The mile-long bridge contains a unique 30 degree bend in the middle, designed originally to ease navigation on the Mississippi, that became a well known bottleneck to automobile traffic.

The bridge was designed by Baxter L. Brown, fabricated by the American Bridge Co. and constructed by the Union Bridge and Construction Co. Construction began in 1927 and the bridge opened to traffic in July 1929.

The City of Madison, Ill., purchased the bridge from the original private investors in the 1930s. The tolls from the bridge generated significant revenue for the city, especially after it was designated as a part of Route 66 in 1936. The bridge closed soon after the construction of the New Chain of Rocks Bridge in 1968.

Today, Trailnet maintains the bridge as a pedestrian and cycling corridor.

Brent Simon of Now Playing magazine reviewed “Route 66: The Ultimate DVD Collection,” produced by Christopher Lewis and hosted by Michael Wallis. Simon wasn’t terribly impressed, and gave the package a “C” grade overall.

But the review describes extras in the DVDs that should be of interest to roadies:

The supplemental extras include a photo gallery of images taken by (Suzanne) Fitzgerald-Wallis — especially great for those who’ve only flown over vast stretches of the country — plus a pair of nine-minute interviews with both she and her husband. There’s also a seven-minute chat with director Christopher Lewis and his wife Linda, who detail their own trip on the road in a 1972 Super Beetle convertible, thrown rod and all.

Photographer Michael Campanelli drove the length of Route 66 and took more than 1,000 photos.

He chose 166 of the best ones, and they are now on display at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nev., during the Hot August Nights weeklong celebration.

The Reno Gazette-Journal has the story.

Buddy Boren, a 62-year-old Texan who was cycling Route 66 to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, was forced to stop of his trek about 1,000 miles short of his goal because of a sore knee, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Boren feared that if he kept going, he would inflict permanent damage to the knee. It was his fifth such ride for the foundation, but the first he wasn’t able to finish.

From Boren’s Tour de Route 66 Web site, the July 26 journal entry:

It is with deep regret that I have to report that this ride has come to an end. I am just outside of Amarillo 1,057 miles from where I started in Chicago on July 8.

Yesterday, my day from Shamrock to Conway was 65 miles. The wind was from the south at 25 mph. It was almost headwind and I could not ride much over 6 mph. It took me almost 9 hrs to cover the 65 miles. At one point I had Buzz Bars every 15 ft. for 20 miles. I also had my second flat at 8:45 A.M. There is nothing like changing a tube on the edge of the Interstate with the semis roaring by every 30 seconds. While I made it to my goal, the extra work caused more problems for my right knee. This morning the weather report was for more of the same, hot and windy. It was only 52 miles to Vega but it has started raining in New Mexico. The day after Vega was to be 75 miles. I was very concerned about my knee and having to start the uphill climb in New Mexico while it was raining. I had to listen to my body and it was telling me that the condition I was in may cause bigger and more permanent problems if I continued on. I hate having to stop at the halfway point, but this ride is not worth getting myself into some real trouble.

I hope I haven’t let anyone down by not completing the ride, but I think everyone will understand I tried my best. I want to thank everyone who has supported me on this ride. Nick De George is on his way from Dallas to pick me up and I should be back in Dallas late tonight. I will do a more complete final report after I have had a chance to rest up for a few days. Love you all.

Buddy.

P.S. After deciding early this morning not to continue on, I did change my mind at 8:30 A.M. and attempted to leave the motel for Vega. That’s when I discovered my rear tire was flat again. I took that as a sign that I had better stick to the original plan and listen to my body. Probably a good thing.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s story about the Route 66 Preservation Foundation’s annual festival in 2008 in Edwardsville contained a couple of interesting new items:

• O’Reilly Auto Parts, based in the Route 66 town of Springfield, Mo., will be a partner in that festival.
• The 2010 festival will tentatively be in Joliet, Ill.

One thought kept crossing my mind while watching Lauren Cardillo’s “The Mother Road,” a PBS documentary about her and her mother’s trip on Route 66.

Lauren has one cool mom.

How many moms do you know took their kids to a Bruce Springsteen concert?

How many moms at Social Security age would have the endurance and self-assurance to go on a three-week road trip without their husbands?

How many moms have a good enough relationship with their daughters that they would be able to go on such a long trek without killing each other?

Irene Cardillo does.

On an entertainment level, “The Mother Road” scores high. It’s a crisply edited, fast-paced film that crams in a lot of Route 66 sights in its 57 minutes. And the selection of road tunes by Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles, Chuck Berry and the original version of Tom Cochran’s “Life Is a Highway” will have roadies shopping on iTunes.

Lauren and Irene share about equal time in front of the camera. But it’s Irene who’s the star. Although she was born in 1926, the same year that Route 66 was commissioned, she shows the same vitality and unexpected delights as the Mother Road.

Irene displays a bright, humorous and self-knowing mind, but is not self-conscious. She spray-paints graffiti on the Cadillac Ranch sculpture. She cavorts around the Foyil Totem Pole like a teenager. And she dashs away from the wild burros of Oatman, Ariz., when they become too pushy.

Lauren had her mother in mind as a metaphor for the Mother Road. “You’re vibrant, and so is the road,” Lauren says to her. But when Irene gets off the road for a day because of fatigue, Lauren’s stated reason for their trip early in the film — “We’re both getting older … we may not get another chance” — hits home.

This see-it-while-you-can mantra for Route 66 also hits home during the course of the film. Shooting for “The Mother Road” was completed a few years ago, and some things that are shown are gone. The Red Cedar Inn in Pacific, Mo., is closed indefinitely, and Lillian Redman, former owner of the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., died not long after the filming.

So treasure your mother — and Mother Road — while you can.

(To find your local PBS television station, go here. Times and listings for “The Mother Road” also can be found at the TV Guide site here.)