Well, I finally found it. There’s a kazillion links to surf on Oprah Winfrey’s Web site, but I found one about her and her friend Gayle’s stop at Mr. D’z on Route 66 in Kingman, Ariz., during “Oprah and Gayle’s Big Adventure.”

Here’s a photo of Oprah giving a toast with a mug of Mr. D’z root beer.

There’s also a link on this page for the next show, which has a video clip of Oprah staying at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Ariz. I hope its Spartan-but-comfortable amenities satisfied the multimillionaire’s tastes.

Aside from chucking at Oprah’s woeful inexperience with road trips (including her laundry list of driving anxieties and having never pumped her own gas), I’m glad she and her pal did this summer road trip. It will inspire a significant number of her huge following to go on road trips of their own, and a few will try the Mother Road.

A few months ago, it was reported that Andrew Horton, director of the Film and Video Studies program at the University of Oklahoma, was about to begin shooting an independent film, “Route 66.”

This was the reported premise:

The film is about Panos, a Greek soap opera star fulfilling his dying father’s dream to journey to America and ride down Route 66 on a motorcycle. During his road trip, he meets Shayla, a Sac and Fox Indian whose dream is to tell Native American legends to the world. The Greek actor Renos Haralambidis will play Panos, and an unannounced Native American actress will play Shayla.

Shooting was going to be on locations on Route 66 in Oklahoma and also in Greece. A few of my sources told me just weeks ago that the producers were scouting locations in the Stroud and Chandler area.

Over the weekend, I e-mailed Horton about the status of his “Route 66″ film. He replied (with minor edits included):

Alas, we’ve put the film on hold till we reorganize and raise more funds, so it looks like next year.

Will be in touch!

The city of Upland, Calif., is set to begin reconstruction of half-mile section of Foothill Boulevard, aka Route 66, next month, reports the Ontario Daily Bulletin.

Last year, Quincy put together the Foothill Committee, made up of volunteers, that serves as a focal group to improve and identify different projects along the historic Route 66.

“We came together and talked about what would be aesthetically pleasing for the street and what would slow traffic for safety and bring shopping,” Quincy said. [...]
The first phase, between Redding Way and Second Avenue, will include a lot of landscaping, said Anthony La, director of public works.

“What they are planning on doing is adding about 30 to 50 feet of landscaping to the concentrated area,” La said. “There will also be improvements that will facilitate traffic for safety.”

Trees, a pedestrian walkway and a wide-spaced median will be added, La said.

The project came out of the Community Visioning Study, which can be opened and read as an Acrobat file from here but is 111 pages long.

The annual Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino, Calif., which saw its final day Sunday, appears to have been another success. The San Bernardino County Sun reports that an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 people attended. And there were no problems, thanks to the high security presence there. Combine that with mild weather, and it sounds like it was a nearly perfect event.