Kara Knudsen, 18, of Norco, Calif., was crowned Miss Route 66 for 2006-07 at a pageant in Barstow a while back.

To her credit, she’s been traveling the road that provides her title, according to the Winslow (Ariz.) Mail:

She and her grandfather, Robert Knudsen, 75, have been travelling their favorite road eastbound for some time; visiting the historic sites, meeting people and collecting souvenir pins along this stretch. They stopped in Winslow last week to stay for a few days while traveling around to see local sights and visits friends in the area while staying around to participate in the Winslow Christmas Parade.

She’s also trying to promote the pageant so that other towns along the route create their own pageant, and it event becomes a nationwide event “to promote the 66 history and culture.”

Buena Vista Pictures has put up a Web site to woo the Academy of Motion Pictures to nominate several of its films for Academy Awards.

One of the movies Buena Vista is hoping will get Oscar nods is “Cars.” It’s lobbying for these nominations:

• Best Animated Feature
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Film Editing
• Best Score
• Best Sound Mixing
• Best Original Song — “Our Town” or “Lose Yourself”

Bet the farm on the nomination for animated feature. Pixar, which made “Cars,” typically has a lock on it.
Nominations for best song and best score seem reasonably certain because previous Oscar winner Randy Newman is involved in both.
It’s difficult to predict whether “Cars” is in the running for best editing and best sound mixing. Pixar did both things well, but it’s hard to tell what it’s up against.

I don’t think a Best Screenplay nod is likely. It’s mostly a pedestrian plot. One of the strengths of “Cars” is its subtlety and heart, not a snappy script.

So “Cars” will likely get three Oscar nominations, with an outside shot at five. I don’t see it running the table for the six it wants.

Nominations will be announced on Jan. 23. The 79th annual Academy Awards will be at 7 p.m. CST Feb. 25, on ABC-TV.

(Hat tip to Upcoming Pixar.) 

Joe Queenan has written a funny, somewhat acerbic, mostly affectionate and observant essay about American road trips in the Belfast Telegraph. That includes a few thoughts about Route 66, including this one:

Cruising along Route 66 constantly reminds the traveller of the skewed concept of space that exists in the wide open spaces. Back east, signs read, “Food and Gas: 2 miles”. Out west, signs read, “Injun Joe’s Jewelry Shop, Subterranean Cavern and Dinosaur Farm, 137 miles”. People say, “New York, New York: Sounds so nice they had to name it twice”. True. But they only had to name Abilene and Salinas and Cheyenne once. The landscape is dotted with towns whose names are so evocative, so steeped in legend that if you try hard enough you can almost forget how nondescript they are once you get there. I can particularly recall drinking a cup of rancid coffee in a deserted diner in Gallup, New Mexico, gazing out the window at a freight train the length of the Amazon and thinking, “Gallup, New Mexico. Hear that lonesome whistle blow! Now, you’re talking!”

Go read it.

The Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla., has renovated its Web site.

Although it’s a work in progress and stuff still needs to be added, it’s definitely a much-improved design.

The Christmas season is upon us, and Redforkhippiechick’s photo of an angel decoration in the dinky Route 66 town of Texola, Okla., has given me an idea.

Do you have cool photos of Christmas sights along Route 66? Are any businesses along the Mother Road decked out for the holiday? Are you seeing your own version of a winter wonderland on the Main Street of America?

If so, snap a picture of these sights and send the images to me so I can post them here over the next few weeks. Just let me know where the photos were shot and other relevant details, and I’ll be happy to credit the image to you.

Photos don’t have to be big (5 1/2 inches wide is all this site will allow), and if the digital images are clear and at least 72 dpi, they’ll be fine. Just e-mail your special image to route66news(at)yahoo.com .

Let’s make this beautiful and fun.

Redforkhippiechick ventured to Vega, Texas, to help the owners of the Vega Motel prepare for their eventual reopening and stayed in the newly refurbished Apache Motel in Tucumcari, N.M.

There are other things she observed and shot photographs of. Check them out.

This story in the Sapulpa (Okla.) Daily Herald about local Christmas parades has an item that might be of interest to Route 66ers:

Kellyville will celebrate “Christmas on Route 66” with its parade on Dec. 9, said Kim Crall, president of the Kellyville Chamber of Commerce.

The parade, which starts at 11 a.m., will follow the traditional parade route, which begins and ends at Kellyville’s North Campus, Crall said.

Entries are still being taken for the parade, and car clubs are welcome to participate, she added.

For information, call Phyllis Slater at the chamber office, 247-2900 [area code 918].

A few weeks ago, Richard L. Gonzales filed for a certificate of appropriateness for demolition of the historic El Vado Motel in Albuquerque.

At the time, I expressed doubts such a certificate would be issued. That opinion has been reinforced after I received a report by Maryellen Hennessy, the city’s senior planner for the Landmarks Commission, that analyzed the application.

There are interesting nuggets in the 12-page report (alas, it doesn’t seem to be online), and it’s a strong rebuttal against Gonzales’ bid to raze the motel.

– When the motel was sold to Gonzales in late 2005, I heard through several good sources that the price was in the high $600K range. In Hennessy’s report, this is confirmed: Gonzales bought the motel for $675,000, and a few months later put it up for sale for $3.25 million after it became apparent his plan to replace the structure with luxury townhouses wasn’t going to fly.

Since then, Gonzales has lowered the price to $2.25 million. In the application, one of the things Gonzales has to prove is the property is no longer financially viable. His highly inflated asking price undercuts his own argument.

Hennessy also noted this:

“The applicant offers no information on why the property is offered at a price far exceeding the estimated market value or purchase price.”

Hennessy also noted that Gonzales didn’t do a good job of marketing El Vado to potential buyers. “National and international markets exists (sic) for properties of historic interest,” she wrote.

– Gonzales used Druc Engineering to estimate the cost of rehabilitating the motel. Druc estimated $2.894 million.

However, the city sent Ed Crocker of Crocker & Associates, an architectural conservation firm that specializes in earthen buildings like El Vado, to inspect the property in late October. The report says:

“Mr. Crocker disagrees with several key assessments contained in the applicant’s structural analysis and suggests that necessary remedial measures will likely not reach the $2.894 million estimate …”

– Gonzales enlisted an accountant to try to prove El Vado was no longer financially viable. However, just nine months’ worth of statements from when the motel was operating were examined — hardly a large enough financial snapshot. In eight of those months, the motel saw a net loss, but the motel also saw “positive cash flow” overall.

Also, the accountant noted “omitted financial disclosures.” The best the accountant could do was say that El Vado’s viability was “inconclusive.”

– The report says El Vado has enough space for adaptive reuse if reopening it as a motel is not possible. But it noted that tax credits and other financial opportunities for the property “have not been adequately addressed” by Gonzales.

Hennessy’s report asks for a 60-day deferral on the application to gather more information. But based on what I’ve seen already, the city will not let Gonzales raze the motel.

The city’s comprehensive plan and preservation rules are adamant. A property owner must consider all the possibilities in preserving a building or adapting it for reuse before the city ever issues a demolition permit.

Gonzales has not met that criteria — not even close.

The 66 Drive-In on old Route 66 in Carthage, Mo., is one of more than 60 historic theaters listed in the book, “Cinemental Journeys,” by Mike and Vicki Walker.

The book is a travel guide to classic movie theaters in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.

The photo of the 66 Drive-In seen above is from the Walkers’ book, which Mike Walker supplied to me.

“Cinemental Journeys” is $14.95 and can be ordered through this Web site.

An excerpt of the book can be seen here.

Those who were hoping to go to Rory Schepisi’s new Boot Hill Saloon & Grill in Vega, Texas, for a special New Year’s Eve opening are advised to keep other options open.

Schepisi tells me that because of a three-week delay with electrical work, a special New Year’s Eve opening looks “slimmer and slimmer.”

“But … I think we’re back on track,” she e-mailed me. “Well, at least I hope we are.  At this point it will be closer to February [for an opening] unless Santa’s little elves come out and help. I’ll keep you informed.”

Schepisi, as you may recall, was the runner-up in CMT’s “Popularity Contest” reality show. Smitten by Vega, she sold her New Jersey restaurant and moved to the Route 66 town in the Texas Panhandle.

In the meantime, Schepisi sent me a photo of what the under-construction Boot Hill looks like:

You can already see the big porches and the Old West architectural style. I already like what I see.

Romine’s, a famed fried-chicken restaurant on the Riverview Drive alignment of Route 66 of St. Louis since 1931, is closing because of crime and declining sales, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Security was hired to patrol the parking lot and cameras were installed on the outside of the building, but that was not enough to stop car theft and break-ins.

“(I) did not want the liability of one of my employees or customers getting hurt or killed,” Schafermeyer said. [...]

Relocating because of crime is rare according to one expert’s experience.

“I have never had anyone come to our office expressing that concern of having to close their doors because of increasing crime in the area,” said Theresa Ebeler, director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, which serves Metro East. [...]

According to the article, Romine’s is moving to the suburb of St. Peters, Mo. How boring. Blech.

The Route 66 town of Wilmington, Ill., honored Angelo Aggelopoulos as the grand marshal of the town’s Christmas parade and led the countdown to light the Christmas tree, reported the Kankakee Daily Journal.

As far as I’m concerned, the honors are warranted because of this:

Tour buses visiting stops along the famous U.S. Route 66 are welcomed to Wilmington by Aggelopoulos who makes them “feel welcomed,” Fisher said.

We greet the tours with champagne and cookies and a little gift,” Aggelopoulos said.

Melissa Lea, a jewelry designer and Route 66 photographer, earns an extended feature article about her life and times (so far) from her hometown newspaper, the Bedford (Ind.) Times-Mail.

If you want to see her work, Melissa’s Web site is here.

Not that I’m complaining.

Illinois is frequently cited as the best-signed state for those who want to follow old Route 66. I’ve driven the Mother Road from the shores of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, and you don’t even need a map except for the rare spot where a sign is stolen. Even the older, obscure alignments are well-marked.

Well, Illinois’ stature is going to go up a bit more in that regard. According to an article in the Bloomington Pantagraph, the City of Pontiac is adding more signs so that tourists can better find local landmarks, including the Route 66 Hall of Fame Museum. Apparently Pontiac has a bunch of one-way streets that can be confusing for travelers.

What Pontiac is doing seems fundamental and common sense. But you’d be surprised how many towns along the Mother Road don’t do this. For instance, if I were one of the city fathers of Erick, Okla., I’d not only have a slew of signs near the interstate guiding travelers to the Roger Miller Museum, but also to the Sandhills Curiosity Shop. It’s hard for potential visitors to enjoy the Harley & Annabelle Experience if they don’t know it’s there.

For most of its 22 years, the big neon sign of the landmark Metro Diner at 3001 E. 11th St. (aka Route 66) in Tulsa greeted diners with this on its marquee: “ELVIS EATS HERE.”

Elvis will have to find someplace else to dine. On Sunday, the Metro closed its doors for good. It soon will be destroyed to make way for a new University of Tulsa entrance.

Signs of the diner’s impending destruction were evident: Land had been cleared around it, and barricades were everywhere (see top photo).

I squeezed in a visit to the Metro right before it finished its final 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift. The place was packed with customers, although many were turned away because it began running out of food about 2 p.m.

Many people weren’t there to eat, but to record memories with their digital and video cameras. The restaurant graciously allowed them to shoot away even if they hadn’t bought anything.

I’m not one to skip an opportunity, so here are a few of my photos of the Metro’s distinctive 1950s interior design of chrome, neon lighting and glass brick.

This bunch apparently made the restaurant’s final day a family outing.

I saw at least three TV cameras, many hugs, a few tears and more than a few people saying, “We’re going to miss you.”

In one moment of irony, I heard a song, urging “C’mon baby, let the good times roll,” on the restaurant’s sound system.

One middle-aged, bearded man asked a waitress: “How about a dance?”

The woman replied: “I don’t know about a dance, but I can give you a hug.” To which she did.

Souvenir hunters were busy even before the restaurant closed. Someone pried loose a few of the building’s black-and-pink tiles. No harm if the place is going to get knocked down anyway, I guess.

Before I left, I spotted a chalkboard near the front desk. It said: “Thank you Tulsa for 22 years.” Below it in smaller letters read: “Elvis eats here.”

The Metro was loyal to Elvis — and its customers — to the end.

****

Here’s an Associated Press article about the Metro’s closing.

Here’s one from KOTV in Tulsa.

Here’s one from the Tulsa World.

Rod Harsh at Route 66 TV Online was kind enough to send me pictures from yesterday’s Route 66 Half-Marathon, which starts at the Kansas-Missouri state line and goes 13.1 miles on old Route 66 to the Kansas-Oklahoma line.

The photo above is taken at the historic Rainbow Bridge near Riverton, Kan.

Scott Nelson of Eisler Bros. General Store, who helps organize the event each year, said about 60 runners competed. The top athlete completed the course in 1 hour, 21 minutes. Nelson is in the center wearing a white T-shirt.

For more photos, check out Harsh’s site here.

The music isn’t all that catchy, nor uplifting. But this music video shot by Giuseppe Cristiano for J Crist’s composition “Route 66″ seems to evoke the dread and depression of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, even though sharp-eyed roadies will recognize sights from modern-day Route 66.

Artist David Malcolm Rose has created remarkably detailed miniatures of decaying filling stations, motels and cafes, many of which are inspired by what’s seen on Route 66.  The series is called “The Lost Highway,” and you can see photos of the works here.

Rose’s work will be exhibited at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky., through March. The museum is off Exit 28 of Interstate 65, and is open seven days a week.

With my curiosity up because of yesterday’s post about musician Melissa McClelland and her recent foray on the Mother Road, I surfed over to her MySpace site.

There, I found out that the footage for her music video for “Passenger 24″ was shot on Route 66.

Here it is:

Keep your eyes peeled; you’ll see a handful of familiar characters and sights from the Mother Road.

The Route 66 town of Elkhart, Ill., learned this week that its only school — an elementary one — would be shut down after the end of the school year, according to the Lincoln Courier.

The school has just 66 students and has been suffering from poor finances. The students will be sent to Mount Pulaski, which has a consolidation agreement with the Elkhart.

Elkhart’s high school closed back in 1974 and recently closed down the junior-high portion of its school.

Elkhart was trying like heck to spur economic development in town, mostly as a way to keep its school. A bigger tax base and more residents certainly would have helped. But apparently the efforts were started too late and made too little impact.

This isn’t so much like an “Our Town” situation seen in the movie “Cars.” Being a native of a small rural Illinois town, I can attest that the populations of all small towns in rural Illinois are declining unless they’re close to a significant-sized city.

In essense, rural Illinois is much like the Great Plains: If the population trends continue, in a few decades large swaths of Illinois will be nearly as deserted as they were in 1700s.