I’m not sure who’s doing this, but it’s pretty cool.

Someone has mounted a dashboard video camera and cruised Route 66 from its eastern starting point in Chicago. Some stoplight stops are edited, but it’s mostly real-time footage of driving west on the Mother Road. It’s darned near like being there.

Both videos are about an hour apiece. Part 1 starts in Chicago. Part 2 starts in Romeoville.

I have no idea whether the individual is planning on posting videos of his drive of the entire 2,200 miles. I’m eager to see.

UPDATE 6/1/07: Part 3, as the driver goes through Livingston County, Ill., has been posted. It’s about eight minutes.

Bob Moore, editor of Route 66 Magazine and emcee of the Route 66 Radio Show at KTOX in Needles, Calif., says that the Internet broadcast of the show has changed from Saturday morning to 8 p.m. EDT Friday on Bounce Radio.

The Mule Trading Post near Rolla, Mo., blessed by energetic new owners, tracked down an old hillbilly sign that once graced the Hillbilly Store and brought it back from the dead, reports the Rolla Daily News.

The hillbilly sign now stands in front of a new tobacco barn they opened Memorial Day weekend, just next door to the Mule Trading Post. He stands close to two stories tall, and his arms rotate in a circular fashion.

I thought the Hillbilly Store sounded familiar. Sure enough, I leafed through Quinta Scott’s book “Along Route 66″ and found an image of the original sign at the Hillbilly Store on old Route 66 near Devils Elbow, Mo. Here is an excerpt of an image of the original hillbilly sign:

The photo is not the sign that the Mule Trading Post has restored. The Mule fixed up a bigger sign that the Hillbilly Store commissioned after it moved closer to the interstate. The store eventually closed in 2000, and the sign lay in neglect until recently.

It sounds like Carl and Zelma Smith, owners of the Mule, aren’t done in rescuing old Route 66 signs.

“We’re members of the Route 66 Association,” said Zelma. “We’re all trying to buy the signs and keep them on Route 66. I try to collect everything I can find.”

Originally from Nebraska, Zelma didn’t fully realize the popularity of the historic highway until her and her husband became owners of the Mule Trading Post.

“During our first year, we had people from 39 different countries sign our guest book,” said Zelma. “They said they were following Route 66 from Chicago to California. A lot of people ship vintage cars and motorcycles over here to follow it — they’ve also been showing the Route 66 television program from the ’60s in foreign countries.”

The road is lucky to have business owners like the Smiths.

The city of Joliet, Ill., is holding a big bash downtown Saturday to celebrate its connection to the Mother Road, according to the Joliet Herald-News.

It’s an all-day block party with a classic car show, a sock hop, an ice cream parlor and outdoor showings of “Cars,” a movie based on people and places along The Mother Road, and a showing of “Grease.” All of the events will be held in the city’s downtown. [...]

So the new museum exhibit, the permanent roadside displays — including statues of Jake and Elwood from “The Blues Brothers” on top of the Rich and Creamy stand, 920 N. Broadway — and special signs will enhance the experience while drawing more tourists to Will County [...]

The highlight of Saturday’s celebration will be a live, star-studded re-creation of “You’re the One That I Want,” the final number in “Grease.” Local VIPs will do the number around 6:45 p.m. or immediately after The Blooze Brothers performance beginning at 5 p.m. Both acts will play on a stage in the Ottawa Street parking lot between Benton and Webster streets and near the Renaissance Center.

Smartly, the city hired Route 66ers John and Lenore Weiss to help plan the event. The city has a Web site touting the event.

In other Route 66 events:

• The Rolla (Mo.) Daily News has articles about a beauty pageant and a car show during the town’s Route 66 Summerfest, which is this weekend.
• The St. Louis-Post Dispatch tells about the preparations for the annual Festival 66 in Edwardsville, Ill., on June 8-9.

The Keepers of the Wild, once located near Hoover Dam, moved to 175 acres about 25 miles northeast of Kingman, Ariz., just off Route 66 and will open to the public on Thursday, reports the Mohave Daily News.

The sanctuary is for exotic animals that were neglected or abused. The park contains more than 150 animals, including tigers, lions, leopards, reptiles, wolves and monkeys.

In three to four months, the installation of added fencing will allow visitors to walk through the sanctuary but for now visitors must go on guided tours through the park. The animals live in a natural spacious habitat with waterfalls, rock formations, vegetation and natural springs, Lewis said.

Residents of Mohave County can enjoy a pre-opening special until June 30. Tickets for county residents are $12 for adults and $8 for children. Keepers of the Wild is a nonprofit organization.

Normal general admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children. For more information, call 928-769-1800.

Guided tours will run every hour on the hour. The park will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday with the first tour staring at 10 a.m. and the last tour starting at 4 p.m. The park will be closed Monday-Tuesday.

Keeper of the Wild’s Web site is here.

The Sapulpa (Okla.) Daily Herald has a preview of this coming weekend’s Route 66 Blowout. Among the new events with the myriad activities is a salsa-tasting contest and a sock hop dance.

This is a compilation of images from Tokyo photographer Hiroshi Hanamura.

People who know of my fascination with Route 66 occasionally ask me whether I would have preferred to live in an era when the Mother Road was more vibrant, where I could see long-gone motels and businesses open and prospering again.

I admit that if a time machine were available, I would visit the 1950s for a short time. But never would want to live in that era because of this.

As a soldier in World War II George Yancy Johnson served with the “Ladies From Hell.” He did covert work in France several weeks before D-Day. He participated in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. During the Korean War he suffered so much from the cold that doctors considered amputating his feet.

But all the medals, and all his war stories, meant nothing in summer 1951, when he and his wife, Phyllis, and their infant son, Reggie, were on historic Route 66 at a motel in Winslow, Ariz., looking for a room.

“The woman in the office was curt. ‘No coloreds,’ ” he recalled.

“That night, as with many other nights, we slept in the Studebaker under the stars,” he wrote recently, when he put his memories on paper.

This is the reason you don’t see but one or two black faces at annual Route 66 gatherings. If you’re a white person, Route 66 generally brings up fond memories. But if you’re a black person who traveled the Mother Road up until about the 1970s, your experiences likely bring bitterness.

That history can’t be changed, but we can do something about it now by treating all races hospitably when they’re traveling America’s Main Street. A few months ago, I saw a black woman with her boyfriend greatly enjoying a meal at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla. Decades ago, that would have been an impossible sight. That’s because the Rock Cafe served blacks only through the back door. But now, owner Dawn Welch and her crew welcome everyone.

Route 66 can’t erase those old, hurtful memories of discrimination. But it can create good memories now.

We thought we’d pay homage on Memorial Day to soldiers from Route 66 towns who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. I first started this tribute on Veterans Day 2006. Since then, about another 30 soldiers have been added.

Route 66 is often described as the “world’s longest small town.” So when one of its own dies, those who feel an affinity to the Mother Road feel the loss more. One of the latest Mother Road communities to feel this loss is Winslow, Ariz., when Sgt. Christopher Gonzalez died after an attack in Iraq.

I can attest that small towns are more appreciative of their veterans and fallen soldiers. I grew up in a small town where Memorial Day was reverently observed at the local cemetery. There, the name each military veteran who had died was read, which took almost 20 minutes and staggered listeners with its enormity.

Since I am a resident of the Route 66 community, here is my attempt at a tribute to fallen Americans who hailed from the Mother Road.

ILLINOIS
Chicago

• Staff Sgt. Oscar D. Vargas-Medina, died May 1, 2004
• 1st Sgt. Edward Smith, died April 5, 2003
• Sgt. Ivory L. Phipps, died March 17, 2004
• Pfc. Torry D. Harris, died July 13, 2004
• Sgt. Sirlou C. Cuaresma, died June 21, 2006
• Cmdr. Adrian Basil Szwec, died April 12, 2004
• Machinist’s Mate Fireman Apprentice Bryant L. Davis, died Nov. 7, 2001
• Master Sgt. Wilberto Sabalu Jr., died May 6, 2007

Countryside

• Spc. John R. Sullivan, died Nov. 15, 2003

Cicero

• Sgt. Pedro J. Colon, died Feb. 19, 2007

Dwight

• Lance Cpl. Raymond J. Holzhauer, died March 15, 2007

Lincoln

• Staff Sgt. Daniel G. Gresham, died Feb. 24, 2005
• Spc. Francis M. Trussel Jr., died May 26, 2007

Normal

• Spc. Jessica L. Cawvey, died Oct. 6, 2004

Bloomington

• Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, died March 21, 2003
• 1st Lt. Debra A. Banaszak, died Oct. 28, 2005

Springfield

• Spc. Jacob C. Palmatier, died Feb. 24, 2005

Virden

• Staff Sgt. Gary R. Harper Jr., died Oct. 9, 2005

Carlinville

• Spc. Jeremiah D. Costello, died June 2, 2007

Edwardsville

• Pfc. Ryan C. Garbs, died Feb. 18, 2007

Granite City

• Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Christopher Dostie, died Dec. 30, 2005
• Sgt. Steven P. Mennemeyer, died Aug. 9, 2006

MISSOURI
Florissant

• Pvt. Lavena L. Johnson, died July 19, 2005

St. Louis

• Maj. William F. Hecker III, died Jan. 5, 2006
• Sgt. Amanda N. Pinson, died March 16, 2006
• Pfc. James F. Costello III, died April 11, 2006
• Lance Cpl. Leon Lance Deraps, died May 6, 2006
• Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Walsh, died Sept. 4, 2006
• Cpl. Jacob R. Fleisher, died Nov. 24, 2004
• Spc. Christopher M. Katzenberger, died Aug. 9, 2005
• Maj. Gloria D. Davis, died Dec. 12, 2006
• Lance Cpl. Matthew W. Clark, died Dec. 14, 2006
• Sgt. Milton A. Gist Jr., died Jan. 30, 2007
• Sgt. Brandon L. Wallace, died April 14, 2007
• Lt. Daniel P. Riordan, died June 23, 2007

Wildwood

• Spc. Peter J. Navarro, died Dec. 13, 2005

Pacific

• Cpl. Riley E. Baker, died June 22, 2006

Bourbon

• Corp. James E. Summers III, died May 28, 2007

Lebanon

• Sgt. Lawrence Parrish, died Oct. 7, 2006

Marshfield

• Spc. Michael C. Campbell, died May 19, 2004

Springfield

• Pfc. Jesse Alan Givens, died May 1, 2003
• Sgt. Timothy J. Sutton, died July 11, 2005
• Sgt. 1st Class Randall L. Lamberson, died April 10, 2006

Carthage

• Master Sgt. Thomas A. Wallsmith, died Oct. 26, 2005

Joplin

• Sgt. Philip J. Svitak, died March 4, 2002

KANSAS
Riverton

• Pvt. Dustin L. Kreider, died March 21, 2004

OKLAHOMA
Miami

• Civilian Fern L. Holland, died March 9, 2004
• Tech. Sgt. Jason L. Norton, died Jan. 22, 2006

Vinita

• Sgt. Justin Noyes, died July 2, 2006

Claremore

• Staff Sgt. John G. Doles, died Sept. 30, 2005

Tulsa

• Pvt. Jason M. Ward, died Oct. 22, 2003
• Spc. James E. Marshall, died May 5, 2004
• Lance Cpl. Jordan D. Winkler, died Nov. 26, 2004
• Cpl. Nathaniel T. Hammond, died Nov. 8, 2004
• Cpl. Jared M. Shoemaker, died Sept. 4, 2006
• Cpl. Derek A. Stanley, died June 5, 2006

Edmond

• Pfc. David J. Martin, died Oct. 31, 2005

Oklahoma City

• Spc. Sonny Gene Sampler, died July 8, 2004
• Sgt. Carl W. Lee, died Nov. 28, 2004
• Cpl. Jeffry A. Rogers, died Nov. 16, 2005
• Staff Sgt. Lance M. Chase, died Jan. 23, 2006
• Chief Warrant Officer Lawrence S. Colton, died April 11, 2004
• Sgt. Danton K. Seitsinger, died Jan. 29, 2004
• Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts, died March 24, 2007
• Sgt. Ryan M. Wood, died June 21, 2007
• Spc. Derek A. Calhoun, died June 23, 2007

TEXAS
Amarillo

• Capt. Eric Bruce Das, died April 7, 2003
• Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, died March 23, 2003
• Spc. Taylor J. Burk, died Jan. 26, 2005
• Staff Sgt. Tommy Ike Folks Jr., died Oct. 19, 2005
• Chief Warrant Officer Miles P. Henderson, died Nov. 6, 2006
• Pfc. Troy D. Cooper, died Dec. 3, 2006

NEW MEXICO
Las Vegas

• Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris, died Sept. 3, 2006

Santa Fe

• Lance Cpl. Jonathan Walter Grant, died May 11, 2005

Albuquerque

• Pfc. Christopher Ramos, died April 5, 2004
• Pfc. Christopher S. Adlesperger, died Dec. 9, 2004
• Spc. Jeremy E. Christensen, died Nov. 27, 2004
• Spc. Christopher A. Merville, died Oct. 12, 2004
• Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer, died Aug. 7, 2002
• Spc. Eric Vizcaino, died Nov. 21, 2006
• Tech Sgt. Scott E. Duffman, died Feb. 18, 2007
• Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III, died April 9, 2007
• Maj. Douglas Zembiec, died May 10, 2007
• Sgt. James C. Akin, died June 3, 2007

Los Lunas

• Sgt. Joel A. Dahl, died June 23, 2007

Belen

• 1st Lt. Tamara Long Archuleta, died March 23, 2003

ARIZONA
Holbrook

• Spc. Damien M. Montoya, died July 9, 2006

Winslow

• Sgt. Christopher N. Gonzalez, died May 14, 2007

Flagstaff

• Lance Cpl. Marty G. Mortenson, died April 20, 2005
• Spc. Alyssa R. Peterson, died Sept. 15, 2003

Kingman

• Hospitalman Joshua McIntosh, died June 26, 2003
• Staff Sgt. William T. Latham, died June 18, 2003
• Spc. Coty J. Phelps, died May 17, 2007

CALIFORNIA
Barstow

• Sgt. 1st Class James F. Hayes, died Nov. 6, 2005

Victorville

• Lance Cpl. William J. Wiscowiche, died March 30, 2004

San Bernardino

• Cpl. Sean R. Grilley, died Oct. 16, 2003
• Cpl. Nicanor Alvarez, died Aug. 21, 2004
• Spc. Timothy D. Watkins, died Oct. 15, 2005
• Pfc. Alex Oceguera, died Oct. 31, 2006

Rialto

• Staff Sgt. Jorge A. Molina Bautista, died May 23, 2004
• Spc. Luis D. Santos, died June 8, 2006
• Spc. Victor A. Garcia, died July 1, 2007

Azusa

• Pfc. Leroy Harris-Kelly, died April 20, 2004

Arcadia

• Sgt. Kyle A. Colnot, died April 22, 2006

Fontana

• Sgt. Bryan A. Brewster, died May 5, 2006
• Lance Corp. Fontana S. Tamayo, died Dec. 21, 2006

Glendora

• Spc. Elias Elias, died Dec. 23, 2006
• Lance Corp. Blake H. Howey, died Feb. 18, 2007
• Staff Sgt. Thomas M. McFall, died May 28, 2007

Monrovia

• Lance Cpl. Raul Mercado, died Jan. 7, 2006

Rancho Cucamonga

• Capt. Mark C. Paine, died Oct. 15, 2006
• Sgt. Lawrence J. Carter, died Dec. 29, 2006

Pomona

• Petty Officer 2nd Class Cesar O. Baez, died June 15, 2005
• Sgt. Shaker T. Guy, died Oct. 29, 2005
• Spc. Sergio Gudino, died Dec. 25, 2005

Pasadena

• Lance Cpl. Sergio H. Escobar, died Oct. 8, 2005
• Spc. Adam J. Rosema, died March 14, 2007

Los Angeles

• Staff Sgt. Juan de Dios Garcia-Arana, April 30, 2005
• Staff Sgt. Eddie E. Menyweather, died Nov. 23, 2003
• Lance Cpl. Benjamin R. Gonzalez, died May 29, 2004
• Staff Sgt. Abraham D. Penamedina, died April 27, 2004
• Sgt. 1st Class John Winston, Marshall, died April 8, 2003
• Pfc. Francisco Abraham Martinez-Flores, died March 27, 2003
• Cpl. Jorge Alonso Gonzalez, died March 23, 2003
• Lance Cpl. Victor R. Lu, died Nov. 13, 2004
• Sgt. Trinidad R. Martinezluis, died Nov. 28, 2004
• Lance Cpl. Luis A. Figueroa, died Nov. 18, 2004
• Spc. Omead H. Razani, died Aug. 27, 2004
• Sgt. Edgar E. Lopez, died Aug. 28, 2004
• Sgt. 1st Class Joselito O. Villanueva, Sept. 27, 2004
• Lance Cpl. Felipe D. Sandoval-Flores, died April 2, 2006
• Lance Cpl. Salvador Guerrero, died June 9, 2006
• Cpl. Roberto Abad, died Aug. 6, 2004
• Pfc. Geoffrey Perez, died Aug. 15, 2004
• Lance Cpl. Veashna Muy, died June 23, 2005
• Cpl. Carlos Pineda, died June 24, 2005
• Lance Cpl. Dion M. Whitley, died June 15, 2005
• Sgt. Milton M. Monzon Jr., died July 24, 2005
• Sgt. Alejandro Carrillo, died Jan. 30, 2007
• Spc. Christopher D. Young, died March 2, 2007
• Spc. Romel Catalan, died June 2, 2007
• Staff Sgt. Greg P. Gagarin, died June 3, 2007

(Sources: CNN.com, icasualties.org)

Max Nichols, a history columnist for the Daily Oklahoman, tells about the past and present attractions of Route 66 in Oklahoma before the National Route 66 Festival in Clinton in June.

When traveling Route 66 through Missouri, we make it a point to stop at A Slice of Pie in Rolla.

We don’t think it’s hyperbole to say this is among the best pie to be found, period. Rural Missouri magazine readers agree. Early editions of Jane and Michael Stern’s Roadfood books agree. And locals certainly agree.

A Slice of Pie tends to get overlooked by roadies because it’s on a more obscure alignment of Route 66. It’s tucked away in an old strip mall at 601 Kingshighway (map here). But even with the traditional U.S. 63 alignment of 66, it’s just a stone’s throw away.

For lunch or dinner, A Slice of Pie usually has quiches (such as bacon and spinach), salads, pot pies and soups, along with a warm, soft dinner roll as big as your fist.

But many folks come for dessert. The prices are a bit higher than usual diner fare, but the slices are, too. So make sure your appetite is up for it.

A restaurant flier lists the types of pie:

• Apple (American and Dutch)
• Blackberry crumb
• Boston cream
• Cherry (double crust / crumb)
• Cherry/raspberry
• Chess
• Chocolate chip mint
• Chocolate cream
• Coconut buttermilk custard
• Coconut meringue or cream
• Custard
• Dixie
• French Silk
• Fresh strawberry
• Fudge brownie (with ice cream), with plain, nut, mint or toffee
• Key Lime
• Lemon meringue
• Mincemeat
• Moe’s Millionaire
• Mudslide
• Peach
• Peanut butter chocolate swirl
• Peanut Butter Lust
• Pecan
• Pumpkin
• Strawberry/rhubarb
• Sweet potato
• Tahitian cream
• Toll House

I’ve not even listed the six types of cheesecakes or the five cakes.

Here is my favorite pie: Peanut Butter Lust, along with a glass of iced tea. I couldn’t resist taking a bite before snapping the photo.

A Slice of Pie is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Its number is 573-364-6203. But, remember, the restaurant is cash only.

These photos show why Illinois Route 66 preservationists John and Lenore Weiss won a prestigious Steinbeck Award a few years ago during the annual Route 66 awards dinner.

This is a “before” shot of the long-neglected Art’s Motel and Restaurant sign on Route 66 in Farmersville, Ill.

This is a shot after the Illinois Route 66 Association and the Weisses were through fixing it. The Weisses are the key reason why Illinois has taken the lead in restoring Route 66 landmarks.

Even some of the neon lighting was restored. More photographs of the sign can be seen at Peter Stork’s Digital Route 66 site.

By the way, Art’s restaurant and motel still are going strong.

(Photos courtesy of Digital Route 66.) 

Reuters correspondents James Kelleher and Nick Carey on Friday ended their Route 66 Revisited journey at Lou Mitchell’s restaurant in Chicago, near the eastern terminus of the Mother Road.

Kelleher wrote:

We expected to see and experience many things and to meet some interesting people, as there is a lot of America in between the West Coast and the Windy City.

Our expectations have been exceeded. We’ve spent time on American Indian reservations, talked to firemen in Flagstaff, police officers in Albuquerque, cowboys on vast feedlots in Texas, Christians in Oklahoma and a sinking town in Kansas. [...]

We return to Chicago with mixed feelings. It’s good to be home and it will be even better not to live out of a small bag or sleep in motels. The bad news is how much we’ll miss roaming around the country.

Route 66 is America’s ultimate road trip, with a broad cross-section of scenery, people and issues across a large chunk of the country.  It’s been an amazing ride, hope you enjoyed it too.

In case you missed the many stories they filed along the way, you can read them here.

A couple days ago, I received an e-mail from Mike Gassman, reporting that the annual World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Summerfest in Collinsville, Ill., was abruptly canceled less than two months before its July 8 date.

Gassman promises more “gory details” over the weekend, but this story from the Belleville News-Democrat clearly shows that bickering, power struggles and bad decisions by the City of Collinsville sank the festival.

Gassman said it’s “all a bunch of nonsense, and unfortunately it’s the community that suffers.” He said it wasn’t as much a conflict with Downtown Collinsville as with the contractual demands of the city.

So the festival is canceled, and no one is sure about next year. Each group said it wants Summerfest to continue.

The festival was named after a specially painted water tower in Collinsville that resembles a giant Brooks Catsup bottle. The Brooks Catsup bottle isn’t on Route 66; it’s about a mile and a half from the Mother Road. But it’s frequently featured in Route 66 guidebooks as an example of roadside kitsch.

The 2007-2008 edition of the ever-popular Oklahoma Route 66 Association Trip Guide is hitting the streets this week. Copies have been distributed at some state tourism centers, and over the course of the next few days, volunteers will be delivering copies to the association’s member businesses across Oklahoma.

The 72-page guide includes a full-color cover, maps, turn-by-turn directions, information about the history of the towns along Route 66 in Oklahoma, photographs, trivia facts, a business directory, an Oklahoma Route 66 Association membership application, and more.

Copies will be available at the Sapulpa Route 66 Blowout (June 1-2 in downtown Sapulpa), Tulsarama! (June 15-17 in downtown Tulsa), the National Route 66 Festival (June 21-24 in Clinton), the Oklahoma Route 66 Association office in Chandler, state tourism centers, and many Oklahoma Route 66 businesses. Plans are also in the works for the guide to be available as a downloadable PDF on the Oklahoma Route 66 Association Web site.

And if you happen to bump into yours truly along the road somewhere, odds are good I’ll have a few copies stashed in my beloved Starlight Express, which frequently doubles as a rolling tourist information center.

UPDATE 5/27/07: The Trip Guide can now be downloaded in six parts from this site as Acrobat files.

Last weekend, on the way back to Tulsa from Illinois, I stayed overnight in the Wayside Motel at 7800 Watson Road (Route 66) in the St. Louis suburb of Marlborough, Mo. (map is here.)

According to the late Skip Curtis’ well-researched book, “The Missouri Route 66 Tour Book,” the Wayside was built in 1940. It’s across the road from the site of the Coral Court Motel, an Art Deco masterpiece that was razed in 1995 despite concerted efforts to preserve it.

The Wayside is remarkably well-preserved, mostly because the structures are made of brick. And its owners have kept up the interior, too, as these photos show.

Those driving classic cars on Route 66 should take note that the Wayside has original carports in which to park their beauties while staying overnight. This is a bonus for those who want to protect their vintage rides from hail and bird poop.

The price for my room was $51, with tax. This sounds inexpensive to some, but it’s high enough to keep most undesirables away. About the only thing I heard during my restful night at the Wayside was a freight train about a half-mile away.

The Wayside’s phone number is 314-961-2324.

This article from Travel + Leisure doesn’t have any Route 66 content, but the stories about creative and driven owners who took over forlorn motels and turned them into unique attractions is required reading for anyone thinking about buying and rehabbing a vintage Route 66 motel.

It’s something that Bill Kinder at the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., would understand.

(via World Hum) 

The National Route 66 Festival is coming up in a few weeks in Clinton, Okla., on June 21-24, and here are a few items related to that event:

– The Oklahoma Route 66 Association is sponsoring a hands-on historic preservation project at the former Ray’s Motel at 720 S. Eighth St. in Clinton from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 22 and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 23-24. It’s at Eighth and Opal (map here) with a Route 66 sign in front. Michael Wallis, the noted author and Sheriff of Radiator Springs from “Cars,” will appear at least one of the sessions. Bring your work clothes, sunscreen and elbow grease. Call the association at 405-258-0008 or e-mail sundayjohn66(at)mac(dot)com for more information.

– In conjunction with the festival, the Old Route 66 Association of Texas is organizing a self-guided tour on the Mother Road across the Panhandle that can be taken anytime between June 1 and June 22. Prizes for participants will be awarded at the festival. You pick up a “passport” at one of these locations: MidPoint Cafe (Adrian); Oldham County Chamber of Commerce, Roark Hardware, Boot Hill Saloon and Grill, or Hickory Inn (all in Vega); Fort Amarillo RV Resort, Cattlemen’s Cafe, or Golden Light Cafe (all in Amarillo); Devil’s Rope Museum, (McLean); U-Drop Inn (Shamrock). You get it stamped at the unique Route 66 sites listed in the passport. The fee is $5. The more stamps you have, the greater your chances are to win. For more information, call 806-267-2828.

– The Road Crew will be performing songs from its recent album, “Songs from the Mother Road,” in the downtown Clinton stage from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday, June 23. Band members are former CBS Records artist Don King, songwriter Woody Bomar, Tony Darren and roadie Joe Loesch. Readio Theatre, which produced the album, also will have a booth at the festival if you like what you’re hearing and want to buy the CD.

There’s nice interplay between Natalie Cole and jazz singer/pianist Diana Krall during this version of “Route 66.”

In case you youngsters didn’t know, Cole is the daughter of Nat King Cole, who popularized the Bobby Troup classic.

As predicted here a few weeks ago,the Rose Bowl in Tulsa has been repainted back to some semblance of its original pink color, eschewing the red, white, blue and purple colors that it sported briefly before it closed, reports KOTV.

Chris Whinery of Whinery Mortgage is the owner of the Rose Bowl, which was built in 1962 along the 11th Street alignment of Route 66. Most of the former bowling center’s wooden lanes have been dismantled and auctioned. One set of lanes went to an airport bar to be converted into tabletops in Farmington, N.M.; another went to a restaurant in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

It’s sad the lanes are leaving, but it’s just as well. When AMF closed the Rose Bowl in 2005, included was a noncompete clause that disallowed it from reopening as a bowling center.

A few of the lanes will be kept for what is hoped to be a restaurant in one area of the Rose Bowl. Whinery told me a few weeks ago he was looking to establish a steak-and-sushi place, like a Club Sushi in Hermosa Beach.

The rest of the massive building is slated to be used a special-events venue, such as for concerts or kickboxing, he said.

Whinery has launched a Web site, tulsarosebowl.com. It says there will be a grand reopening next month. The site also says:

Starting in the summer of 2007, the 30,000 Sq. Ft. Rose Bowl will be available for rent. So plan your next Car Show, Rally, Gun Show, Rave, Wedding, Reception, Meeting, Concert, Flea Market, Auction, Home & Garden Show, Expo, Etc., at the Historic Rose Bowl on Route 66. Contact C.S. Whinery at (91 684-9090 to plan your event at the Rose Bowl.

UPDATE 5/25/07: The Tulsa World has a story about the Rose Bowl’s renovations and future plans.