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.

Rory Schepisi, the runner-up on the CMT reality show “Popularity Contest,” told me today that her Boot Hill Saloon & Grill on Route 66 in Vega, Texas, will tentatively open on June 3 for a private party and on June 4 to the public.

Schepisi said the only thing needed are private-club permits, and she expects to get those in time for the debut.

“We’re so close, I can literally taste it,” she said.

The June 3 party coincides with the premiere of “The Next Food Network Star” television show, of which she’s a contestant.

Schepisi has a MySpace site here that promotes the Food Network show. The Food Network video profile of her shows not only her culinary talents, but that she can suffer kitchen mishaps like the rest of us.

She also has a Web site for the Boot Hill restaurant that will go live soon.

If you’re licensed to drive in the state of New Mexico, now’s your chance to acquire the state’s new Route 66 plates.

The plate has “Get Your Kicks on Route 66″ written on the top. A New Mexico “U.S. 66″ seal is also on it. The design was submitted by Route 66 preservationist Bob Audette. It costs $37.

The order form can be downloaded here.

Hesperia, Calif., is growing quickly, but a developer is seeking to preserve at least part of the town’s roots by renovating the dilapidated Old Town Shops that were built in the 1950s, according to the Victorville Daily Press. (Hesperia is just south of Victorville.)

Roofing work on the buildings began earlier this spring, and plans for the restorations have been submitted to the city Planning Department. The plans are pending approval, said city spokeswoman Kelly Malloy.

The builder working on the Old Town Shops could not be reached to discuss his vision, but plans submitted to the city indicate the building will be used for commercial and retail purposes.

Earlier changes made to the original building will be removed, as will water damage and rotten wood. Drawings show an “Old Town Shops” sign on the renovated building.

Route 66 News has detailed many a Route 66 town that was devastated when the interstate bypassed it. The irony is that Hesperia became a struggling town in the early 1950s when Route 66 drained traffic from it. Old Town Shops was the answer to bring visitors back to the town.

The Joplin (Mo.) Globe has a story about how Route 66 communities in southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma are making greater efforts to restore their vintage gas stations.

The story goes over territory that Route 66 News has already covered, but it does confirm that there indeed seems to be a movement afoot.

By the way, the article mentions 4 Women on the Route and their efforts to fix up an old station at Front and Main in Galena, Kan., and turn it into a welcome center for tourists. This is the station that is displaying the 1951 International boom truck that inspired Mater in the movie “Cars.” I was in the area Monday and shot a few photos of the work being done on the station and Tow Tater, the name of the truck.