Eric Swanger is planning on driving the length of Route 66 in a few days.

What makes his trip special is he’s doing it entirely on a Vespa scooter. He starts from Chicago on May 6.

He e-mailed:

I am keeping a blog and posting a ton of pics. For the Route 66 segment, I’m doing an average of 150 miles per day. I intend to spend a lot of time getting to really know the road.

He knows it fairly well already. He’s made four major trips on the Mother Road. But this will be his first on a scooter.

That’s not all — after reaching Santa Monica, he’ll turn north and go clear to Montana while traveling east. By the time he’s done, I figure he’ll have logged 8,000 miles.

He’ll be driving a 2007 Vespa GTS, which goes up to 85 mph and gets 70 miles to the gallon.

In more news from the Mother Road:

• The order that allowed the City of Albuquerque to take possession of El Vado Motel was made permanent on Tuesday. There is an application for a demolition permit filed by previous owner Richard L. Gonzales. But the city’s senior planner for the Landmarks and Urban Conservation Committee told me the demolition application has been rendered moot.
• The Fanning U.S. 66 Outpost and General Store, located four miles west of Cuba, Mo., is holding its grand opening on May 10. The store is next to the recently built world’s largest rocking chair.
• Joe Sonderman, a Route 66 enthusiast based in St. Louis, has a book coming out called “Route 66 in St. Louis.” It will be published on May 14, and will retail for $19.99.
• Jacob Saunders is traveling the road, and he’s set up a terrific blog to document his experiences. The dozens of photos show how much stuff there is on Route 66, yet there are still a few things he missed.
• Reed’s Route 66 Antiques and Silks in Erick, Okla., is holding its grand opening May 24. It’s at 201 E. Roger Miller Blvd., aka Route 66, which is one block from the Roger Miller Museum. The first 50 customers that day will get free homemade cinnamon rolls.
• From the Get Yer Freak On Department: With this blog item, you’ll see some photographs of arty video footage projected onto abandoned buildings near the Route 66 settlement of Amboy, Calif.

Using a bunch of upcoming Route 66 festivals in Southern California as a news hook, Carol Bidwell of the Long Beach Press-Telegram writes a good article about the Mother Road’s history and where it stands at the present day.

It includes talk about what happens after the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program ends in 2009. There have been discussions about renewing it, but no definitive efforts have occurred.

Program manager Mike Taylor says it was started as a seed program so Route 66 can eventually create its own national association and go on to bigger and better things with preservation funding and other such initiatives.

The idea of a national association first was hatched last year at the Route 66 Festival in Clinton, Okla., but I’ve heard little about it since. Perhaps we’ll hear more at the Route 66 Summit in Litchfield, Ill., in a few weeks.

Dave Bakke of the Springfield (Ill.) Journal-Register has a great feature about The Old Station in the Route 66 town of Williamsville, Ill.

The owner is Frank Kohlrus, and it sounds like he’s quite a character:

He sells Route 66 memorabilia at his unique Williamsville shop, The Old Station. He also drove a tow truck in Springfield for more than 20 years. He sharpens blades, sells tires and about anything else, changes flats, welds, hauls grain in the fall, buys and sells mowers, does machine work and sand blasting, among a few other things. If it makes a buck or two, Frank’s there. [...]

The first unusual thing you might see at The Old Station is the truck, half of it anyway, coming out of the front wall. The truck is for sale, “half off.” Get it?

Or you might first notice Betty Boop, painted by Frank’s wife, Jackie, on the front door. Pictures of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean are inside. Ah yes, inside. There you will find pipes (the smoking kind), bolts, handles, toy trucks, vintage soda bottles, lots of merchandise with Route 66 on it, thousands of things Frank has scavenged, traded for or bought over the years.

It’s “a little bit of everything,” says Frank, who, when asked what he does for a living says — guess what? “A little bit of everything.”

Sounds like Frank fits in with the Mother Road quite well.

The interesting part is Frank’s business saw an uptick when Patty Kuhn of the Route 66 Heritage Project led a charge to have the old alignment of Route 66 through town marked with signs better. It’s more proof that signage makes a big difference in tourism traffic.

Here in Tulsa, there’s been considerable discussion by the city council on what to do about digital billboards. Some officials want to restrict them, some want new spacing rules for them, and a few undoubtedly want to ban them (although that option is unlikely).

But it appears the Route 66 town of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has come up with an interesting compromise. According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

The City Council has given Lamar Advertising, which owns nine billboards in the city, the go-ahead to build three electronic signs - two on the northwest corner of Foothill Boulevard and Archibald Avenue and another on the northeast corner of Arrow Route and the 15 Freeway.

The electronic billboards will replace nine signs, resulting in a decrease of six signs. The agreement allows the city to use the billboards for public service messages.

Councilman Sam Spagnolo said giving the city an opportunity to publicize fundraisers and other events is a plus. He described it as a “win-win.” [...]

The two billboards at Foothill Boulevard and Archibald Avenue will be 17 by 17 feet and in the shape of the Route 66 emblem. The billboard near the 15 Freeway will be 14 by 48 feet.

This makes a lot of sense. The billboard companies get their LED billboards, the city can use these newfangled devices to tout tourism and charities in the city, and the number of billboards overall drops.

If such a deal were struck in Tulsa, billboards could publicize Route 66, the Gilcrease Museum, the Golden Driller and other attractions. If you’re going to allow new advertising technology that creates more messages and is more attention-getting, make sure some public benefit comes from it.

For the record: I have a much less dim view of billboards than most. Billboards are part of the road-trip experience. A journey down Route 66 would be less interesting without messages such as “Free 72-oz. steak,” “Tucumcari Tonite!” and “Here It Is!” along the way.

This coming weekend’s Fun Run, directed by the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, is the subject of a preview in the Kingman Daily Miner, including an extensive schedule for the event.

The Fun Run, which anticipates more than 800 entrants, is a car/motorcycle cruise that winds on Route 66 from Seligman to the Topock/Golden Shores area near the Colorado River, with plenty of stops and hosted meals in between. It’s by far the biggest Route 66 event in Arizona each year.

TVShowsonDVD.com has interesting news about the upcoming DVD re-releases of the original “Route 66″ television series of 1960-64.

Apparently dates for upcoming releases, including a complete Season 1 and a half-season of Season 2, had been canceled. But those dates apparently will be rescheduled:

Along the course of putting out the first DVD packages, Infinity (and Roxbury) recognized there was some customer dissatisfaction with the half-season sets put out for the first season, and they want to resolve this. To begin with, they are scrapping the half-season concept at this time. As a result, Season 2, Vol 1 is completely canceled. Instead, though, we will get a Complete Season 2 DVD package! It’s currently penciled in for an October release, but that’s not finalized just yet.

In the meantime, the Complete Season 1 DVD IS still coming out. But it’s being pushed back to release sometime in August, in order to give the studio more time to address customer complaints about how episodes were presented on disc in the first half-season sets for that show. There has not been any word yet on whether Infinity will offer any sort of “upgrade/fix” path for people who purchased the original versions and wish to get the corrected versions, but we’ll let you know if we hear anything.

To elaborate a bit: In Season One, Vol. 1, the folks at Roxbury Entertainment faced a deadline crunch and were unable to track down original duplicate film stock of “Route 66″ in time. So a few viewers perceived subpar image quality on a number of episodes. One episode in particular used a set of reels that had about six minutes edited out.

In the Season One, Vol 2, release, a letterbox look was employed to take advantage of the burgeoning high-definition television market. This resulted in the picture being cropped on the top and bottom.

I must admit that the overall quality of Vol. 1 was so good, I tended to overlook what I considered to be minor flaws. I’ve seen other re-releases of movies from decades ago look far worse, mainly because the film stock had deteriorated. In Vol. 2, I didn’t even notice the cropping until someone had pointed it out. Even then, it didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment of the few episodes I viewed.

Still, it appears the complaints were persistent enough (and perhaps Infinity felt its good reputation was at stake) that Roxbury decided to take a step or two back and be a little more diligent. Roxbury’s president said “Route 66’s” DVD sales had exceeded expectations, so lack of revenue shouldn’t be an excuse for skimping on quality control.

The beautification of Route 66 through Atlanta, Ill., continues.

The Bloomington Pantagraph reports that the town has bought at least six decorative lampposts and may buy up to 10 if enough locals sponsor them. The lampposts will be installed on the alignment of Arch Street, aka Route 66, through downtown.

Sponsorships to help the town defray the costs are $1,500 each. A 5-by-7-inch plaque will be installed to recognize the sponsor.

There’s more:

Other improvements in the works include night lighting for the mural on Arch Street and the Route 66 Park, the restoration of two bubbling fountains around the square, and a lot of flower planting. The night lighting for the mural and park is expected to be done in the next few weeks.

“We’re amazed at the amount of tourists we have through here,” Cheek says, “We’re just trying to get the town looking nice.”

If you’re interested in sponsoring a lamppost, call (217) 648-2351.

The Random Players play a rocked-up medley of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66″ and Alan Jackson’s “Mercury Blues” during a gig in Germany.

I approve.

Using the upcoming Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Weekend as a jumping-off point, the Bloomington Pantagraph takes a look at the current state of the Mother Road in the Land of Lincoln.

And despite current problems like a faltering economy and high fuel prices, the future of Route 66 looks bright.

“International travelers come from 40 something countries during peak traveling season,” said Ellie Alexander, head of the Pontiac Tourism Bureau and an organizer of the Second Annual Red Carpet Corridor Festival May 3-4. “We get countries I’ve never heard of. Oh, wow, it’s always amazing to me because they know more about Route 66 than most Americans do.”

“It is really romanticized pretty heavily in Europe because it’s seen as the American dream,” added Patty Ambrose, executive director of the Historic Illinois Route 66 America’s Byway.

About 300,000 visitors visited the Illinois portion of Route 66 in 2005, the last year an estimate was made, she said.

“It’s only grown (since then.) We are seeing increased visits. … Promotion is stronger,” she said.

The weak American dollar is attracting more foreign visitors, too, travel officials say.

Illinois tourism officials want Old Route 66 outlined on the map in even bolder colors, right up there with Lincoln. Lonely Planet, which publishes travel books, listed Route 66 as one of its top 10 driving destinations. The highway was the only one listed in the United States. [...]

Ambrose said a grant is in the works for an interpretive plan to evaluate what remains of Route 66 and sites along the way to determine what can be saved and what is needed with regards to interpretive centers and signage to help travelers. Plans call for a Route 66 Bike Trail.

“I think we’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “I feel Route 66 will explode again. …We will see the mom and pop businesses come back and give an economic boost to these communities. I don’t think that’s pie in the sky. I think we will see that happen.”

Foreign travelers have been a crucial component to keeping Route 66 alive, and they will continue to be so.

Amanda Overmyer, a recently deposed contestant on this season’s “American Idol,” will perform a show during the inaugural Berdoo Bikes & Blues Festival in San Bernardino, Calif., according to a news release today.

Opening ceremonies will include her version of the Star Spangled Banner on Friday, May 2, on the Time Warner “D” Street stage and at 6 p.m. Saturday she will be available for photo opportunities, autographs and visiting with attendees. [...]

… Deemed “a nurse that rocks,” Amanda is fueled by another passion, riding her Harley Davidson.

“She is perfect for our Berdoo Bikes & Blues Rendezvous and is excited about appearing,” says Wayne Austin, president and CEO of the San Bernardino Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Her sound is very unique, a combination of blues and rock, a style that has been compared to Janis Joplin. She loves to ride her Harley Davidson, and she’s a nurse.”

Overmyer says her musical influences include Creedence Clearwater Revival, Guns ‘n Roses and Bob Seger. Yep, she’s perfect for a motorcycle festival.

Her Web site is here.

The Berdoo Bikes festival is an offshoot of the city’s massively popular Route 66 Rendezvous for custom and classic cars.

In other festival news, the Joliet Herald-News has a preview story about this coming weekend’s Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Festival, where a dozen Mother Road towns in a 90-mile stretch from Joliet to Towanda are participating with sidewalk sales, car shows, poker runs, live entertainment, games and a lot more.

Here’s singer-actress Priscilla Basque singing Bobby Troup’s “Route 66″ with Lee Stewart on piano. Basque is with the Hawaii music group Hot Lava 808.

This is going to be obscure except for the most rabid of Route 66 enthusiasts in the Windy City. But it was announced a couple of days ago that the International Tailoring Company Building at 847 W. Jackson Blvd. in Chicago was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s also known as the White Tower Building.

Jackson Boulevard is an eastbound-only street that’s an alignment of Route 66. I figured David Clark’s book, “Exploring Route 66 in Chicagoland,” would have something about it. It did, on Page 9:

The School of the Art Institute uses the building on the south side of the block for gallery space. Public art shows are staged here periodically. Originally known as the White Tower Building, it is being converted into residential use as “The Tailor on Jackson” as of spring 2005. Here’s hoping they renovate the Clock Tower, which as been sheathed in ugly corrugated metal for many years.

The Art Institute’s gallery there is known as Gallery 2.

The building is at the southeast corner Jackson and Peoria Street (map here). A Google Streets image shows the White Tower Building here (pay no mind to the listing of 876 W. Jackson Blvd.; that is inaccurate). The letters “White Tower” can be clearly seen on the building’s windows above the doorway.

Another image of the building can be seen here.

I can’t tell whether this video is from someone hanging a camera out the car window or attaching it to a bicycle. But this is footage of someone crossing the Lake Overholser Bridge.

It was built west of Oklahoma City in 1924, predating Route 66. But it became a prominent alignment of the Mother Road.

If you want to check it out for yourself, this map link shows you where it is.

The Mill restaurant and the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site in Lincoln, Ill., saw “Route 66 Roadside Attraction” signs erected at those sites this week, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph.

A small ceremony was held at each landmark as Ladd christened the new signs with an official bottle of Route 66 Root Beer. He was joined by volunteers John and Lenore Weiss, John Sutton and Shirley Bartelmay, coordinator for the Postville site. [...]

Currently, there are 25 locations on Route 66 in Illinois that are listed as official roadside attractions.

Here’s another story about the new sign placements, by the Lincoln Courier.

Illinois Route 66 Association volunteers placed the signs. The effort also is an outshoot from the Hampton Inn Route 66 Caravan in 2003, in which dozens of “Roadside Attraction” signs were placed.

This is Nancy Williams and the SunTones playing Bobby Troup’s “Route 66.” One of the guitarists also has to double as a harmonica player.

The gas pumps at Roy’s in Amboy, Calif., began working again in earnest on Thursday, reports the Inland Press-Enterprise.

Hundreds of travelers, including motorcyclists on the annual Laughlin River Run, stopped in to cool off with sodas and water and to fuel their vehicles.

Even before Okura formally reopened the restored gas station at 11:30 a.m., more than 200 vehicles had filled up at the pumps, paying a hefty $4.49 a gallon.

“It’s not about the gas,” said Jose Ramirez, 42, of Corona, who was making his fourth river run with his wife on a Harley-Davidson soft-tail motorcycle. “It’s about resting and hanging out with the guys. The price won’t matter to people. Once you get here, you’re going to buy it anyway.”

Albert Okura purchased the nearly deserted Mojave Desert town on Route 66 several years ago. He’s been slowly restoring the town ever since.

It cost $75,000 and took more than twice as long as Okura expected to restore the gas station.

“This was real hard because I’ve never had a gas station,” Okura said. “We had to meet all the environmental laws and the state laws and the federal laws. There were no permits on file for anything in town, so I had to start from scratch.” [...]

The toughest part comes next, when Okura plans to spend $700,000 to drill a water well and install a filtration system.

“The (San Bernardino County) health department doesn’t want us to do anything further until we get potable water,” Okura said. [...]

Okura said he thought he might get a lot of business with the bikers passing through, but he said he won’t make a lot of money selling gas. He pays $3.90 a gallon.

“I’m just happy to get open,” he said. “It means we’re finally getting the town restored the way it used to be.”

The story has several photos, including a new tattoo of Roy’s on Ron “Tattoo Man” jones of Bartlesville, Okla.

UPDATE: Don Gray took dozens of photos at Amboy during the event, which can be seen here.

UPDATE2: Here’s a video report filed by KABC-TV of Los Angeles.

Here’s a video tribute to a Route 66 legend in St. Louis — Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. It’s the best place for frozen treats on the Mother Road, and maybe anywhere.

Music is “The Sweetest Thing” by U2.

The Route 66 Casino Hotel near Albuquerque is constantly trying promotional gimmicks to draw customers.

This one, I admit, is unique. It’s a miniature replica of the casino’s KXX nightclub — complete with dancers, a bar, a dance floor, lounge chairs and disco lighting — in a self-contained, street-legal truck. The party truck recently cruised down Albuquerque’s Central Avenue, aka Route 66.

It’s not something that would entice me to visit, as I’m not a gambling type of guy. But give the Route 66 Casino credit for quite an attention-getter.

The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader published a review of a restaurant on Route 66 of which I was unfamiliar. It’s the Rockwood Court Cafe at 2204 W. College St. in Springfield.

The reviewer summed it up as: “Delicious home-style food at great prices in an eclectic atmosphere make the Rockwood Court and Café stand out on an old, but not forgotten, Route 66.”

It appears to be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day but Sunday on Friday and Saturday. It’s open for breakfast and lunch Monday through Thursday, and closes Sunday. The phone number is 417-863-0500.

The motel it’s attached to looks old, but I can’t find any mention of it in the late Skip Curtis’ “The Missouri U.S. 66 Tour Book.” Is the Rockwood the motel’s original name? Does anyone else have any information about it?

UPDATE: I overlooked the listing for the Rockwood Court in Curtis’ book. On Page 200, it says the Rockwood was built in 1931 and “stayed the Rockwood until 1969.”

Tommy Pike, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri, said in an e-mail:

The Cafe part has changed names several times but is now back to Rockwood.  And I think part of the house in the postcard has been torn down, but there is still a wooden end on the rock cafe building. It is a couple blocks east of Melinda Court (the old Rock Fountain Tourist Court) that is on the National Register.  Same type of field/sandstone construction.

Pike added that he wasn’t sure whether the motel is open for tourists or for only long-term rentals.

WJBC radio reports that the historic Duncan Manor mansion in Towanda, Ill., has new owners.

Bud and Diane Sullivan are restoring the 1870s mansion that stands along I-55 and old Route 66. Diane told the crowd Tuesday night, the surrounding land is contracted to be farmed another two years. Then, residents will see more changes on the property.

Diane says her husband is tightening security on the site due to a string of recent vandalism. She plans to open the house to the public for possible tours on June 8.

The project will take about $1 million and several years to complete. At that time, the Sullivans plan to hold a formal reception as a fund raiser and to give the public a view of the improvements.

Last year, the mansion was placed on Landmarks Illinois’ 10 Most Endangered Historic Places list. So this new development is obviously good news.

(Photo courtesy of Landmarks Illinois.)