The Kingman Daily Miner is going all-out on its coverage of the annual Fun Run put on by the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, which started Friday.

Here’s a story about the participants who come back to the cruise year after year.

Here’s a story about the Show and Shine portion of the event.

Here’s a story about Route 66’s allure for the Fun Run participants.

Finally, here’s the main story.

UPDATE: Rotue 66 afiscionado Donald Gray has posted several dozen photos from the Fun Run activities on Friday.

Here’s a song, along with photos from the Mother Road, dedicated to all those roadies participating in the Fun Run in Arizona and the Red Carpet Corridor Festival in Illinois this weekend.

Music is “Windfall by Son Volt. It comes from the “Trace” album, one of the finest country-rock releases ever.

The National Park Service announced this week that the old Sprague’s Super Service gas station, at 305 Pine St. in Normal, Ill., was named to the National Register of Historic Places, effective April 25.

The circa-1930s station is now owned by Route 66 enthusiast Terri Ryburn, who hopes to eventually convert it into a bed-and-breakfast, cafe, visitors center and gift shop.

The renovation costs are reported to be steep, but the National Register listing will make the property eligible for a variety of grants.

(Photo courtesy of Guy Randall.)

Here’s two videos of a family’s visit to the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City, Okla.

Legend has it that the museum was started because Elk City was miffed that a rival town, Clinton, landed the internationally famous Oklahoma Route 66 Museum.

Clinton still has the best overall Route 66 museum. Elk City’s is more of a local history museum, but still has charm and oddities of its own.

More from the museum … it’s amazing how much amusement can be had with a board and some old hand drills.

Tomorrow and Sunday is the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Festival, which is a 90-mile-long celebration hosted by a dozen or so small towns along the Mother Road.

Here is a preview by the Morris (Ill.) Daily Herald. It’s a fairly lengthy story, but it has to be because there’s so much going on.

Bill Farnham, a commissioner for the Pulaski County, Mo., board, appears to be doing his darnedest to repair the deteriorating Devil’s Elbow Bridge in the Route 66 settlement of Devil’s Elbow.

From the Waynesville Daily Guide:

Pulaski County Commissioner Bill Farnham has made restoration of the Devil’s Elbow Bridge on the original path of Route 66 one of his highest-profile projects, and told commissioners Thursday morning that he’d like to authorize grant writers to begin efforts to obtain another $400,000 grant.

The complete Devil’s Elbow project will cost $1.6 million and county officials so far have been able to piece together $1.1 million worth of grants. Farnham said he’s spoken to Kelly Sink-Blair with the Meramec Regional Planning Commission who believes the residents of the Devil’s Elbow area may have low enough income that the area would qualify for a Community Development Block Grant. [...]

The bridge has deteriorated to the point that it can no longer be used by heavy traffic such as tour buses. That lack of funds is a mixed blessing that has preserved a historic bridge.

“There are very few bridges of that era left; so many of them have been torn down and replaced,” Farnham said.

Farnham said he’s also considering grants that would require redesignation of the bridge as a one-lane bridge with a bike trail alongside the traffic lane since the bridge is already narrower than would be considered proper for modern two-way traffic. That could help reach the needed $1.6 million in road funds, he said.

Farnham isn’t a Johnny-come-lately on the bridge issue. He are previous stories about his efforts to rehab thte bridge. He deserves a lot of praise for his persistence in trying to find solutions for this problem.