The Route 66 Chick

August 9 - 30, twenty-two day solo trip. Over 3,500 miles traveled in my trusty Prius. Seven of the eight Route 66 states - Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona. $1,569.00 spent on lodging, gasoline, food, books, and miscellaneous, plus probably a couple hundred I don't have receipts for spent  in Route 66 communities. Sixteen blog posts. Back home in Edwardsville this past weekend. My intentions for the trip:  be on the road a whole month, from August 1 - 31, travel all the way west to the Santa Monica Pier, take the old alignment in New Mexico up through Santa Fe and also visit Las Vegas and then Taos to see the "Fred Harvey and the Making of the American West" exhibit at the Millicent Rogers Museum, meet up with a dear friend in Vegas (Nevada). None of those happened due to a bit of illness. But...I made it to the festival in Kingman, enjoyed time with old friends and new, stayed with daughter and son-in-law a week in Albuquerque, drove ...

A breakfast meeting at the Hot Rod Cafe was the last official act before leaving Kingman for seven of us that attended. I'm sure it was not the last official act for Jim Hinckley, who arranged the meeting and reserved the space. Jim and his wife Judy have devoted themselves to the successful production of this festival for many months. And more than pulled it off, I might add. I know that Jim is as devoted to the final wrap-up, assessment, and future conference plans as he was with the planning and production of this very fun and valuable event. So on Sunday morning, Jim and Judy, plus collectors extraordinare Mike and Sharon Ward and Steve Rider, Dries and Marion Bessels, representatives of the Dutch Route 66 Association, Kaisa Barthuli, Program Manager, National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, and I gathered at the Hot Rod Cafe. We enjoyed some good food and a discussion of the development of the contemporary Route 66 conference, from the World Monuments F...

Saturday began with the e-group breakfast hosted by Mike and Sharon Ward, with plenty of food, prizes, and laughs. It was a great way to start the day. Then it was off to the Artists, Authors, Collectors, and Associations Expo in Beale Celebrations event space for Joe Sonderman and me. There was a good crowd in the building for a good share of the day. Of course there were plenty of other diversions. Jim Hinckley gave out “awards” of vintage “bat guano” cans. Roamin' Rich Dinkela had a vehicle hood on display and solicited some more of us to sign it. We took turns out and about enjoying the rest of the festival. By all reports the festival with vendors and entertainment a couple blocks away at Locomotive Park was going strong. The historic downtown was full of people having a good time. During the evening there plenty of choices for entertainment. Rich Dinkela and Kumar Patel threw a roadie bash. Various groups of visitors and roadies piled into the various downto...

Today was the first day of the Route 66 Authors, Artists, Collectors,  and Associations Exhibition in the Beale Celebrations Events Center, featuring about two dozen display booths. After getting our display set up early this morning, my co-author Joe Sonderman and I zipped over to the museum reading room inside the Powerhouse Visitors Center for a little research. Then it was back to the Beale Center before 11:00 a.m. exhibition opening time. For a Friday it was quite a good crowd and we expect it to be full on Saturday. Some photos from our day in the Beale Center: The Sonderman-Jett display after set-up. L to R authors Michael Wallis, Jim Ross, Jerry McClanahan. L to R collectors Steve Rider, Sharon and Mike Ward Center, Japanese author Akio Takeuchi and his lovely family Author Anne Maro Slanina Dora Meroney, Old Route 66 Association of Texas, and Diane and Larry Clontz, U-Drop Inn At exhibition closing time, acclaimed author, photographer, tour gui...

Yesterday the excitement began to build in Kingman as more and more people from a variety of states and countries arrived. The historic downtown along Beale Street and Andy Devine Boulevard/Route 66 was a beehive of activity as preparations for the event were completed. In Locomotive Park, vendors were setting up and the last-minute tweaks to the entertainment stage were being made. I stopped in Beale Celebrations, an event space where the exposition of authors, collectors, and artists will be held Friday and Saturday. There I found collectors extraordinaire Steve Rider and Mike and Sharon Ward putting the finishing touches on their displays. A block away, in the historic B.P.O.E. Elks building, a slate of Route 66 films were being shown. In the evening the festival kicked off in Locomotive Park with a band and vendors. A couple blocks away, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Kingman Walk of Fame was held at Mr. D's Diner. The ceremony honored legendary historical figures, ...

Arrived Kingman last night as the last pink-tinged bit of western sky slipped down behind a silhouette of purple mountains, with the lights of the city spread out down below. If you just started following my blog, I'm here for the International Route 66 Crossroads Past and Future Festival. All roads lead to Kingman for this weekend's event! For us hard-core Route 66 devotees, we've been waiting for this weekend ever since Jim Hinckley announced the event a year ago at the closing festivities of last year's International Route 66 Festival in Joplin, Missouri. With a mini-conference, an exposition of collectors and authors (including me), a Route 66 film festival, side trips and attractions, and the Road Crew band, no one is going to run out of fun this weekend. Facebook posts, photos, comments, and greetings have been flying the past few days as everyone nears their destination. At the closing festivities here on Saturday evening, I will be privileged to make ...