2 Wheels, 14 Days, 2,448 Miles: A Motorcycle Tour of Route 66

One of my favorite old Life Magazine covers, it 
seems to have influenced my young mind quite a lot.

(NYTimes) It’s a common refrain that Route 66 no longer exists. And it’s true, in a way. The 100-year-old road that stretches from Chicago to Santa Monica was decommissioned in 1985. You won’t find it listed on modern maps as a contiguous highway. And yet the 2,448-mile road — at first largely unpaved, then over time populated with so many motels and diners and outlandish attractions that it became central to the American experience, only later to be bypassed, forgotten, left to crumble — somehow endures. Continued

Cars removed from free car museum at former Russell’s Travel Center

I will miss Russell's and their Big Rig Burger.
If there was ever a safe haven on the road, it was Russell's.

(Route 66 News) ... The apparent and imminent closure of the museum follows the 2023 sale of Russell’s Travel Center to TravelCenters of America. Russell’s founders Emory and Barbara Russell decided to sell because both were in their 80s. They also sold another Russell’s truck stop in Springer, New Mexico, that year. At the time of the sale, TA agreed with Russell’s to keep the family name on the business for three years. Continued

1985: Route 66 officially removed from U.S. Highway System

A grassy stretch of old 66 near Bard, New Mexico. (Six Gun Siding)

(Wikipedia) ... The beginning of the decline for US 66 came in 1956 with the signing of the Interstate Highway Act by President Dwight Eisenhower who was influenced by his experiences in 1919 as a young Army officer crossing the country in a truck convoy (following the route of the Lincoln Highway), and his appreciation of the German Autobahn network as a necessary component of a national defense system.
During its nearly 60-year existence, US 66 was under constant change. Continued

Celebrating Route 66

New life in a ghost town

(Quay County Sun) GLENRIO - This longtime Route 66 ghost town on the easternmost edge of Quay County suddenly appears to be getting its first business in more than 40 years. Subcontractors from the Amarillo area descended on the Texas-New Mexico border town last week to set up a temporary chain-link fence around the long-abandoned State Line Cafe and Texas Longhorn Motel complex - the latter known for its sign that stated it was the first or last motel in Texas - and remove their rotted roofs. Continued

Stuckey’s heiress aims to revive her family’s brand

Old billboard advertising the Stuckey's in Palomas, New Mexico.

(Route 66 News) Stephanie Stuckey, the granddaughter of the man who founded the famous Stuckey’s convenience store chain, recently purchased back her family’s business and wants to return the diminished brand to national prominence. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a profile of Stuckey, who purchased the remaining shares of the Georgia-based Stuckey’s company about 18 months ago. Continued

Wildorado, Texas

If you're interested in the history of 20th century grain storage (and who isn't?),
Wildorado, Texas is an interesting little town.

The Cactus Motor Lodge RV Park to be leveled

Cactus Motor Lodge

(Quay County Sun) The project manager for the O'Reilly Auto Parts chain said he expects to begin construction on a new Tucumcari store within a month, with an anticipated completion in April. O'Reilly Auto Parts store No. 5437 is slated at 1316 E. Tucumcari Blvd., site of the closed Cactus RV Park. Continued

Albuquerque eyes Route 66 upgrades in ‘forgotten’ area

 

(Santa Fe New Mexican) New Mexico’s largest city is the latest to embark on upgrades to its portion of the historic Route 66 Highway.

Officials in Albuquerque want to see improvements to a barren stretch of Route 66 in an area that some complain is a forgotten part of the city, KRQE-TV reports.

City officials are eying a $2.3 million plan that would add medians, landscaping and lighting along the road west of downtown. Currently, there are no sidewalks, landscaping or bike lanes and very few street lights. Continued

Royal Inn Motel: Wildorado, Texas

 

 

Rust and Grain

Wildorado, Texas

Remembering Route 66’s lost leg through Santa Fe

(Santa Fe New Mexican) Route 66 through Santa Fe?

Yes, they came together for a short time in the 1920s and ’30s, long before the road was romanticized by singers, authors and East Coast migrants headed for the Pacific Coast. But as history, politics and, perhaps, common sense would have it, Route 66’s role in Northern New Mexico was fleeting. Continued

The Windy Cow Café

Wildorado, Texas

Abandoned Route 66

 

Much of Route 66 in New Mexico and Texas serves as a frontage road for Interstate 40 and isn't really abandoned at all, but there are stretches, here and there, that are almost completely deserted. This one is between Tucumcari and Bard, on the north side of 40.

Last grants coming for endangered Route 66 program

Many Route 66 landmarks are rotting away, including the Richardson Store in Montoya, New Mexico.
Being on the National Register of Historic Places hasn't helped it very much.

(Albuquerque Journal) Final grant season for an endangered federal program that’s helped preserve the historic Route 66 Highway for two decades is ending next month.
The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program is accepting grant applications until April 12 and it’s not clear if Congress will continue the project. Continued

Wildorado Grain Elevator 1

Wildorado, Texas

A closer look at Tucumcari Mountain

Photo by my grandmother, Florence Surguy, circa 1915

(Quay County Sun) How much do you know about Tucumcari Mountain?
The uniquely shaped mesa just south of Tucumcari remains the most recognizable natural landmark in Quay County and a symbol of the city itself. Tucumcari Mountain is shown on the city's and county's websites and has sold countless postcards over the past century. Continued

Roger Miller

(Wikipedia) Roger Dean Miller, Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor, best known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs. His most recognized tunes included the chart-topping country and pop hits "King of the Road", "Dang Me", and "England Swings", all from the mid-1960s Nashville sound era.

After growing up in Oklahoma and serving in the United States Army, Miller began his musical career as a songwriter in the late 1950s, writing such hits as "Billy Bayou" and "Home" for Jim Reeves and "Invitation to the Blues" for Ray Price. Continued

Udall, Inhofe introduce legislation designating Route 66 as a National Historic Trail

Old Route 66 Garage, San Jon, New Mexico

(Albuquerque Journal) U.S. Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., have introduced The Route 66 National Historic Trail Designation Act to amend the National Trails System Act to include Route 66 as a National Historic Trail.
Similar legislation passed unanimously in the House this past June.
Route 66, also known as the Mother Road and Will Rogers Highway, is about 2,400 miles long, stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif., and crossing through eight states, according to a news release. Continued

Tucumcari's Cactus RV Park sign hauled off after sale to collector

Photo by Ammodramus

(Quay County Sun) Workers on Thursday afternoon dismantled and hauled away a 1950s-era neon sign from the Cactus RV Park in Tucumcari after a collector from Albuquerque purchased it.
… A prominent Route 66 advocate in New Mexico called the disappearance of neon signs in Tucumcari and elsewhere on the historic road alarming and has proposed an idea to do something about it. Continued