Williams Arizona.mov

Almost there!!!!

Since we left the Route 66 festival in the northern corner of Oklahoma, we have crossed 3 and half states in 4 days. 2 and half more to go! We picked up the pace in order to make an interview with the manager of The Grand Canyon Caverns. The caverns were set up by President Kennedy in 1961 as a bomb shelter during the Cold War. Today, there is a hotel room set up more than 200 feet below the surface in the underground labyrinth that you can stay in. Our interview is 11am Friday in that very room.

I have to admit I wasn't crazy about Oklahoma once we got to Oklahoma City. For the most part, Oklahoma City wasn't that impressive. It was just another big city to me. There were a few nicely painted murals depicting the old west, and the role Oklahoma played in west ward expansion, and an artsy community called Bricktown which was trying to be a destination location, but wasn't quite there yet. There was also a solemn memorial to the victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, including 19 children, that is worth a visit. The memorial was built just 5-years after the tragedy. It does make me wonder why, after almost 9-years, the September 11th memorial in New York City is still not built. But despite these few things, I found the people were not as friendly as those we met before we reached this point in our trip. Which surprised me because I have met a many friendly people over the years who are from Oklahoma City and the surrounding area who are really nice. I may have just not stayed long enough to find the real Oklahoma hospitality.

The driving was much easier prior to reaching Oklahoma City, too. Before that point, it was easier to navigate Route 66. Signs were posted frequently, and there was more to see along the way. Texas and New Mexico were about the same. It made it a challenge to keep on the old historic highway. The frequency of signs got better once we crossed into Arizona.

I was struck by the amount of wind farms we saw driving through Oklahoma, and Texas. It was a curious juxtaposition of oil derricks and wind turbines. Fossil fuel vs. clean energy living side by side.

Once we crossed into New Mexico the scenery changed. The views were just breathe taking! I also enjoyed seeing cargo trains running on the old Santa Fe rail road track. It brought me back to when I was a kid watching westerns. I've also enjoyed traveling through Arizona. Unfortunately, we've only been staying in key towns long enough to get enough broll to tell the story, but I will make a point to come back and stay longer in Flagstaff and Williams Arizona one day soon. They are just the cutest towns. They remind me of towns in Colorado. Old mining towns that have found their second life as relaxing little hamlets with cafes, themed restaurants, leather shops, and history. Great shopping if I had the time.

Well, I'll sign off for now, but will be sure to post some more video of the trip so far in a day or two.

As always, thanks for checking in!

ArlingtonMissouri.mov

Raw Goat Milk Anyone!!??

After leaving the Downstream casino today, we saw many signs advertising raw goat milk for sale at farms in Oklahoma. The reason we stopped at the casino was to cover a Route 66 festival honoring the people who live, work and love the road, and to raise awareness about Route 66.

The casino is owned by the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma. The tribe, originally from Arkansas, was moved to the north west corner of Oklahoma during the period of American westward expansion in the 1800's. The Quapaw people are celebrating the 2nd year of the casino's opening. Christopher Cross and the band America were in concert, and the PR representative from the casino generously offered us tickets to the show. It was a nice break from the 10-days of traveling and shooting.

During the festival, I spoke with so many people. A man from Japan who has traveled the road 17 times told me the reason he comes back to Route 66 every year is the the same reason people say they climb mountains... because it's there. I also met a few young women who belong to an organization called Route 66 Young Roadies. They have a page on Facebook to promote Route 66 to their generation and beyond. They say they want their peers to know what the road has to offer because, as they put it, "it's history, and it's important". I then had the pleasure to interview Jim Conkle, the chairman of the Route 66 Preservation Foundation, and Michael Wallis, a famed author of the road, and the voice of The Sheriff in the movie Cars. Jim so generously introduced me to his friends back in May via e-mail. He is the man I credit for helping make it possible for me to shoot this documentary. It would have been much more of a challenge to find the people I needed to interview if it wasn't for Mr. Conkle.

Well, we've stopped in Oklahoma City for the night. It's about halfway through the state so we should be at the Texas border by tomorrow night.

If you're a dad, Happy father's day! I heard a song on the radio I use to sing to my daughter, Lydia. It was a song by Johnny Cash called "Daddy Sang Bass". The song was followed by a stinger of a little girl saying Happy Father's day daddy. So I know Lydia was thinking about me today.

Enjoy the first day of summer, and thanks for reading about our trip.

Skyview drive in movie.mov

At least the Donner party didn't have computer problems.

With every adventure comes some challenges. The pioneers had wagon wheels that broke, babies being born, and occassionally, the Donner party got hungry. For us, it's the hard drives I'm using to store the video I shoot each day. After the third day they started to act up. I'm not sure what the problem was, but they are working again now. The worse thing about this was I had to back up all of my footage again. All 5 hours of video. (I'm up to around 10 hours now, and am averaging about an hour a day.) Luckily, I didn't lose any of the amazing stories I already shot. But it did keep me from blogging until now.

Well, it's now day 10. We are meeting so many people who are welcoming us with open arms, and who are more than willing to share their stories of life in small town America along Route 66 with us. They either live and work or own a business along the road. For the most part, even the small towns are doing ok in this economy, but the recession is taking it's toll. Either by affecting the number of tourist coming though and the amount of money they spend, or limiting the number of local jobs available to those who live in town.

It has taken us 6-days to travel the 301 miles of Route 66 through Illinois. As of today, we are more than 3/4 of the way through Missouri's 317 miles of the road. We will arrive in Oklahoma tomorrow for the Route 66 convention this weekend. Tonight we are stopping in Joplin, Missouri, the last major town before we cross over to Kansas(which only has 13 miles of the road running through it). So, for those counting, by Sunday we will have traveled over 630 miles so far. We'll pickup the pace after Fathers Day so we can get to Santa Monica by June 28th.

The day we shot at the Litchfield drive-in movie theater was fun (day 6). Iron Man 2 and Percy Jackson and The Olympians were playing, but the show almost didn't go on. There were severe thunderstorms rolling through. The theater flooded, and lost power for a while. When the rain stopped the humidity started, but nothing kept the families, and the teenagers from coming out. It looked like it was right out of the movies. Small town America at it's best. Small kids playing, teenagers throwing a football.

All along the way, the people have been great. We've met police officers who were riding for the Special Olympics, a son who lost his father to cancer a few months ago and is in the process of selling the vintage cars his dad loved some much(check out the auction website http://www.lukeleegaule.com/auc-06-26-2010.htm), and even a 100 year old women whose husband built one of the iconic restaurants on Route 66, The Ariston Cafe.

We've visited places like Devil's Elbow, and the Ghosttowns of Arlington, and Hooker Missouri. Today we met a man whose wife was born in 1926, the day Route 66 was formed. Before she past away, they use to celebrate the birth of the road and of his wife at the same time.

Well, I hope you are having a great June, and thank you again for reading about our trip.

"West bound and down loaded up and truckin'...

We're gonna do what they say can't be done. We have a long way to go, and a short time to get there". Paraphrased from the song Jerry Reed sang in the movie Smokey and the Bandit , but it sure sums up this trip so far.

We left on Monday June 7th at 6am, and made it to Chicago in about, oh, 15 hours. If that isn't crazy enough, my 75 year old mother wanted to drive the whole way. She loved it! She says she should have been a trucker in her previous life. Those of you who know her can attest to her love of driving.

It rained most of the day on the 8th, but that didn't stop us from making it to the top of the Willis Tower. The view was great, and the staff couldn't have been more accommodating. We did run into a small issue when I was shooting exteriors. Guards told me I couldn't shoot the building entrance with the name on it even though I was on a public sidewalk. A little Nazi in a free country, but I let it slide. They did allow me to shoot the tower from the other side without the name on the building. So I did. I didn't really need the name. It's kind of like the artist formally known as Prince. People know it's the Sears Tower even if you change the name on it. I guess with 911 security needs to be on the look out? But do I fit their profile??

We left Chicago on the 9th just in the nick of time. The corruption trial for Governor Blagojevich was starting, and the Blackhawkes won the Stanley Cup. The place is a mad house!

I've shot over 4 hours of broll, and interviews so far, and it's only day 3. Everything is going well. Actually, too well! We have great stories already, and the best are yet to come. I met a man who is a local union member struggling to find work. We interviewed the owner of The Polka Dot drive-in restaurant in Braidwood, Illinois who says business is good because of the tourist.

We stayed over night in Dwight, Illinois on Wednesday where a class 2 tornado touched down along old Route 66 late Sunday night. And an iconic Route 66 restaurant called the Riviera burnt down on Tuesday in the small town of Garner, Illinois. Al Capone was known to frequent the speak easy in the basement during Prohibition to plan his "charity work". Are we bad luck for these people??

As my luck would have it, a stringer approached me today while I was shooting an interview in town today. I guess I still have that news look about me, because he asked if I was here covering the Riviera fire. He had great flame video of the fire (as you may not know, news producers salivate when they see good flames, and yes I did) so I struck a deal with him and bought his footage. It's only a small part of the story, but I thought it would help tell the tale.

Well, tomorrow is another day., and who knows what we will find. I'll update as things go along. Thanks for reading!