I am a motorcoach:
Continuing with the motorcoach mantra, Seek – Meet – Honor – Serve. We’re on the second word: Meet.
Imagine it is race day at the Indy 500. The crew has the million-dollar machine ready, polished, clean. The mechanics have everything fine-tuned. There’s a plan in place, scheduled “pit stops,” a time and mile measured course strategy, goals, expectations, and so on.
Call me grandiose, but that’s what it’s like to be me, Two Six Seven, ready to meet the day, eager to meet my passengers . . . no, not spectators seated in the grandstand . . . PASSENGERS, on-board participants in the journey. While my big moment is not actually the start of a race, it is no less a big event. And though I am the logo clad face of our team, make no mistake, meeting passengers is a moment of team preparation and pride.
Selfies
Here I am at the Route 66 Museum in Lebanon, Missouri – nostalgia at its best. They call Route 66 “The Mother Road” for a reason. Not only was it the first paved interstate highway system, it also birthed my industry. Creation of this Chicago-to-LA connector was concomitantly creation of need for the motorcoach.
Blinking bulbs, neon – graphics and names coloring the night . . . those were the days! Route 66 was the traveler’s route. It was the way “home” – wherever folks intended home to become, or wherever it turned out to be due to circumstances along the way. It was the vacationer’s route. It was the trucker’s route (another industry with origin ties to Route 66). The Mother Road birthed demand for countless roadside diners, service stations, and motels like Munger Moss, which is celebrating its 70th birthday the weekend of April 22-23 of 2016. Put the party on your calendar. They haven’t kept their fabulous sign in tact for nothing. Cool autos, music, hotdogs and hamburgers . . . it’ll be a celebration of longevity and remembrance of the glory days of Route 66.
MEETING THE NEWS on the roadways of America, first-hand, real time, real world news—going out and discovering the news . . .
NEWS OF SPEED: According to a 1930 series Missouri map, a general speed limit was, uh . . . suggested? “The speed limit is 25 miles per hour. Anything over is presumptive but not conclusive of careless and imprudent driving.”
NEWS OF NUMBERS: November 11, 1926 is the birthday of Route 66. Its number name, 66, represents a hard fought and last minute victory by Cyrus Avery, the “Father of Route 66.” Most public road planners preferred the numbers 60 and 62 for the route because they fit the national highway naming template. Avery wanted the number 66 because he believed it was catchier, which would aid businesses along the route in their marketing. The original Route 66 was over 2,000 miles of motoring adventure from Chicago to Los Angeles. In the 1940’s, Route 66 was of vital logistical importance to the US war effort. A set of tires at the time was around $45. With a couple of dimes you could buy a gallon of gas.
NEWS OF FAME: In 1946 Bobby Troupe gave the paved pop culture phenomenon a radio voice: “If you ever plan to motor west, travel my way, take the highway that’s the best. Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six!”
NEWS OF FOREIGN FOLLOWING: Historic Route 66 has become a top US attraction for foreign tourists, second only to New York City. Like many business owners along the route, Bob and Ramona Lehman have seen the foreign interest become the core support of their business, Munger Moss Motel. People from Europe, South America, Australia, Canada, and other nations come to the US during the summer months to rent cars and motorcycles and travel the most famous US highway.
Next time you’re in Chicago, you’ll want to make your way to Adams and Michigan Avenue, the beginning of Route 66.
And while you’re there, you might as well venture a little further on to the town of Wheaton (a western suburb of Chicago), where you’ll find the Wade Center at the corner of N Washington Street and Lincoln Avenue. Among other treasures, you will see in this museum the desk at which J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit in its entirety. What does that have to do with Route 66? Sitting right next to Tolkien’s desk in the Wade Center is that of C.S. Lewis. The two met for the first time in 1926, the year Route 66 officially opened. The beginnings of roads and friendships have much in common. Trust me on this one; I’m a motorcoach, an expert on this kind of thing.
Quote Of The Day samples
“It’s a dangerous business going out of your door. You step out onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
“Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” – C.S. Lewis
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I love those quotes. Bilbo’s makes me want to begin another Lord of the Ring’s marathon. Route 66 is second only to New York City! That is quite a claim to fame given all there is to see in this great country. Then again, without route 66, you could not see many of those sights.
I grew up at the intersection of U.S. Highway 100 (may have been Hwy 50 back then) and U.S. Route 66 in Gray Summit, MO. I remember the roadside restaurant called “Cozy Dine” and the old Gardenway Inn. Up the road on 66 a few miles was the famous “Diamonds Restaurant” which served thousands of Greyhound Lines passengers and travelers. Two Six Seven, I believe your forefathers stopped there as well to pick up and drop off workers and commuters on your predecessor, the “Washingto-Union Lines”. I rode that bus (painted orange and white, if I recall correctly), many times myself back in the ’70s to work in downtown St. Louis. Route 66 was three lanes (side by side) in many places (not divided highway), and the middle lane was used for passing. You either had a “death wish, wanted to play Russian roulette, or chicken” to get out into that middle lane and hope that no one oncoming had the idea at the same time. I remember in the early sixties, maybe even the late fifties, the construction of the “new” I-44. I rode the school bus from Gray Summit to Washington, and thought the construction would never end. (Maybe it hasn’t!). I hope someone can post some pictures of your orange and white great-grandpa, and some of the landmarks on good old Route 66 Two Six Seven — you have great ancestry — keep up the good work! Fond memories!
Ron Cowan