ODDS, ENDS, AND ODDITIES

To say the least this mornings post is a mixed bag. It will also be a bit short as a result of my very, very full plate.

The weekend was not overly productive but it was an emotional roller coaster. There were difficult family issues, a very close friend lost a parent to cancer, issues at the office, and the terrors of braving Walmart during the holiday season.

Sunsets are always appreciated here in my corner of paradise. Sunday's was not as spectacular as this one captured last year from the hills overlooking Route 66 and the historic district but in light of the turmoil of the weekend it was much appreciated.Today is my day off but as the new employee is still shaky in some areas and my part time assistant, Bill, is in the hospital recovering from heart surgery, I will have to open the office as well as get some trucks and trailers ready for morning reservations.

For Arizona the weather has been a bit on the cold side lately with low temperatures near twenty degrees and the afternoon high struggling to hit fifty. Last Wednesday the insulated overalls were a real blessing for the morning commute via bicycle as the wind chill was a very brisk six degrees!

The first storm of the season is rolling in this morning. As we have been dry, dry, dry for months I am hoping for snow. Last year after a wet winter storm I took this photo from near the summit of Sitgreaves Pass on the old pre 1953 alignment of Route 66. I am praying for a repeat performance.

Bob Stevens and Earl Duty of Cars & Parts magazine are to roll through town some time today on the return leg of a trip to California where Bob picked up his new car, a Studebaker. The last time I met with Bob several years ago he was giving his recently purchased '57 Chevy a shakedown cruise with a drive from L.A. where it was purchased to his home in Ohio via Route 66.

The plan is to meet for coffee as he hopes to make Flagstaff by this evening. If the weather folks are right he may have to hole up in Kingman for a day or so.

Even though I am deep into work on the next book, Ghost Towns of Route 66, I took on a pretty challenging two week project that will consume every spare moment. Tied to this is the possibility of another book contract, the subject of a conference this afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon I wrote the next installment of my monthly column, The Independent Thinker, for Cars & Parts magazine. In this one I profiled another forgotten genius from the infancy of the American auto industry, Justus Entz, and his automotive contributions.

Perhaps the most intriguing manifestation of his visionary talents was designing the transmission for the 1917 Woods Dual Power. This obscure automobile was decades ahead of the competition and with the exception of period body work was truly a car of the future.

At speeds of under fifteen miles per hour it operated as an electric automobile with the four cylinder running at a fast idle. This as well as braking were utilized to assist in the charging of batteries. At faster speeds the vehicle was a typical gasoline powered automobile with the exception of the Entz designed electromagnetic automatic transmission.

So, aside from meeting with Bob and Earl, opening and closing the office, submission and follow up on the article written yesterday,and running errands for mom, I have the new writing project, a flurry of phone calls pertaining to research, and will need to crank out at least 1,500 words. There is never a dull moment in my world!

ANOTHER YEAR IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR

It seems like only last week Chicken Little was proclaiming impending doom on the horizon as we sped towards the dawn of a new era and the arrival of Y2K. It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the arrival of 2009 and here we are on the threshold of 2010 awaiting the arrival of doomsday in 2012.
My how time flies when your having fun! The speed with which days seem to pass astounds me and leaves me with a growing clarity in the understanding of just how short life really is as well as the importance of making every day count.
I suppose a certain degree of this growing awareness about the ticking clock over my shoulder that counts down the time that remains is resultant of the loss of two very good friends this year. Both men lived long and full lives but still in retrospect their time here seems so short.
Jasper "Johnny" Fleming was born in 1919. His life bridged the gap between the distant past and the modern era as his grandfather was a slave, he served in a segregated Navy during World War II and lived to see an American of African ancestry become president.
He was born into a poor share cropping family in Arkansas but Johnny quickly moved beyond those narrow confines by joining the Navy. Whenever this topic was broached his eyes would fill with a haunted look as he told of a sudden change in orders that resulted in several classmates and friends being assigned to the USS Arizona in the summer of 1941 while he received east coast duty.
During the war he endured numerous escorts of supply ships to Murmansk in Russia across the U-boat infested North Atlantic and, later, relatively easy duty in the Mediterranean Sea based in Italy. After the war he worked for the federal government in New York City, moved west to Kingman with the Job Corps in the 1960s, got a job with the Santa Fe Railroad, retired and took a part time position with Martin Swanty Chrysler as a handyman, a job he kept until he was 86 years of age!
H.P. Pemberton was one of those larger than life characters that fills a room with his presence but is never noticed in a crowd. It was automobiles that first brought this soft spoken man from the mountains of Tennessee and I together as he was a master mechanic with an incredible array of knowledge on vintage cars stored in his mind.
On our first encounter he was assisting a frustrated friend that was having difficulties in regards to getting his 1936 Terraplane to run. The second encounter was when a friend broke down in Kingman with his 1950 De Soto. In both instances H.P. came to the rescue.
My crazy schedule prevented as much interaction as I would have liked. Still, the time I had with H.P. was almost magical as it seemed every visit was stepping through a portal into another time.
On one visit I found him lowering a refurbished Model T engine into a bare frame utilizing a chain fall hung from a tree. With simple hand tools he had transformed a pile of discarded parts into the finest running Model T engine I have ever heard.
He was not a collector and aside from the lowly Model T had no particular affection for a particular brand of automobile. He reminded me of an old school watch maker as it was the beauty of things mechanical that seemed to motivate him.
When he passed away this year a 1973 Citoren SM with 6,500 original miles resided in his garage (he was a Citroen dealer for a brief time) and a 1968 model sat outside awaiting his attention. The afore mentioned Model T dominated the yard as this was his priority since summer was fast approaching and he planned to drive home to Tennessee via US 66!
His expertise and easy going manner were well known among local collectors of antique vehicles or odd ball equipment. Two years ago he assisted a local collector with the retrieval of a pair of Hupmobiles from Oklahoma and then resurrected their mechanics setting timing, valve lash and other intricacies from memory. The last project was the engine and transmission rebuild on a very rare Federal truck.
Old cars and trucks were seldom discarded unless they were traded for something more interesting. Scattered here and there were a wide array of cars. There was a 1931 Auburn purchased after mustering out of the Army in 1938, the car that broke down in Kingman as he traveled east on Route 66 and his first car given to him by his father, a 1910 Buick.
In one garage an early Saab station wagon kept company with a battered International Scout and a 1994 Cadillac. In the yard an old Suburban slumbered amongst a towering pile of discarded Model T components.
The passing of Johnny and H.P. mark the end of an era. We truly do not make them like this anymore and for this our nation suffers.
I suppose the moral, if there is one, of this somewhat dark tale is this - life is short. Enjoy every day, learn something new everyday, make it a goal to enrich the lives of those around you more than yourself, and do all you can to leave the place a bit better than it was when you got here.

THE ENIGMA OF ROUTE 66

For all intents and purposes Route 66 is a dead highway now broken into dead end tracks of broken pavement and county roads that link forgotten communities lined with empty motels and tumble down service stations. Here and there are odd little time capsules or recreations of what once was, such as Afton Station or Mr. D'Z Route 66 Diner, that seem as out of place in the modern era as a Model A Ford on the interstate highway.

In between are ghostly remnants from another era, rusty cars and trucks abandoned to the elements, foundations obscured by brush and sage, and even ghost towns. What is there in these forlorn scenes that captivate and entrance?

The lure and appeal is not limited to the American experience. In fact it is the American that often struggles the most to understand.

I received this note from a gentleman in Australia. "Imagine the wind in your hair, the road stretched out before you and a Harley Davidson to propel you on the adventure of a lifetime. Route 66 Tours wishes to introduce you to a road trip like none other on offer anywhere in the world. Come and get your kicks on Route 66.Route 66, The Mother Road, Will Rogers Highway, National Old Trails Highway and The Main Street of America are all names describing the famous and now historic ribbon of concrete and tarmac that stretches from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, CA. Covering almost 2400 miles, depending on the alignment you measure, this is truly Road Trip Heaven. I first drove along Old 66 in 2004 and it instantly became my passion. It soon became a dream of mine to introduce others to this amazing road trip, along with the enormous amount of history it encompasses, and as a result Route 66 Tours was born."

The note ends with, "We are extremely proud of our tours and have hundreds of happy clients that will tell you that they have seen a part of America that few tourists ever see. Why not visit our website, call for more information, but do come tour with us and get your kicks on Route 66. www.Route66Tours.com.au "

I will readily admit that we often take the old highway for granted. After all, I drive it daily, and even on days off it is often the link to our adventures.

As a stunning sunset will often go unnoticed until it is called to our attention by the wide eyed wonder of a child, Route 66 and its wonders can be overlooked unless our focus is redirected by those experiencing it for the first time. With that thought in mind, if the opportunity arises buy lunch for a visitor from a foreign land and listen as he describes their voyage of discovery along the Main Street of America.

I guarantee it will change your perspective about Route 66 and this wondrous place called America.

CHASING GHOSTS ON ROUTE 66

Chasing ghosts on Route 66 is now in high gear as the goal is to begin writing on January 1 and to finish the rough draft by mid March. As Ghost Towns of the Southwest is scheduled for release before April 1, I am hoping to be able to devote the lions share of my energies to its promotion beginning with an appearance as a speaker at the Adventure in Travel Expo in Chicago in late March.

After months of endless frustration and the feeling that I was dropping pebbles into a well in my quest for information about the empty places along the old double six there are encouraging glimmers that persistence is paying off. I should also note that along the way great resources for those planning a trip on Route 66 have been found.

Topping this list is the detailed Trip Guide provided by the Oklahoma Route 66 Association. I would rate this as a must have addition to a travel kit. The guide is available upon request:

Oklahoma Route 66 Association

P.O. Box 446

Chandler, OK 74834

I would be remiss if a note of thanks was not given to a few of those who have responded to my desperate pleas. Tom Huber in Springfield transformed Illinois from a blank into an exciting chapter. Debra Holden of the Route 66 Museum in the Barstow Harvey House has been an endless source of leads and encouragement.

A quick call to Tommy Pike with the Route 66 Association of Missouri turned into an hour and a half discussion on the future of the old road as well as its role in the years to come. Laurel Kane with Afton Station in Afton, Oklahoma, exudes unbridled enthusiasm for the old road and is a well spring of information.

One aspect of Ghost Towns of Route 66 that I have found to be quite fascinating is the discovery of gems hidden in plain site. As an example I leave you with this photo of the Babbit Brothers trading post in Flagstaff, Arizona, just a few blocks from historic Route 66.