Abandoned Route 66 Icons Point to New Future
Think of the modern American road trip. Where are people headed? Where do they stop along the way, and why? As US Highway 66 was developed and populated, midwesterners traveled the historic road from Chicago to Santa Monica, with many popular stops in the state of Arizona. But in many cases, unlike the road warriors of today, the highway itself was the destination, not a town or city.
That mentality seems to be all but gone now. With a faster and higher-capacity Interstate system in place, highway travel is seen more as an inconvenience than an experience.
Peter Dedeck wrote in his book, Hip To the Trip: A Cultural History of Route 66, "Route 66 fell victim to its own success." That success is the highway's efficient planning. 66 followed the contours of the terrain, whereas other US highways such as US 30 and 40 did not.
Such an efficient and speedy way to head west gained popularity, and by the time the Interstate system was being developed in the 1950s, a culture was bred around the highway. Gas stations were established, roadside attractions were built, and popular artists wrote songs and made films about the expressway to the west.
That culture was disbanded when the Interstate was constructed. Many sections of Route 66, the most efficient paths, were paved over by Interstate highways. Dedek writes, "In 1985, Route 66 existed existed only as a series of mostly disused strips of eroding pavement stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles."
And as many of the sections of Route 66 disappeared, so did the businesses that thrived off of them.
According to Dedek, the "funeral" for Route 66 was held in Williams, Ariz. in 1984. Icons from the highway's culture gathered on main street to say goodbye to America's Main Street.
In that same region, two abandoned structures along Route 66 struck a particular interest: Pine Springs and Twin Arrows. One of them is leading the way in a redevelopment of that highway culture that was almost lost.
What led these businesses to fall? What is their future? Will the Route 66 culture be re-fostered and restored in a point-to-point travel society?
“Flag Lady” Continues 8th Year of Diamondbacks Support
Cindy McBride dances with pom-poms during the 3rd inning of the Diamondbacks v. Phillies game on April 23, 2010.
Baseball fans inundated by the half play, half advertisement that is a Diamondbacks game seem to lack the resonating fanaticism that used to define our national past time. But one D-Backs fan remains loyal, consistently showing her support for Arizona's major league team, usually from the upper level seats.
"Some of them take 20, 30, 40 hours," says Diamondbacks fan Cindy McBride. "Or some take 80 or 90."
She's talking about her Diamondback flags. There are stacks of them, each on a wooden pole and about as big as McBride herself.
"It's a visual support of the players," McBride says as she waves gold and maroon pom-poms to the beat of the music during the 3rd inning.
Each player has a personalized flag, made of red, black, and gold sheen.
Most of the flags are signed by the players themselves.
Things I’m Doing
Spreading myself too thin.
But that's OK, because I take pride and joy in all of the work I do. Sometimes, I feel like I'm not doing enough work, to which my close friends call me insane for thinking. Here's what I've been doing with my time aside from blogging here.
(Note: I normally don't do this whole ''Sorry for all the lack of updating omglol" because I know no one cares about how infrequently I update or every little thing I'm doing with my life, but I felt compelled.)
Low clouds and remnant snow define this winter landscape of NAU's central campus.