Cruisin' Route 66 With Michael Wallis

We'll begin our cruise along Route 66 where it all begins, or ends depending on your direction of travel, in Chicago's Grant Park. From there we travel south and west past the cornfields and tourist spots of Illinois, visit Ted Drewes Frozen Custard stand and the Coral Court motel in St. Louis, and much more. Then it's on to Kansas.

Once a busy highway, Route 66 is now relegated to second-class status by the super-slab Interstate. But instead of falling into obscurity, the Mother Road soldiers on as a 2,400 mile tourist attraction. Join us as we skirt the southeast corner of Kansas, cross Oklahoma and dive into Texas. Along the way we'll play with Devil's Rope and try to down a 72 ounce steak at the Big Texan.

Michael Wallis has come to know and love old highway 66, with its special towns and quaint attractions. Join Michael as he cruises west out of Amarillo into the Texas Panhandle, with its own share of oddities. We visit the Cadillac Ranch, the ghost town of Glenrio and the neon motels of Tucumcari. We meet a former Harvey Girl and go on a photographic tour of Santa Fe. Then, it's on to Arizona.

Route 66 is the quintessential blue highway, the one you take to slow down, savor life, and begin a great adventure. In this episode we visit the Grand Canyon, take in a custom car show in Seligman, get a haircut with a famous barber, take a trip over Sitgreaves Pass where we visit a hotel said to be haunted by Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, and then on to California.

Taking historic Route 66 gives the traveler the perfect opportunity to escape the Interstate and return to the way America used to be. From his study in Tulsa, Oklahoma, author Michael Wallis recounts his memories of the old road, the people and places that are still there along both flanks of the historic highway- unique hotels and motels, historic cafes and bars, and a look at Mother Road autos.

In episode six, author Michael Wallis relives more of his nostalgic childhood memories of the Mother Road. He explores a mining museum in Galena, Kansas, the Devil's Rope Museum in Texas, the withered up and blown away ghost town of Cuervo in Eastern New Mexico, and the hot Mojave oasis of Needles, California. Plus, we meet some unique travelers celebrating the 75 anniversary of Route 66.

While our Interstates all seem to look and feel the same, Route 66 is always changing. In 2001, when Route 66 turned 75, author and Route 66 Road Warrior Michael Wallis traveled the Blue Highway to document the changes to Meramec Caverns, several drive-in theaters, the Totem Pole Park, the Blue Wale, Round Barn, Big 8 Motel, U Drop Inn and Pop Hicks Cafes and more.

Traveling America's Main Street, historic Route 66, has always been an adventure because nothing on the two-lane blacktop ever stays the same. As the road celebrated its 75th anniversary, Michael Wallis drove west from Amarillo to document some of those changes such as the new Big Texan Steakhouse, historic Blue Swallow Motel, low riders in New Mexico, and a gold mine in Arizona.

For some Route 66 is a road of motion and flight. It's living art. It's the ultimate travel experience. But the highway would be nothing if it wasn't for the cars, busses, trucks, and bikes that use its two-lane blacktop. In this episode, Michael Wallis salutes all those magnificent vehicles that have cruised the historic highway over the years, and the unique people who have driven them.

To understand why so many people are eager to exit the dreaded super-slab and slide onto blue highways, it helps to meet some of them. In this episode Michael Wallis introduces us to a classic Packard collector, two Grapes of Wrath actors, a couple of Mother Road musicians, and many, many more.

Historian Michael Wallis continues his search for the most interesting people who inhabit the world's best-known blue highway, Route 66, the cars they drive and the unique places they go. In this episode; a sample of Tin Can Tourists, a man who brings broken trailers back to life, a '66' themed casino, neon that speaks, a green Packard, red Thunderbird, a trip to the cotton fields and more.

In this final episode of the series road warrior Michael Wallis introduces us to Bob Moore, who's tying the famous Route 66 together by radio, Pop's gas station, a '66' post card collector, Dean Walker and his Spook Light, the Lincoln Museum, custom cars by Bozo, and much, much more.