Jackie and Fred

Jackie and Fred - from Reading, England - were spending a holiday traveling along Route 66 when we ran into them at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, OK.

Jim Decker

Jim spent many years traveling along Route 66. His tales include accounts of hitch-hiking, falling out of moving vehicles, driving cars to California for quick resale and throwing his shoes into the Colorado River.

David Knudson

David Knudson serves as executive director of the National Historical Route 66 Federation, which works to preserve and promote the road. He founded the Federation in 1994 after completing a trip across the country, when he was unable to locate old sections of Route 66 that he remembered traveling in college. David lives with his wife Mary Lou in Tujunga, CA. They are currently planning to construct a home and office building that will become the new headquarters of the Federation. For more about the National Historic Route 66 Federation and David Knudson, see http://www.national66.com/about.html.

Drew Knowles

Drew is another Route 66 author, and had just released the Route 66 Adventure Handbook when we ran into him at the Clinton Route 66 Museum. He also designed and sells the "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive the Interstate" shirt. For more about Drew, visit http://www.exithere.net/aboutus.html.

Joseph Campos

Joseph runs the restaurant his father opened in 1935 along Route 66 in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. He was also mayor of of the town when we passed through in 2002.

Lt Col John Wiebener

We met Lt Col Wiebener at the Edgewood "Route 66 Run, Rally and Rock" car show, where he was showing off his car. His wife teaches at Route 66 Elementary school, just a couple miles down Route 66 from the show.

Sid Melton

Sid lives on Route 66 in Joplin, MO, where the city has re-routed the road through commercial areas in order to take advantage of the recent renewed tourist interest in 66.

Bill Gullett

Bill began traveling along Route 66 when it was first created, and shares many memories of trips taken on the old road before it was decommissioned.

Becky Ransom

Becky is Human Resources manager at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.

Bob Waldmire

If you find yourself behind a yellow VW Bus going twenty miles per hour below the speed limit on a stretch of I-40 that has replaced Route 66, you've probably found Bob Waldmire. Bob, who is best known for his hand-drawn maps and postcards of Route 66, likes to drive slowly so that butterflies are blown over his car rather than into the windshield. Former owner of the Hackberry General store in the Arizona desert, Bob is the son of Ed Waldmire, the inventor of the "Cozy Dog" (don't call it a corn dog...) and can sometimes be found at the Cozy Dog Drive-In in Springfield, Illinois.

Ken Turmel

Ken Turmel - known by many along Route 66 as the Land Runner - spent two years traveling the road to collect post office stamps for his Route 66 map.

Harley and Annabelle Russell

The redneck king and his queen, greeting visitors at the Sand Hills Curiosity Shop in Erick, Oklahoma. Across the street is a store where they sell all of their "Redneck junk", and the "Redneck castle" where they live is a short walk away. Entering this store, you're bound to get a dose of Harley and Anabelle's "Mediocre Music" and an offer of beer or a swig from Harley's jug of whiskey, at no charge. With the exception of income from selling tapes of Harley's guitar solos and greeting cards painted by Anabelle, everything they make is from visitors' tips.

Michael Wallis

Michael Wallis was born and raised on Route 66 and has lived and travled along it ever since. He has authored 11 best-selling books, including "Route 66: The Mother Road" (1990), which is a main source of information for Route 66 enthusiasts. Wallis' book has been credited with igniting the Route 66 revival in the early '90s. He can still be found at all sorts of "Mother Road" events, including at the head of a Harley tour each year on Route 66. For more about Michael Wallis, visit http://www.michaelwallis.com/bio.html.

Jim Ross

Jim, who worked with Jerry McClanahan to publish the "Here It Is" Route 66 Map Series in 1994, lives in a house built to resemble an old Phillips 66 gas station. His writing credits include a number of articles for the Route 66 magazine, as well as two books on Route 66, the most recent of which is titled "Oklahoma Route 66". For more on Jim Ross, visit http://www.66maps.com/.

Pat Evans

Pat led the 8th annual Mother Road Ride and Rally, a motorcycle tour along Route 66. His group of cyclists passed through Stroud, OK as we were conducting interviews at the Rock Cafe.

Angel Delgadillo

Angel called the 1987 meeting that would lead to the formation of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona. This group successfully lobbied to have 66 designated "historic" - as a result, signs now lead travelers off of the Interstate to stretches of road that were part of Route 66 in Arizona. Angel, who grew up along Route 66 in Seligman, AZ, continues to run the barber shop opened by his father and hosts tourists from around the world in his small gift shop. For more about Angel, his wife Vilma and his brother Juan, see http://www.route66giftshop.com/angel.html.

Bob Audette

Bob is a true "Mr. Sixty-Six", born the same year as the road itself.

Jerry McClanahan

Jerry has worked full-time as a Route 66 artist for more than 10 years now. He collaborated with Jim Ross to create the "Here it Is" Route 66 map series, and has done numerous paintings and postcards that focus on the road. We caught up with Jerry at the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK where he was exhibiting some of his work. For more about Jerry, visit http://route66.itgo.com/jerrymc.html.

Lynn Moncus

Lynn is a historian and retired teacher who lives in Tucumcari, New Mexico along Route 66.

Wayne Marshall

Wayne is the principal of Route 66 Elementary School in Edgewood, NM. As far as Wayne knows, his school is the only one named after the road.

Beulah Notley

Beulah works at the Needles Museum. Route 66 passes by outside on its way from California to Arizona.

Mike Callens

Mike runs the Teepee Curio Shop in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

Jim Jelsema

Jim drove down Route 66 on a 55 cc scooter with a biking group called Wandering Wheels.

Bill Gilmore

Bill, a Route 66 fan, collects memorabilia relating to the road and displays it in his RV, the "Route 66 Special".

Marcus Fehr

Marcus, a traveler from Germany, spent two weeks along Route 66 in 2002.