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| Ramada Kingman, a new Route 66 resort. |
The title for this Sunday afternoon’s posting is derived from the National Park Service facilitated Route 66: The Road Ahead Initiative. The ambitious project kicked off in earnest last fall with a series of meetings in Albuquerque.
For the most part this initiative has been viewed favorably in the international Route 66 community as there is a consensus about the need for an organization that can provide support in a manner similar to the original U.S. Highway 66 Association.
A few individuals have expressed reservations about the project. Surprisingly, the individuals adamantly opposed are quite small in number, another indicator of overall support.
A primary complaint was a perceived lack of representation and input from the Route 66 community. Negating those arguments are a series of town hall meetings and workshops being held in each of the eight states that constitute the Route 66 corridor.
There are two meetings remaining. One will be on Tuesday, July 28, at Ponderosa High School located at 2384 North Steves Boulevard in Flagstaff.
The last meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 29 at the San Bernardino Department of Public Works located at 825 East Third Street in San Bernardino, California. Details about the meetings as well as the program itself are available on the official National Park Service website.
For a wide array of reasons our travel has been a bit limited this year. We have even canceled plans to attend the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival in Springfield, Missouri.
As a result, our postings in recent weeks have been a bit on the myopic side. However, there is another reason for the narrowed focus and that is the fact that developments are taking place in the Kingman area with dramatic speed.Lets start with more news from the Ramada Kingman. The owners of the refurbished property are instituting a wide array of programs and events that ensure this hotel will the cities only Route 66 resort.
As an example, on August 21, the hotel will host a Zinful Painting evening (see above). This afternoon I learned that plans are to make this a monthly event, and that the artist tentatively scheduled to teach the first class is Len Nordmann, a Route 66 celebrity of some renown. Here is the link for his website.
The next bit of news from Kingman pertains to the August edition of Chillin’ on Beale. This monthly event takes place on the third Saturday evening of each month, April through October.
In addition to the regular fun filled evening of cruising Beale Street one block north of Andy Devine Avenue, (Route 66), exploring antique shops, visiting with tourists, friends, neighbors, and automobile enthusiasts, and sampling the wares at Route 66 Ice Cream Parlor, El Palacios, Redneck’s Southern Barbecue, Black Bridge Brewery, the Wine Cellar, House of Hops, and Garlic Clove, new activities are being added.
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| The corner of Fourth Street and Andy Devine Avenue in KIngman, Arizona. |
The Route 66 Association of Kingman is scheduled to host a “bring your chairs sit-in-movie” night on the corner of Fourth and Andy Devine Avenue. This is to commence approximately 8:00 PM.
For August, Ramada Kingman is offering a weekend package that includes a pool party on Friday evening, a cruise to Grand Canyon Caverns with a tour of the caverns on Saturday, and Chillin’ on Beale that evening. For details contact the hotel at (928)753-6262.
A similar package is being developed for Chillin’ on Beale in October. However, for this package the initial plan is to make it an exclusive for the owners of electric vehicles, and to add something special at the Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum.
Kingman is ready to market itself as a full fledged Route 66 destination. Between the Ramada, the Hill Top Motel, and the El Trovatore Motel, Kingman now has more than 150 rooms available in historic Route 66 properties. This is quite an exciting development in itself.
On a personal note, the multifaceted project I refer to as Jim Hinckley’s America is continuing to take on a life of its own. First, perhaps, I should explain the overall concept.
It started off simply enough, a quest to fulfill the childhood goal of being a writer when I grow up. That quest manifested in a few hundred feature articles about the history of the American auto industry and travel on the back roads of America written for a variety of publications. In turn that resulted in the penning and publishing of a dozen books.
The God given gift for telling people where to go, as some folks explained it, opened an array of doors. It also led to the development of priceless and amazing friendships.
The writing led to interviews, including two recorded with Jay Leno in his legendary garage. Next came requests to make presentations.
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| Author Jim Hinckley speaking about Route 66 in Utrecht Netherlands. |
This opened more doors to new and amazing adventures. Perhaps the most amazing of these was three presentations (two successful and one disastrous) at the holiday fair in Utrecht, Netherlands, and a week with friends who shared the beauty as well as charm of the Netherlands and Belgium.
On the heels of this, Gary Cron of Baby Boomer Radio, and then my publicist, suggested development of a podcast. After an illness that derailed the project in May, I fell behind my self imposed deadline. That, however, has been rectified and the introductory ten minute program is awaiting edit.
While this and several writing projects were demanding my attention, there was an opportunity to evaluate self publishing (also off course but about ready for release). Now, it is a Youtube channel and the project has an official trademarked logo, thanks to the tenacity of my dearest friend.
With that long winded introduction out of the way, in a nut shell Jim Hinckley’s America is a multifaceted means of sharing my adventures and encouraging folks to experience a few of their own.
With that said, let get this new adventure on the road.
