So … did you want to attend the early May 26 screening of "Cars" at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., but couldn't before it was sold out?

Don't worry. There's a cool alternative, and it's for a good cause.

Harkins Theatres in the Bricktown area of Oklahoma City is hosting a 3 p.m. Saturday, June 3, screening of "Cars" that will benefit the Oklahoma Library Association endowment fund. That's six days before the wide release of the highly anticipated Pixar film.

The screening will include a pre-screening introduction by Michael Wallis, who served as a Route 66 consultant for the film and provides the voice of the Sheriff in "Cars." Dawn Welch, owner of the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla., and an inspiration for Sally the Porsche in "Cars," also will attend.

Ticket prices are $50 apiece, and a mail-in form to buy the tickets is here. Information about the screening is at the association's Web site here. For each ticket, $37.50 of it is tax-deductible. I talked Sunday night to Pat Weaver-Meyers, head librarian, and she assures me that tickets are still available.

There also are VIP tickets for $150 and up that include dinner at the governor's mansion afterword and a classic-car display there. But hurry — the deadline to purchase these VIP tickets is Monday, May 22.

For more information, call the library association at (405) 525-5100.

About seven years ago (goodness, has it been that long?), writer Tim Steil and photographer Jim Luning drove the Mother Road to research and gather material for their terrific book, "Route 66."

Along the way, Steil e-mailed his musings and experiences every night to friends and the Route 66 e-group, now part of Yahoo! I'm sure it's still in the archives somewhere, but it's a private group, and searching for anything in the archives can be a bear.

Fortunately, Luning has posted the whole series of journals on his Web site here. Those at work who fret over the occasionally coarse language on Web site are advised to peruse it at home. And for some reason that's so trivial that I can't remember, some were offended by what they read. But I thought it was the best and truest writing about Route 66 at the time.

Here's an excerpt:

This trip is changing me. I am learning to appreciate things I thought I didn't give a shit about. I am seeing parts of America I have never thought about going to, I am meeting people I thought I had nothing in common with, but feel an incredible closeness to after just a few minutes. It has everything to do with staying on this old road. I've done the interstate, it's fast and its easy, but it doesn't compare. 

Re-reading it again today hasn't changed my opinion one bit.

The "Cars" movie Web site has added new wrinkles, including a "Visit Radiator Springs" page that Route 66 roadies should enjoy.

There's a Road Journal in which you can read of other readers' favorite road trips and write your own. There's also a Snapshot Gallery in which you can submit your favorite vacation photos and look at others' (as of this writing, none had been posted).

Sprinkled throughout the Radiator Springs page are postcards from Flo, owner of Flo's V-8 Cafe, and Ramone of Ramone's Body Art. There's also a sweepstakes in which you can win a new iPod.

There also is a link to downloads of road-trip games and activities, although all of them aren't up yet.

AmazingMoms.com has a lot of clever ideas for parents to throw a birthday party using a lot of ideas from the upcoming "Cars" movie. Check it out.

The Sapulpa (Okla.) Daily Herald has details about the annual Route 66 Blowout, which takes place June 3 and is expected to draw 15,000 to 20,000 people. If you've got a classic car in your garage, bring it.

The 49er Lounge, which is housed in the historic El Rancho Hotel on Route 66 in Gallup, N.M., was named by Esquire magazine as one of the "Best in America," according to the Gallup Independent.

The magazine listed 50 taverns from across the country. Here's Esquire's listing for the 49er:

Back when westerns were box-office gold, the El Rancho Hotel was where the stars ate, drank and slept when they weren't sitting on horses. The hotel's lounge is both rough-hewn and rough around the edges. It doesn't serve a lot of fancy cocktails, but it has great booze. (1000 East Highway 66; 800-346-8357)

The Independent reports:

The 49er's rustic western atmosphere along with the mounted swordfish on the wall, Mexican music in the jukebox, and the Greek-Native American bartender serving the drinks make it a unique watering hole in a business that is now dominated by national hotel chains that feature look-alike lounges.

"There's a lot this hotel doesn't have," admitted Athens, citing such things as up-to-date cooling and electrical systems. "It's all part of the uniqueness."

However, Athens believes those characteristics are sometimes a plus for the 49er. Because the nearly 70-year-old lounge is not wired for refrigeration, it serves the coldest beer in Gallup due to its beer on ice, he said.

The Route 66 town of Grants, N.M., unveiled a new, privately funded Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Friendship Park on the city's west side, according to the Gallup Independent.

Grants saw five of its soldiers die in Vietnam. About 600 people attended the ceremony, including Gov. Bill Richardson and 250 motorcyclists on their Run for the Wall cross-country pilgrimage. One eastbound lane of Route 66 was blocked off to allow the motorcyclists a place to park during the ceremony.

Here's a sobering thought:

Richardson pointed out 22 New Mexicans have been killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with 1,500 on duty there. He asked for a moment of silent prayer "for their safe return."

USA Today takes a gander at Albuquerque and finds, despite an inferiority complex to Santa Fe, that it's a growing, vibrant, cool city.

I agree with the assessment. Expect a big influx of new residents at the Duke City in the next few decades.

The Victorville (Calif.) Daily Press has a story about how the rising price of gasoline is having a negative impact on business along Interstate 15, which replaced Route 66 through much of Southern California as a major artery.

However:

The California Route 66 Museum on D Street has not seen a change in visitorship, said volunteer Bill Cadenhead.

“We’re still getting people from all over the world visiting,” he said. “The real fact of the matter is they’re real happy to pay $3.50 a gallon for gas.”

I'd be foolish to ever suggest that the rising price of fuel wouldn't have at least somewhat of an impact on Route 66 travel. But not only do you burn less fuel by driving at a lower speed on the old Mother Road, but the motels and restaurants generally are cheaper than what you find near the interstate.

The point is this: Route 66 is a travel bargain.

Add another one to the long list of "Cars" movie product tie-ins: Tide.com is offering a free "Cars" beach towel with any combination of six Procter & Gamble fabric and home-care products.