Rory Schepisi informed me today that because of other commitments, construction delays, a recent winter storm that caused further delays, there will be no New Year’s Eve party at the under-construction Boot Hill Saloon & Grill at U.S. 385 and old Route 66 in Vega, Texas.

Schepisi, who was runner-up in the CMT reality series “Popularity Contest” last year and later moved from the East Coast to Vega, hopes to have the restaurant and tavern open by late winter. She said the structure is now entirely enclosed, and work has begun on the interior.

She also gave me this tidbit:

I have also been booked to shoot another TV show; I can’t say which one yet due to confidentiality stuff, but soon as I can I’ll let you know. I can say it has to do with food.

John “JJ” Bouma, who cruised Route 66 in a red Corvette in May as a fundraiser to combat the Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or ALS, that afflicted him, died at age 54 on Friday, according to the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press.

The caravan’s weeklong, 2,800-mile journey from Chicago to Los Angeles raised $318,000 for ALS research and was photographed for an exhibit and videographed for a documentary about the disease.

“The trip was both exhausting and exhilarating for him,” said Pam Bouma, JJ’s wife. “It was indicative of how he liked to do things. Nothing was ever just about him.” […]

To keep alive his passion to make the world a better place, the Bouma family is setting up a JJ Bouma ALS Clinic Fund at Fifth Third Bank. Memorial contributions will be used to establish a clinic associated with a Grand Rapids hospital to treat West Michigan ALS patients. […]

To contribute to the ALS fund in Bouma’s memory, contact the ALS Association’s West Michigan chapter, 731 Front St., at 459-1900 or at mail@alsa-westmichigan.org.

Here’s the Web site that documented Bouma’s cruise and helped raise money. A final entry came from Al’s son on Tuesday:

JJ travels to heaven and leaves a legacy for all of us:

It really was unlike any other. My Dad and the rest of us (the crew) set out to raise money and awareness, but as we drove across the country, we started to feel that there was even more to it. He, I, and the others were soon to understand that this was the beginning of something bigger. PALS, their family and friends, the media, and everyone else along the way all joined in to welcome us. I think we needed to see them just as much as they needed to see us. This was the spark in a plan that was still undetermined. The finish line was not the end as I have come to find out. Cruise 66 was a success beyond measure. My father liked perfection and in my opinion this was no doubt as close as it gets.

Words are not enough, but I’m inspired and proud to be his son. I know our souls will meet again, but for now, I’ll miss you Dad.

Scott

After completing her 2,390-mile trek on Route 66 on Sunday in Santa Monica, Michelle Thompson cycled south on Pacific Coast Highway and arrived at her brother’s home in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Christmas Day afternoon, like she had hoped.

KABC-TV in Los Angeles was there to see her ride through a congratulatory banner. There is a two-minute video with the above link if you want to see her brother, wearing a Route 66 T-shirt, welcoming her. It was an emotional moment for everyone.

Thompson promises to update her site later with photos from the trip.

Michelle Thompson, the woman who was trying to bicycle the 2,400-mile length of Route 66 to raise awareness of oral cancer and help her ailing brother, met her goal of finishing the Mother Road before Christmas.

According to her Web site, Thompson pulled onto the fabled endpoint of Route 66, the Santa Monica Pier, at 11 p.m. Christmas Eve.

On Monday morning, she rode her bike to Costa Mesa, Calif., to see her brother on Christmas.

The Inland Press-Enterprise reported that Thompson had cycled her way to Rialto by Sunday.

Even with the trek near its end, stories of generosity keep coming:

On Sunday at Don’s Bikes of Rialto, owner Scott McAfee gave her a discount on a new helmet and offered to tune up her bicycle for free. An employee gave her a big hug upon hearing her story, Michelle said.

“You don’t expect that. I have been getting a lot of encouragement,” she said. “People will come up to me or yell out the window, ‘Good for you.’

“A lot of times, I wondered if I was doing any good,” she said Saturday. “Then I would meet someone who would approach me at a gas station and tell me about their experience with cancer.”

She said she could have made it to Costa Mesa by Sunday night, but after spending weeks on Route 66 and learning of its history, she felt compelled to finish riding the storied road. […]

“I’m going to pull into my brother’s driveway and give him a big hug,” Michelle said. “I’d like to go to Mass on Christmas Day, but that depends on what time I get there. I’d like to spend the day laughing and telling stories.”

The trip, she said Sunday, “has renewed my faith in family and human kindness and God.”

The Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph compiles an annual “10 to Watch” list of central Illinois residents who are rising fast in prominence and influence.

One who made the list is Geoff Ladd of the Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County, who’s already attracted attention for his preservation efforts of an area Route 66 icon.

Ladd started working for the tourism bureau little more than a year ago, and recently formed the Route 66 Heritage Foundation to help bring more into the county. One such project is the restoration of the former Mill restaurant into a Route 66 museum; that work is underway.

“No one thought that Mill could be saved, and after seeing Ladd’s plan, everyone is just so excited about it,” said Bartelmay. “He’s definitely got a lot he’s working on and is just so aggressive with all his endeavors.”

Another thing Ladd is working on is moving a giant covered wagon and giant Abe Lincoln from Divernon, Ill., to Lincoln.

One interesting tidbit about Ladd that’s revealed in the Pantagraph story: He’s a paranormal investigator.

Metropolis Magazine, a publication about architecture and design, has a well-written feature about acclaimed Oklahoma City architect Rand Elliott.

Elliott designed the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, and the POPS gas station that’s being constructed off Route 66 in Arcadia, Okla. Elliott also is a native of Clinton and is well aware of the Mother Road’s history.

The article describes how Elliott designed the POPS station for Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon:

Often Elliott’s pitch comes in the form of a poetic description of the project, what he calls a “word painting,” that evokes the feeling of the space he intends to create. McClendon owns a commercial tree farm and a recreational site in Arcadia, just northeast of Oklahoma City, and with development increasing in the area, he asked the architect to design a gas station/convenience store to serve the community that wouldn’t look like every other one in America. Elliott imagined an homage to the soda fountain that would play on the nostalgic appeal of Route 66, with a glass facade displaying 12,000 pop bottles, an outdoor patio that looks into a redbud orchard, and a 66-foot pop bottle in front. His word painting for POPS went, in part: “Freedom…to travel the open road / to explore the countryside. …There is always a ‘gimmick’ on Route 66. Some true, some tall tales. There is always a ‘hook’ to get you to stop and look and buy something. …It’s a building of our time. …Imagine…a building emerging from the soil…growing out of the earth…connected to the place.”

There’s also the story about a pivotal moment in Elliott’s life at an Apache fire dance, and many other colorful stories. The article also has numerous photographs and drawings of his projects. The whole article is exemplary. Go read it.

Canadian singer-songwriter Melissa McClelland has posted part three of her documentary from her Route 66 trip this summer.

You can view the podcast here (Internet Explorer 6 and broadband are needed).

In it, you’ll see Rooster from the Luna Cafe in Mitchell, Ill., a waitress in Lisa’s Diner in Granite City, Ill., scenes from Galena, Kan.

But the stars of Part 3 are Harley and Annabelle Russell of the Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick, Okla. Harley plays freewheelin’ lead guitar as McClelland sang her song “Passenger 24.”

Like I said, I hope this documentary makes its way to a major television broadcast somewhere. It’s more than good enough.

Speaking of guidebooks, Harry Medved was kind enough to send me a copy of the book he co-wrote with Bruce Akiyama, “Hollywood Escapes.” It describes itself as “The moviegoing guide to exploring Southern California’s great outdoors.”

The reason this book is mentioned here is because it contains a chapter about Route 66 and its role in movies. The Mother Road played a “major role” in the 1977’s “The Hills Have Eyes,” “Bagdad Cafe,” “The Doors,” and the 2005 version of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

The chapter contains a handy map that donates several Route 66 landmarks and the films in which they were featured:

• Needles Bridge, “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Easy Rider”
• Amboy, “The Hitcher”
• Amboy Crater, “Journey to the Center of the Earth”
• Newberry Springs, “Bagdad Cafe”
• Victorville, “It Came from Outer Space”

The chapter is short, but it includes a Route 66 Driving Tour from Victorville to Needles, and it’s a handy reference guide to Route 66’s role to films shot in Southern California.

Alas, since the book was published, Dixie Evans’ Exotic World Burlesque Museum in Helendale has moved to Las Vegas, where it is supposed to eventually reopen.

Other films that were shot on Route 66 or nearby include “Electra Glide in Blue,” “Grand Theft Auto,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Hair,” “Kill Bill, Vol. 2,” and “Kalifornia.”

Medved also informed me that the new Clint Eastwood-directed film, “Letters from Iwo Jima,” was shot in the Calico Mountains and Pisgah Crater.

David Lynch (not that David Lynch) was fascinated by the notorious San Andreas Fault in California and sought to explore it. To his astonishment, he found that no complete guidebook to the faultline existed.

Lynch explored the fault, a source of earthquake anxiety in the California and inspiration to scores of bad disaster movies, and self-published a book, “Field Guide to the San Andreas Fault,” Inland Press-Enterprise columnist Mark Muckenfuss reports.

Route 66 connects with the fault north of San Bernardino.

Just past Devore, on old Route 66, Lynch likes to make a stop at Blue Cut. Here, he says, is one of the points where the geology makes the fault all too evident.

“To the south is the blue-gray Pelona Schist and half a mile north of there, the rocks are completely different,” he says, noting the sandstone prominent in such places as the Mormon Rocks.

“Those rocks could not have been formed together; they had to be brought together,” he adds. “The Pelona Schist has brought material all the way from essentially Arizona.”

If you want the book so you can do your own fault-finding, you can order it here. Here’s a summary:

See and touch the world’s most famous fault on one of twelve easy day trips between Cape Mendocino and the Mexican Border. The book includes mile-by-mile road logs, GPS coordinates for hundreds of fault features and accurate fault coordinates (± 100 ft). Many of the annotated routes have side trips to seldom visited locales. There are complete geologic explanations and a glossary. The day trips are relaxing and uncrowded, perfect for family getaways. And the scenery is spectacular. Here’s a chance to get up close and personal with the San Andreas Fault. No 4WD needed. Full color, 210 pages, 140 figures and photographs. Spiral bound to lay flat for easy reading in the car. Also available on CD. Book: $39.95, CD (The entire book as a PDF file): $19.95

If 40 bucks sounds like a lot, keep in mind it’s loaded with color photos, which jacks up the price of any book.

The Edwardsville (Ill.) Intelligencer is reporting that the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, an old Route 66 alignment that connects Madison, Ill., to north St. Louis, is hosting its 12th annual Eagle Days on Jan. 13-14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

And the bridge is the ideal lookout spot to watch the eagles searching for their favorite food - fish - in the open waters of the Mississippi River. Use the viewing scopes on the bridge to see the eagles soaring above the river, riding on the ice floes, fishing, or roosting in the surrounding trees.

The article sort of neglects to mention this, but many of the eagles are bald eagles.

There also will be Lewis & Clark re-enactors on the Missouri side of the bridge.