After seemingly much indifference to the Mother Road for years, the city of Joliet, Ill., is embracing Route 66 tourism in a big way when it launches its Joliet Kicks on Route 66 campaign on June 2.

According to the Herald-News:

• The Joliet Area Historical Museum will have a bunch of interactive displays, including watching a “drive-in” movie about Route 66 in couches shaped like cars, lounging in a “Magic Fingers” bed in a mock motel room that shows episodes of the “Route 66″ TV show, and a photo booth that provides different Route 66 backdrops.
• The Rich & Creamy ice cream stand will feature plenty of neon lighting and Jack and Elwood from the Blues Brothers dancing atop it.
• A “Route 66 Park” will have informational signs directing tourists to area attractions. Replica gas pumps also will be placed in front of select attractions, such as Rialto Square Theatre.

A few more details can be found on the city’s JolietKicks.com site.

I have to admit, Joliet’s newfound enthusiasm for Route 66 in the past year is intriguing. I have a hunch what sparked it, but I’d like to hear from them what started the sea change. Regardless, it’s a good thing going on here.

The Illinois State Senate approved a bill Friday that would transfer ownership of the historic Illinois State Police District 6 building from the state to Livingston County for $1, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph.

The Senate Bill 768 goes on to the House.

The pistol-shaped building, built on Route 66 near Pontiac in 1941, was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. The long-vacant structure was recently declared state surplus, but the auction hadn’t yet been scheduled.

The idea behind giving the building to the county is to eventually turn it into a roadside park or museum.

Nearly 2,000 people visited the Grand Canyon Skywalk during its first day open to the public on Wednesday, according to a news release from Grand Canyon West.

At a minimum of $25 a pop, Skywalk grossed at least $50,000 on its first day. Not bad.

The release also gives some details about future plans at the Skywalk complex:

Upon completion, the visitor’s center will include a museum, movie “The Making of the Skywalk,” a VIP lounge and gift shop as well as private indoor and outdoor facilities for meetings, special events and weddings. Several restaurants and bars will be available, including The Skywalk Cafe, a high-end restaurant with outdoor patio and rooftop dining on the edge of the canyon. The second floor of the visitor’s center will provide access to The Skywalk glass walkway.

The sooner it completes these improvements, the better. Give the folks who spent $50 or more apiece more than just a spectacular view.

At least one local teen has ‘fessed up to starting a fire that damaged a BNSF railroad bridge just east of La Posada in Winslow, Ariz., reports the Winslow Daily Mail.

Repair workers had the bridge shored up enough that train traffic resumed within a day.

The Totem Pole Trading Post on Route 66 just west of Rolla, Mo., isn’t going to close. But new ownership is taking over Friday afternoon, and the name — which has been there since 1933 — won’t stay, according to the Rolla Daily News.

According to this Rolla Chamber of Commerce release, Jones did not include the business’ name in the sale to the new owner.

Tom Ray, who also owns Memoryville USA car restoration shop, museum and antique store in Rolla, is set to take over the Totem Pole, at 1413 Martin Springs Drive, at 3:30 p.m. Friday from longtime owners Timothy and Alice Jones.

Jones has owned the Totem Pole for 32 years, and worked at the business with his father for 10 years before taking over. Over the years, he has seen a lot and met many interesting people.

“I have seen so many people from all over the world,” Jones said. “This is a stop-off point for so many people on Route 66. They will be disappointed, I know, when they come and we are no longer here. I will miss seeing those people.” […]

The Totem Pole has also been a stop for several celebrities, including country musician Buck Owens, former St. Louis Cardinal Ozzie Smith, singer and Broadway actress Pearl Bailey, country musician Janie Fricke and singer Tony Orlando.

“We should have had a camera over the years to take pictures of the different people who came in,” Jones said.

Jones also remembers when the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team stopped in at the Totem Pole when he was a child. He remembers the players had to duck to avoid hitting their heads on the low ceiling. […]

“We have been in business long enough to see all different types of businesses come and go on Route 66 and I-44,” he said. “Things have changed dramatically since the 60s and 70s, but we still have the same faithful customers who have been stopping by here year after year. We see people from coast to coast. We want to thank them for their patronage throughout the years.”

We learned about some of the Totem Pole’s history while researching the history of John’s Modern Cabins, near the Sugartree Road exit of Interstate 44 about seven miles west of Rolla. The Totem Pole was close to John’s, with a few tourist cabins, a restaurant and a Standard filling station.

The Totem Pole was forced to move twice because of realignments to Route 66 and, later, I-44. That stretch of road was always hazardous to incautious motorists, and highway engineers never quite figured out how to correct it.

We always appreciated Totem Pole Trading Post during our travels because for myriad reasons — clean bathrooms, sugar-cured bacon sold in burlap sacks, an excellent selection of snacks and soda (including Route 66 Root Beer), lots of Route 66 and Ozarks souvenirs, and plenty of antiques, too.

I never quite got brave enough to buy a bottle of genuine corn whiskey, however.

Michael Campanelli’s well-traveled collection of more than 150 photographs from Route 66 has made its way to the Mother Road city of Kingman, Ariz., according to the Kingman Daily Miner.

The exhibit will be at the Mohave Museum of History and Arts through June 10.

According to the Amarillo Globe-News:

[T]hree tractor-trailers were tangled together when what is believed to be a tornado crossed Interstate 40 between Groom and McLean.

According to DPS, there were two injuries out of one of the trucks, one with serious injuries and the other with critical injuries. The westbound lane was closed.

At least six homes were damaged in McLean, according to police, and roofs, barns and power lines were taken down by the storm. No other injuries were reported in the immediate area.

Carolyn Frost, owner of the Red River Steakhouse in McLean, said all the lights were out in town around 9 p.m.

Her restaurant had a few windows broken out from the storm, she said. When the storm moved through, there were about 20 people in the restaurant. She also reported golf-ball-size hail.

“We can’t see anything right now,” Frost said.

McLean and Groom are on Route 66.

As bad as it was, that area fared better than the Oklahoma Panhandle, where two people died because of a twister in Beaver County.

The Alibi, an alternative newspaper in Albuquerque, examines a Duke City issue that likely hasn’t occurred to many people — the area is prone to earthquakes and volcanoes.

Route 66 travelers are at least vaguely aware about earthquakes when they travel Southern California. In fact, portions of the San Andreas Fault can be seen from the Mother Road. Less known is that the St. Louis area could experience a potentially destructive quake in the future because of the New Madrid Fault.

But volcanoes? Yes, says University of New Mexico geology professor Fred Lawrence.

The Rio Grand Rift, which extends from Central New Mexico to Central Colorado, is a regional tectonic feature wherein the ground is pulled apart while a chunk of land sinks into the Earth. “As the crust pulls apart,” says Lawrence, “the reduced pressure at great depth results in a lower melting temperature for the mantle, which then melts, and following an earthquake, the magma may be able to escape to the surface. With time, the Southwest U.S. will continue to extend, and the Rift will likely continue along with it. This in turn means we will, for the foreseeable future, have earthquakes and possibly active volcanoes.”

Indeed, there are dormant volcanoes just west of town, including a big one the locals call “Maneater.” So the good professor isn’t speaking solely from theory.

The Alibi article goes on to give appropriate earthquake preparedness tips, but the tips to surviving a volcano border on the ludicrous.

Earthquakes often strike without warning, so some survival advice seems at least warranted.

Volcanoes, on the other hand, generally rumble and steam for months, even years, before blowing their tops. I would assume that most intelligent folks nearby, seeing the ominous signs, would have had the sense to move away instead of stocking up on gas masks and hoping to tough it out against Maneater.

The much-ballyhooed Grand Canyon Skywalk opened to the public Wednesday. Lines were long, and more than 700 people strolled on the Skywalk in the first two hours.

Here’s a report by KVOA-TV in Tuscon, Ariz., including video.

Here’s a report from the Arizona Republic.

Here’s a recent CNN video about the pros and cons of the Skywalk:

A reader tipped me off that the fine-dining restaurant on Route 66 in Wildorado, Texas, is moving to nearby downtown Amarillo.

Sure enough, Randy’s Web site says the restaurant closed its Wildorado location on Feb. 17 and is moving into the historic Paramount Building at 817 S. Polk, about two blocks south of Route 66. The restaurant will be renamed Randy’s at the Paramount. It plans to reopen next month after renovations.

I have mixed feelings about Randy’s moving from that delightfully dinky Route 66 town. But he’s traded it for a historic location that’s being preserved. It’s mostly a win-win.