According to an article last week in the Elk City and Sayre newspapers in Oklahoma, Harley and Annabelle Russell of the Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick, Okla., entertained 57 members of the International Regional Magazine Association earlier this month.

The group was in Oklahoma City for the gathering, but drove a few hours west to check out the Harley & Annabelle, aka The Mediocre Music Makers.

The article contained interesting tidbits about the Russells’ summer:

The Russells have had their busiest year ever, with as many as four tour groups a day stopping at their Erick location.

“On August 2, we started the day early with a bus load from the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City and ended it after entertaining a group from Norway that arrived at 8 p.m.,” Harley said. “Annabelle and I are jogging and doing pushups trying to build up our stamina so we can put on shows our guests will never forget!”

Among their visitors this year was a documentary team sent by Al Gore to gather information about American small towns. An Irish television producer also filmed at the Sandhills Curiosity shop in 2007.

Pictures from the magazine association’s gathering at the Sandhills shop can be seen here and here.

Mark Landis, writing for the San Bernardino County Sun, wrote an interesting historical overview of the Green Spot Motel, built in 1937 on Route 66 in Victorville, Calif.

The Green Spot, at 16937 C St., was the finest motel in town, offering the most modern comforts and services available for the traveling public. Twin arched entryways and red tile roofs accentuated the Spanish-styling of the u-shaped courtyard. All 21 units featured air conditioned rooms, “running ice water,” private showers or baths, and “electric radiant glass heat.”

The individual units were connected by small garages. This unique feature advertised as “car-by-door” gave the motorist the luxury of parking next to their room and out of the elements. […]

Longtime Victorville resident and community leader Felix Diaz recalls when the Green Spot Motel was a favorite of the Hollywood crowd.

“I remember the Green Spot when it was `the place’ to stay,” he said. “When actors came to the High Desert to film movies, that’s where they stayed.”

Former actress Kay Aldridge even owned the motel for several years. But it’s an Asian-American — and interest from Route 66 travelers — who are keeping the historic motel alive.

Hemant Patel, the current owner of the Green Spot, has been working to clean up the aging motel since he bought it in 2001.

“This place used to be a bad spot with a lot of drugs, but we’ve cleaned up the whole area,” Patel said. “Now, I choose the people I want to live here.”

The garages connecting the units have been converted into living areas and there are now 40 rooms that are at about 50 percent occupancy.

“There has been a lot of interest in the motel,” Patel said. “People from all over the world have come and asked about the place. It’s still paying all the bills, and I’m planning on staying and running the motel.”

Brad Carter has created a time-lapse video of the sights from the recent Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

The fiesta needs to use this guy’s work for publicity, pronto. It makes me wanna go.

(Hat tip: Duke City Fix.)

Straight from the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff:

The fiberglass bull welded to the sign outside Crazy Bill’s Saloon and Steakhouse has been stolen.

According to Flagstaff police reports, the brown bull, which is about half-sized in scale, was taken between 8 p.m. on Thursday and 4 a.m. on Friday from the bar and restaurant, 3130 E. Route 66. The bull was wearing a tan-colored wig over its head and horns. It is worth about $4,000, reports stated.

Police noticed tire tracks and footprints in the dirt around the sign, and damage to the nearby wooden split-rail fence. Apparently, somebody backed onto the sidewalk from the west parking lot, causing the damage. A witness said he saw a red truck in the spot at about 10 p.m. and the bull was already gone, but he did not see the bull in the bed, reports stated.

Police have no suspects.

Two observations. First, this has to be a drunken prank and not a premeditated theft. I mean, what would you do with a fiberglass bull? If you stole it, how would you keep it hidden? What profit motive is there? It’s not like you can hawk it at your local pawn shop. I’ll bet it’s recovered fairly quickly.

Second, this was the same establishment that was placing homophobic comments on its marquee in this summer — a move so stupid and rude that even heterosexuals were offended. Based on the dearth of follow-up reports in the Daily Sun, it’s assumed that cooler (and smarter) heads prevailed and that the comments were taken down.

Johnny Mango at Duke City Fix shows a postcard of one of Albuquerque’s first barbecue joints, Oklahoma Joe’s, on Central Avenue (aka Route 66) near the University of New Mexico campus.

Mango said Okie Joe’s, later known as Okie’s, was known for 10-cent beer nights, with the brew served in paper cups. It was a popular imbibing spot for many years.

Okie’s is not there anymore; a convenience store took its place. But Duke City Fix wants to hear stories about it.

Today, I received a message in the mail from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Here’s what it said:

Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
and the Illinois Department of Transportation
in conjunction with the
Great Rivers Greenway District
Cordially invite you to the
Dedication Ceremony for the
McKinley Bridge
and the opening of
The Chamber of Commerce of
Southwestern Madison County
McKinley Bridge Roadside Park

Saturday, November 17, 2007
9:30 a.m.
Illinois Side of the Bridge
Intersection of Illinois Route 3 & Broadway
Venice, Illinois
RSVP
Ross.breckenridge@illinois.gov or 618-346-3420

Don’t worry if you didn’t get an invite. The public, one and all, can definitely come. And it’s been six years in coming since the nearly century-old McKinley Bridge, which carried an alignment of Route 66 over the Mississippi River to St. Louis, was closed for safety reasons. It’s cost $46 million to rehab the span.

According to the Belleville News-Democrat, IDOT is hinting the bridge might be ready for traffic by the Nov. 17 ceremony. Previously, the agency said it might reopen another week or so after that.

He said if the span is not yet open to traffic at that time, “it’s going to be close to the 17th. The ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m.”

“We decided to pick a day,” he added. “If it’s open that day, it’s open. If not, it will be open in the near future.”

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is scheduled to attend the dedication, and about a thousand invitations have been sent to area businesses, civic organizations, municipalities and others. The public is welcome to attend.

If the bridge is opened to traffic before Nov. 17, it will be shut down during the dedication because the ceremony will be held on the bridge, Anderson said. People who attend will be able to walk across the bridge for an up-close view.

The News-Democrat also has a useful video that shows work that’s been done to the bridge, including new bicycle lanes.

It’s a significant and welcome development for Route 66ers. The westbound travelers who wish to avoid the interstates to drive into St. Louis soon will be able to do so again.

And St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Amanda St. Amand says it’s not just Mother Roaders looking forward to the bridge’s reopening:

About 10,000 cars and trucks a day were using the McKinley when it was shut down. Granite City officials have said they are expecting as many as 20,000 vehicles a day to use the new and now toll-free McKinley, but Brown said the transportation department had not given her any traffic estimates.

No one is a bigger booster of southwestern Madison County than Brown, and even she acknowledged that when the McKinley closed “it looked like the devil.” But with the entryway park in place, and the bridge set to reopen, she feels certain that her corner of the county is on the way to a comeback. She’s not alone. Business and political leaders in Granite City, Venice and Madison have said the reopening of the bridge should help cause a mini-boom in their local economies.

I heard a few days ago that the video for Enrique Iglesias‘ hit song “Hero” was shot in the Route 66 settlement of Amboy, Calif.

Sure enough, it is. Check it out:

Roy’s is featured prominently, as is a church in town.

And I was thinking the stone ruins were at Cadiz Summit, on Route 66 a few miles away, but it doesn’t look quite right. Any ideas?