It goes through Saint Louie

Here is a historic highway, a narrow concrete time capsule, complete with ghosts of gas stations pumping out charm and skeletons of roadside diners serving up simpler times. Route 66 is all attitude: Freedom. Adventure. Kicks.

Puzzle Heaven. Puzzle Hell.

Sleeper, Missouri, hides some big stories. Years ago two trains collided in Sleeper. The trains piled up like accordions, and only a jigsaw puzzle master could put them together again. Appropriate, as I approached Nancy Ballhagen’s Puzzles, a major distributor … Read More

Kudzu 66

Get your kicks on Route 66. But at least at this stop, a lube job is out of the question.

Devils and Elbows

I found a hideaway. When I rolled to its door, a thundershower was beating down on the low slung structure made mostly of logs with mud chinks, its back wall standing just a couple of feet above the swollen Big … Read More

If E Could Talk

I climbed up and took a nap beneath the T on this sign, sharing space with the ghosts of travelers who stopped here long ago to add a sticky chapter to their Route 66 journey. Locals too. And Spring breakers … Read More

Services Ahead

Next exit. An oasis to behold after traveling through ice and snow and wind. A forest of gasoline signs offered my car the lure to drink deep from a selection of gas pumps not seen since the ‘60s. But the … Read More