Route 66 at 100: A look back at the iconic highway — Transcript

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1. 0:00You know, here in bigger cities like
2. 0:01Amarillo, it's so much easier to hop off
3. 0:03the interstate and check out these
4. 0:04iconic sites. But, as we know, there's
5. 0:07so many other towns along the original
6. 0:09historic route, and many of those
7. 0:11businesses tell me that tourism just
8. 0:13ebbs and flows.
9. 0:17US Route 66 captured the imagination of
10. 0:20dreamers, workers, and travelers across
11. 0:23America. There's so much of of American
12. 0:25history here on Route 66. That continued
13. 0:28for decades. Trucking industry increased
14. 0:30like 700% between 1939-1964.
15. 0:351964, 80% of people vacationed by
16. 0:39automobile. And travelers needed a stop
17. 0:41to fuel up and grab a bite to eat. But,
18. 0:44when I-40 came along the Texas stretch,
19. 0:46business owners say it's like someone
20. 0:49flipped a switch. Think 1939, [snorts]
21. 0:51you got a million cars uh coming through
22. 0:54your town in a year, and after the war,
23. 0:56that increases, and all of a sudden
24. 0:59it's like somebody turned off the tap.
25. 1:01Some business owners on this part of
26. 1:03Route 66 say the 100th anniversary spurs
27. 1:06their economy. Our town was bypassed by
28. 1:08the by I-40, but, you know, there are a
29. 1:12lot of people who travel, who love to go
30. 1:14into the town, meet the people, see the
31. 1:16places. Snuggled off the original route
32. 1:19is Dot's Mini Museum in Vega, west of
33. 1:21Amarillo. Dot Lovett came to this town
34. 1:24after the Second World War. She died
35. 1:26years ago, but Dot's trinkets and
36. 1:28knickknacks still fill every inch of the
37. 1:31museum. Look for the boots in a tree and
38. 1:33walk right in. It's never locked. I
39. 1:35always say that the thing that's mostly
40. 1:37missing about Dot's Mini Museum is Dot
41. 1:39herself, cuz she was a lot of life and a
42. 1:42lot of fun. Just a few miles west is the
43. 1:44midpoint of the Mother Road. It's a time
44. 1:47capsule with a big neon sign you can't
45. 1:49miss.
46. 1:50Don't get me wrong, it's not that it's
47. 1:51not hard, because it's a job. [laughter]
48. 1:54But, it's just it's just fun. I get to
49. 1:56meet awesome people. And travelers come
50. 1:58from all over the world. From its
51. 2:00inception, what it's the people. Always
52. 2:03been about the people. That's what gives
53. 2:04it that infectious magic and enthusiasm.
54. 2:10Now, so far I've been able to drive more
55. 2:12than 1,000 miles just to get right here
56. 2:14and I still have more than 360 to go to
57. 2:17get to my next stop. And Terrence,
58. 2:19that's when we'll look at the future of
59. 2:21what the next 100 years of the historic
60. 2:23Route 66 will actually look like. Back
61. 2:26to you. It's wild to even think about.
62. 2:27You probably chatted with a bunch of
63. 2:28people, I'm sure, about the anniversary,
64. 2:30Chelsea. Have you come across any cool
65. 2:32stops or places along Route 66 that just
66. 2:35feel special or surprising to you?
67. 2:39I think it was Oatman, Arizona. It's one
68. 2:41of those parts of the original roadway
69. 2:43that's a little bit out of the way.
70. 2:44You're going to go through some sharp
71. 2:46turns and uh steep zigzags, but it's so
72. 2:49wonderful. It's an old mining town and
73. 2:51they've kind of kept that feel of the
74. 2:53wild west and now it's pretty touristy.
75. 2:55They have some shops and different
76. 2:57places to eat, but there's wild donkeys,
77. 2:59there's other wildlife that you can see
78. 3:01just walking through and driving through
79. 3:03town. Uh so, I think that's a beautiful
80. 3:05part of this trip that I was very
81. 3:07surprised. I only heard of it when I was
82. 3:09uh talking to a couple experts on Route
83. 3:1166 and they said, "Hey, if you got to go
84. 3:13through one part that's kind of out of
85. 3:15the way, go through Oatman, Arizona."
86. 3:17And I I mean, it's it's been my favorite
87. 3:19stop so far.
88. 3:21I'm sure there's more interesting people
89. 3:23awaiting you on the rest of your
90. 3:25journey. Thanks so much, Chelsea.
91. 3:26Appreciate it.