" Route 66 is becoming a destination," says Paul Taylor, editor of Route 66 Magazine (8 years old, circulation 50,000). This road is particularly popular among Europeans and the children of baby boomers. Both of these groups like to tour Route 66 in classic cars. Some Europeans actually ship their classic wheels to America to make sure they get the full, vintage effect. According to the National Historic Route 66 Federation. "People are yearning for the real America, the heartland, the historical experiences that exist here."

Route 66 runs from Chicago to Santa Monica. It has starred in its own TV show (1960-64), featuring the exploits of Buz, Tod and their Corvette and it has been memorialized in songs. At least fifty books have been written and approximately eighteen Route 66 societies are in existence. It is sometimes lovingly referred to as "America's Main Street" and "The Mother Road." Route 66 became a microcosm of roadside America...with homegrown diners, mom-and-pop hotels and quirky attractions.

Construction of five Interstate highways choked the life out of the small towns and hamlets along its way. The rebirth started with a man named Angel Delgadillo, a Seligman, Arizona barber, who founded the first Route 66 association with 15 others in 1987. The group persuaded the state to designate a stretch of the old route in western Arizona as historic. In 1999, passage of the National Route 66 Corridor Preservation Act provided "matching funds for business owners restoring historically significant properties."

The road's cult following clearly is growing. Estimates are traffic on the road has increased 40 percent over the past three years even though only 85% is drivable. Route 66 nostalgia will reach a new high this summer, with celebrations of its 75th Anniversary, the biggest of which took place in Albuquerque, July 20-22.

Transforming Tomorrow

One key to overcoming challenges and being comfortable with change is to maximize the power of our brains. Lawrence Katz, Ph.D., and Manning Rubin suggest we increase our brain power by learning Braille, in their book, Keep Your Brain Alive.

"Most public elevators and ATMs have Braille instructions for blind or visually impaired individuals. In today’s world, it’s sighted people who suffer tactile deprivation. Use your fingers to learn the Braille numbers for different floors of your office building or for controlling the elevator," Katz and Rubin explain, " When you learned to read, you learned to associate a very specific visual stimulus like a letter or number, with a sound, then with a word, and eventually with meaning. Learning to make distinctions and associations with your fingers, such as between two dots and three dots, activates a whole new set of pathways linking the cognitive regions of your cortex, which are the areas that recognize a letter or a number, to the sensory regions. By the time you are able to "read" the button for your floor, using just your fingertips, you’ll have built a bit of new circuitry in your cortex."

My advice is to be sure to open your eyes before you get off the elevator, just in case you pressed the wrong button!

Enjoy your week.

Published: July 31, 2001

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