🎵 Route 66—Part 2; My Personal Memoir of The Mother Road
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
This time, instead of pictures, I’ll tell you a little story about my first introduction to The Mother Road. (Warning: I think this post shows my ADHD mind a little, but it’s got some fun stuff in it. 😁)
I was 15 and was still living with my grandparents who decided to move from the island in California to the desert in Arizona. The trip included a stop at a restaurant called Pea Soup Andersen’s where I had some of the most amazing split pea soup I can ever recall tasting. I know the two truck stops we gassed up at were in Buttonwillow and Barstow, CA. Looking back at the map, Santa Nella (where the restaurant is located) is about two hours north of Buttonwillow and over four hours from Barstow, so it must have been quite the driving stretch to make that stop.
Hey, I was a teen who didn’t drive (and didn’t want to back then), and I was mostly paying attention to my kitty who was not very happy with traveling for the first time. But I remember the soup like it was yesterday, especially how they put croutons on top.
Anyway, we got to Kingman, Arizona late at night, and it was so dark! It was actually eerie, so I guess it wasn’t one of those nights where the moon lights up the desert like it’s midday.
But it was in adulthood that I learned about the road that served as the main drive through that town. My Uncle Bob (rip) was enamored with the history of it—and the song. (If you click the history link, it’s got a short but interesting post about Route 66 and its decertification followed by some comments that add even more history.) Anyway, it turns out that when Uncle Bob was a firefighter in California, he went to the jazz nightclub where Bobby Troup performed. He even had Bobby write a song for his wife at the time.
So Uncle Bob became one of the biggest fans of my singing and, because of that connection, sent a tape to Bobby Troup who listened and said it was good, but added that nothing compared to his Julie. (Bobby was married to Julie London who played Nurse Dixie McCall on Emergency! where he played Dr. Joe Early.) He sent signed pictures for my sister and me showing him and Julie. Sadly, over the years, those pictures seem to have disappeared—along with a picture of us as little girls with Kevin Tighe. (Kevin played firefighter-paramedic Roy DeSoto on Emergency! We actually stumbled across an episode being filmed once in Sun Valley, so we stopped to watch. He was super friendly with all the fans; and when my stepdad asked if he could take a picture of us with him, he asked a kid near him to hold his coffee and said, “Sure!” with a big smile on his face.)
But I digress. Here is the Bobby Troup version of Get Your Kicks on Route 66 (which was also the theme song of the show by the same name.) If you listen closely, you’ll hear him sing the name of Kingman right after Flagstaff and Winona, and just before Barstow.
If you live along Route 66 in Arizona, you’ll eventually come across the Route 66 Fun Run. It brings out some of the most amazing classic cars to show off as they traverse the scenic stretch from Seligman (yesterday’s post) to Topock, Arizona. Between witnessing that firsthand and sharing in Uncle Bob’s excitement, it was natural to become a bit of a fan myself.
There’s way more I could share—from my numerous stops at Lou Mitchell’s in Chicago to the giant McDonald’s that arches right over the highway on The Will Rogers Turnpike, to the Route 66 museum in Oklahoma City. I’ve included plenty of links, so bookmark this post to come back when you’ve got time for some virtual touring. I’ll try to follow this up on November 11th when Route 66 celebrates its centennial anniversary, though I think that party has already begun in some places!
I have to say, the resilience of the travelers and fans that keep the history alive with memories and celebrations is amazing. It brings to mind the Scripture about remembering the old paths.
Jeremiah 6:16ab BSB
[16] This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jer.6.16.BSB
I will close with the factoid that the song above has been officially recorded well over 500 times. The original was in 1946 by the Nat King Cole Trio. The most recent was by John Mayer in 2006 for the movie Cars, and somewhere in-between, there was even a dark synth-pop electronic version by Depeche Mode. My Aunt Shirley (Uncle Bob’s wife) really liked that version.
Here are those three videos for your comparative listening pleasure.
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Do You Bounce?
Some things hit the ground and go splat. Some hit and shatter. Some bounce. Obviously, bouncing is the best response because it means that instead of staying down, you will rise back up. The fancy word for this is resiliency. Resilient people can bounce back like cartoon characters who never seem to find a permanent splat even if they have to pump themselves back up. It’s an important characteristic that some have naturally, but which we can also learn.
Yeshua knew the ultimate bounce–from death to life. Today’s Infinite Supply talks about how Yeshua’s resiliency can help us bounce too.
Infinite Supply Image for November Twenty-Fourth by The School of Christ Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original article at The School of Christ dot org website.
November 24
Accomplished Through the Cross
“We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
ROMANS 6:4
The Cross is the means by which God reduces us to Christ, that we may be raised to new Life. What cannot be accomplished in a lifetime of self-effort is easily accomplished in God through the Cross.
We may take many shortcuts along the way and attempt to escape the inevitable, but the day we cease striving and meekly accept the Cross we find everything is done for us.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
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The trick Yeshua used to bounce back is found in The Holy Spirit. Yeshua didn’t have to fear dying to His earthly self because He knew He would rise again in both body and spirit. He knew death was not permanent, and He knew His new life was worth more than His old life. He also knew the true value of His death–a new life for all those who trust in Him.
I find that people who don’t know The Lord are typically either hopeless or put their hope into things that are likely to destroy them in the end. If they choose the latter, they may look happy in the midst of their partying, but take it away from them and you’ll see how unhappy they are on the inside. If people put their happiness and security in anything this world has to offer, they are only happy as long as they are comfortable.
To the contrary, people who intimately know Yeshua as their Lord, Savior, and Best Friend have hope in spite of discomforts in their lives. The blood of Christ covers us like “Flubber” and helps us both endure and bounce. Serving and loving God gives us the resiliency to bounce back if only to rebound with enough hope to trust in the eternal life He has prepared for our future.
If you are on your way down and know you won’t bounce, it’s not too late to get covered by the blood of Christ in repentance and baptism. Accept the cross and fall at the feet of the Lord before you fall to the bottom of your life, and you can bounce up to a new life and a new hope. When you die to yourself, you open the door for God to raise you up to the newness of life. There’s nothing more resilient than resurrection. Do you bounce? If not, feel free to write to me and ask for more information.
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