American Road Trip Talk

In the Spring 2014 issue in the Friendd in the Fast Lane department, we show a Kansas artist, Dave DeArmond, who was so moved by the 1916 Midland Trail Tour guide that he began painting scenes mentioned in the book. Now people like our guest, Joan Nothern, of the Solomon Valley Hwy 24 Heritage Alliance are making that nearly century old driving guide come alive. Joan is the president of that association and right here shares the story behind their efforts to rediscover the forgotten transcontinental Midland Trail. Joan will share the vision she and her associates have for restoring the awareness of this remarkable homemade link between oceans that sprang up in the early days of touring cars. To spur that effort on, the alliance is going to showcase the historic Midland Trail Guide at the Kansas Sampler Festival on May 3-4in Wamego, KS. For more information about that festival visit http://www.kansassampler.org/festival/.

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Butterflies normally conjure up beautiful images of colorful, delicate winged creatures flitting by your mind’s eye. How about throwing in a few thousand cockroaches you can play with and lots of hungry caterpillars? In the Spring 2014 issue of American Road Magazine in our US 40: Across the Middle Department, I described some of the Looking Glass Insects I discovered at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House of the Missouri Botanical Gardens. This remarkable facility is located in a beautiful park just west of St. Louis in the suburb of Chesterfield. Laura Chisholm, Living Collections Manager, takes us on a quick tour of the insides of this beautiful facility that you will want to make a must visit on your next trip to the Gateway of the West, St. Louis, MO.

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In the Spring 2014 issue of American Road Magazine our Memory Motel column was all ears as we swept down into the mountain resort of Steamboat Springs to visit the Rabbit Ears Motel. Ironically, as Greg Koehler, our guest and owner of the motel will tell us, the name has more to do with geology than a certain rascally cartoon character. On the other hand the inn’s overactive sign did create something of a distraction for visitors to the famous Steamboat Springs right across the street. Greg also shares an honest look at the hard life of maintaining a motel. It’s a real labor of love.

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In our Winter 2013 issue of American Road Magazine we wandered a bit north of our theme area of Washington State into the Canadian Rockies for the subject of our Memory Motel Column. Tucked in the foothills of the craggy grandeur of British Columbia near the town of Ainsworth Springs stands the Mermaid Lodge and Motel. Not quite the image that would seem to go with a town that grew up in the rough and tumble of the Canadian Gold Rush. In part three and our final interview with Marsh Giles, the current innkeeper shares a wonderful story about the bawdy mermaid sign that once graced her Lodge and the artists who have memorialized the inn.

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Welcome to Part 2 of our interview at the Indiana Medical History Museum in Indianapolis where I met Mary Ellen Hennessey Nottage, the passionate curator of medical history in Indiana. We conducted the interview as we strolled through what had been the pathology lab for the state's main mental health hospital for more than a century. In Part 2 of our interview you will find out how death provided both a valuable resource in medical study and a compassionate benefit to the deceased's family. This interview was not only remarkable because of the historical artifacts and history of the institution but also because it traced the early efforts to hunt down a cruel disabler and often killer, mental illness.

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In our Winter 2013 issue of American Road Magazine we wandered a bit north of our theme area of Washington State into the Canadian Rockies for the subject of our Memory Motel Column. Tucked in the foothills of the craggy grandeur of British Columbia near the town of Ainsworth Springs stands the Mermaid Lodge and Motel. Not quite the image that would seem to go with a town that grew up in the rough and tumble of the Canadian Gold Rush. In part one of our interviews with Marsh Gillies who is the current innkeeper along with her husband we will find out about the fascinating history of an area of the Rockies that has been a gathering place for millennia due to its healing waters. In part 2 and 3 Marsha will share the colorful history of the Lodge itself and her family’s overcoming tragedy to maintain it.

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In our Winter 2013 issue of American Road Magazine we wandered a bit north of our theme area of Washington State into the Canadian Rockies for the subject of our Memory Motel Column. Tucked in the foothills of the craggy grandeur of British Columbia near the town of Ainsworth Springs stands the Mermaid Lodge and Motel. Not quite the image that would seem to go with a town that grew up in the rough and tumble of the Canadian Gold Rush. In part two of our interviews with Marsh Gillies who is the current innkeeper along with her husband she describes the colorful history of the Lodge and how her family overcame a terrible tragedy to maintain the historic inn. Don’t miss our third interview when Marsha will share a wonderful story about the bawdy mermaid who once graced her Lodge.

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In 2011 the jovial California grocer drove named Dave Schaub drove his Brizio-built ’32 Ford roadster through all 49 continental United States in an amazing 7 days, 14 hours and 21 minutes. We featured a picture of Dave at the finish line in Alaska in one of our recent Friends in the Fastlane Columns. It was all part of an effort to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford University Hospital. In this first part of the interview, Dave talks about getting himself and his custom car ready for the grueling journey. In part 2 Dave Schaub will reveal a surprising benefit that he gained from the journey.

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In 2011 a California grocer named Dave Schaub drove his Brizio-built Custom ’32 Ford roadster through all 49 continental United States in an amazing 7 days, 14 hours and 21 minutes. We featured a picture of Dave at the finish line in Alaska in one of our recent Friends in the Fast lane Column. In part two of our interview Dave describes how he made the incredible journey on 5 hours of sleep a day without being accompanied by a chase crew. It was literally man and machine against the clock for nearly 9,000-miles to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford University Hospital. But the most challenging part of the race against the clock and the most inspiring part came as Dave entered Canada on his way to the finish line in Alaska.

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You only have to mention the words “Route 66” and people all over the world begin to conjure up their own visions of this nostalgic ribbon of American highway. I seriously doubt, however, that many if any of you would identify pigeons with that same stretch of asphalt. However, for our guest in this two-part American Road Trip Talk podcast, Route 66 is a feathery racetrack. Randy Goodpasture is the owner, loft manager and organizer of the Route 66 Race in which the contestants are the noble carrier pigeons capable of speeds that will blow your mind for hundreds of miles. In this first part of our conversation Randy gives us the big picture of what a pigeon race is and what it has to do with Route 66. In part 2 we’ll find out more about the character of these noble birds, some of whom were decorated war heroes.

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