Page 12 - AAA Now! – AAA Central Penn – May/June 2022

TRAVEL
fried treat: the Cozy Dog. In Holbrook, Arizona, spend the night nestled in a tipi at the historic Wigwam Motel.
Mickey Mantle’s hometown of Commerce, Oklahoma, welcomes hungry road warriors to gobble down Route 66-themed cookies at the Dairy King, housed in a 1931 former Marathon service station. Afterward, stop for a photo op across the street in front of the fluorescent green 1929 Allen’s Conoco Fillin’ Station, which was built right into the brick wall of the adjacent building.
Farther along in Amarillo, Texas, let your inner Picasso run wild with a can of spray paint at Cadillac Ranch, where 10 vintage Cadillacs are jammed nose down into the ground, providing a canvas for budding artists. (Yes, spray painting the cars is allowed.)
These days, scores of Route 66-themed restaurants, and shops laden with souvenir T-shirts and coffee mugs may give the impression that this trip is now the place to “get your kitsch.” But amid the endless vistas of the Great Plains or
under the starry desert skies of the Southwest, you may still pass travelers pursuing their dreams along the Mother Road as they seek their ticket to the promised land.
Road Worthy
The Mother Road turns 100 in 2026, but we’re not waiting to start celebrating. AAA is hosting the first-ever AAA Route 66 Road Fest in June 2022. Taking place in Oklahoma City, June 18-19, and in Tulsa, June 25-26, the Road Fest will offer live music, interactive exhibits, vintage cars and much more. For details on the 2022 Road Fest, visit Route66RoadFest.com.
You can help aid the resurgence of Oklahoma’s portion of the Mother Road through the AAA Route 66 Revival Fund. This fund has been established to support development and improvement projects – such as signage, walkability, beautification, street lighting and bike lanes – in Oklahoma’s Route 66 communities from the Kansas border to the Texas Panhandle. For more information on the fund, visit route66revival.org.
12 I MAY/JUNE 2022