The Route 66 Elvis Across America Roadathon
2002 Internet Scrapbook
A Pictorial Essay By Mark W. Curran
"An Elvis Impersonator Takes A Trip Back To The Future On Route 66!"
The idea was profound, the magic and mystery of it irresistable.
To travel Route 66, every last inch of it, from Chicago to Santa Monica, as an Elvis Impersonator, and stop at predesignated towns every 200 miles and perform a free Elvis concert. The mission: to create awareness of Route 66 and its vistas while extolling the virtues of an ever diminishing small town America and it's music.
To make this already outrageous premise to its fullest extent, I decided I would do it for free, and accept no money for the performances, other than tips and CD sales. All proceeds raised if tickets were sold would go to the Route 66 Association for that state.
The idea, as most ideas go, was a lot easier said than done!
People were skeptical. Some of them were downright critical. But persistence finally won out, with the help of some of the folks who believed in me from the beginning, it began to take shape.
After a year of planning, hundreds of emails, phone calls and letters, it finally came together.
On June 24, 2002, I left Los Angeles and began my long drive to Chicago, and took my time getting there on the "slab", the interstate system that took me northward through Salt Lake City and across Colorado, and eventually, Chicago. My first stop on the tour was Willowbrook, and a great eatery called "Dell Rheas Chicken Basket."
What followed was a 2,448 mile journey through the very heart of America, its places and its people.
I did it on the road that was once America's only continuous East-West highway.
I did it on Route 66.
What follows is a pictorial essay of the trip, the people I encountered, and the performances I gave to the many gracious and wonderful folk along the way. Soon to be added will be sound clips, video clips, and copies of some of the articles that were generated along the way.
"How did it go?" people are apt to ask.
Well, to be truthful with you, it was hot, tiring, and crazymaking. 21 shows in 21 days, in a bone-drenching suffocating heat wave that would not let up till after I got home.
It was also the experience of a lifetime.
No words can explain what it is like to have a town shut down for you, the main street closed off, and banners and signs everywhere with the town cheering for Elvis, especially when you are not really Elvis. Add some fireworks going off overhead and the crowd cheering and appluading in appreciation, well, let's say there were times when I thought I was dreaming!
That is something money can't buy, and I can never forget the great memories the many towns along the way provided for me like this. People took me into their homes, their hearts, and their souls, and I'm not kidding.
A chance to see an America that hasn't changed much in values since many of the towns were incorporated many years ago, a chance to see what Route 66 does best: the classic American landscape and the heart and soul of what makes our country so great.
Before I continue, I'd like to say that a tour such as this does not just happen on its own. Thanks to the following people for helping to make my trip happen:
Patrick Rhea at Dells, Betty Estes at the Pontiac Bureau Of Tourism, Johnny Moo Moo Taylor and the gang at Illinois Route 66 Association, Larry Tanniman, Ken Turmel, Cheryl Nowka, Randy Snyder, Kristi Lee, Debra and Ken Hodgkin, Al Swacker, Rod Walton, James Good, Paul Stark, Fred at Fredericks Music Lounge, Derek at Route 66 Radio, "Bozo" at Route 66 Museum in Santa Paula, Josephs Bar And Grill, Sharon Johnson, David Knudsen, Angel Degadillo and the whole family at the Snow Cap in Seligman, Fran at Midpoint, Dawn at The Rock, Kathy Anderson, Bob Kinas, Niki Callahan, Shellee Graham, The San Bernardino Sun, Randy Gomez, Joel Goodrich, Sue Preston, Bob Moore, Paul Taylor, Jim Ross, Bob and Mei Rasmussen, Tucamcari Chamber of Commerce, Jim in Tucumcari for the awesome corvette entrance, Larry Petersen in Gallup for providing the largest audience of my career, (6000), Ed and Debra at Vernelles, all the great media folks along the way who helped to publicize my trip. Rich and Linda Henry, you guys are the nicest people I have ever met, and that is not an easy thing to say with this list of people, whose kindness went beyond words.
And a VERY SPECIAL thanks to:
Emily Priddy, Johnny Meir, Jim Conkle, Marilyn & Durelle Pritchard:. You guys went so far above and beyond the call of duty that I am truly astonished, and if it weren't for you the trip would not have happened. If I could I'd erect statues of you guys and open a damn park.
Thanks a million times over, and thank you all for helping to make this happen! If I have forgotten to mention anyone, please, you know who you are, and you know you are appreciated!
Let the pictorial essay begin!
PART ONE: CHICAGO TO WILLIAMS ARIZONA
PART TWO: SELIGMAN ARIZONA TO BARSTOW CALIFORNIA
PART THREE: BARSTOW CALIFORNIA TO SANTA MONICA, CA.