Jonathan Bullington

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Jonathan Bullington |E. Jason Wambsgans

HACKBERRY, Arizona — The mayor stretched on the couch under the air conditioner in the Hackberry General Store and looked slightly annoyed at the tourist who woke him from his nap. In addition to his duties as the unofficial leader of the unincorporated former mining town’s 334 residents, Charlie the 10-year-old cat is also the store’s night security guard and its exterminator. “He was dropped off as a kitten,” remembered store clerk Eva Rodriguez, 66. “He was feral, just a mess.

2 weeks ago | bnd.com | Jonathan Bullington |E. Jason Wambsgans

AMBOY, Calif. - Water is the key to the future of Roy's Motel & Cafe, the lone survivor in a Route 66 town that, at its peak, boasted 200 residents, three gas stations, three motels, two cafes, a post office, a school and a church. Then Interstate 40 came a half-century ago and offered travelers a faster way through this remote stretch of the Mojave Desert in eastern California. "It was like they turned off the cars," said Roy's manager, Ken Large.

2 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | Jonathan Bullington |E. Jason Wambsgans

KINGMAN, Arizona — There is a roughly 8-mile section of Route 66 at the western edge of this state that is considered to be one of the most scenic and white-knuckled drives this country has to offer. It’s known as the Arizona Sidewinder, or to locals, simply, The Sidewinder. Eastbound Route 66 leaves California and crosses the Colorado River into Arizona, where it unfurls like a ribbon of pavement approaching the Black Mountains.

3 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | Jonathan Bullington |E. Jason Wambsgans

AMBOY, Calif. — Water is the key to the future of Roy’s Motel & Cafe, the lone survivor in a Route 66 town that, at its peak, boasted 200 residents, three gas stations, three motels, two cafes, a post office, a school and a church. Then Interstate 40 came a half-century ago and offered travelers a faster way through this remote stretch of the Mojave Desert in eastern California. “It was like they turned off the cars,” said Roy’s manager, Ken Large.

3 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | Jonathan Bullington |E. Jason Wambsgans

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Our Route 66 road trip began at the end, at the famed fishing pier jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. On a breezy Sunday afternoon, the first day of June, a steady stream of visitors waited their turns to pose with one of the pier’s most popular attractions: a Route 66 sign, perched on a pole 12 feet above the wooden planks, advertising the spot as the “end of the trail.”Except, it’s not really the end.