{"id":120081,"date":"2014-05-22T21:42:32","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T03:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-filmmaker-showcases-mother-road\/"},"modified":"2014-05-22T21:42:32","modified_gmt":"2014-05-23T03:42:32","slug":"cortez-filmmaker-showcases-mother-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-filmmaker-showcases-mother-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez filmmaker showcases \u2018Mother Road\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"David
David Bowyer has a new CD documentary out, \u201cExploring Route 66, The Mother Road.\u201d<\/span>Sam Green\/Cortez Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A festive revival of old Route 66 from New Mexico to California is featured in a new documentary by David Bowyer.<\/p>\n

Exploring Route 66. The Mother Road showcases the history of America\u2019s iconic roadway \u2014 from its demise after the speedway of Interstate 40 was built, to its resurgence as a tourism attraction today.<\/p>\n

Bowyer, a Cortez filmmaker, spent three years visiting the towns and people along the western sections of Route 66. His journey reveals a fascinating portrait of classic Americana that screams \u201cTime for a road trip!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExploring if for the first time really had an impression on me, and I saw it had the potential for a film,\u201d Bowyer said in an interview. \u201cIt was a fun adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowyer tracks down Route 66\u2019s enthusiastic boosters who refused to let their tiny towns die after the road full of customers was abandoned in 1985 in favor of I-40.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re just traveling from point A to B and don\u2019t give a damn what is in-between, then I-40 is for you,\u201d says Chuck Berand, of Seligman, Ariz., one of many characters in the film. \u201cBut if you want to know where you have been, drive down Route 66. It is a good education.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Chicago to Santa Monica, Route 66 passed through eight states, delivering drivers through the middle of modern cities and small towns all along the way.<\/p>\n

Much of it is gone now, but many sections remain, including a 158-mile stretch from Seligman to Kingman.<\/p>\n

The slower pace of the main route to California created a culture of commerce in the Southwest, supporting towns such as Gallup, Flagstaff, Seligman, Winslow, Oatman, San Bernadino, and Kingman.<\/p>\n

Angel Delgadillo is considered the grandfather of the Route 66 revival, persuading Arizona to preserve it as a historical landmark in 1987.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like pulling teeth to get it designated. But now all the businesses are reactivated, people walking down the street, the traveling public is happy,\u201d he says. \u201cThe world is looking for a simpler way of life and discovering the romance of the Mother Road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Historian Kristi Householder explains how Route 66 was a key transportation corridor for freight and vacationers. When the road was bypassed, towns lost their livelihood as stores, restaurants,and hotels shuttered overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrade was set up because of Route 66. Native American artwork became popular and could be picked up at trading posts,\u201d especially in Gallup, she says.<\/p>\n

Quirky kitsch also became trendy as roadside attractions. Stay in concrete teepees at a hotel in Holbrook. Visit the largest rabbit, largest dream catcher and gigantic dinosaur scenes.<\/p>\n

And of course, life is not complete until you \u201cStand on the corner in Winslow Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowyers view from the camera is crisp and lively. He films many souvenir shops, honky-tonks, and diners, then interviews the owners, musicians, and locals about Route 66\u2019s impact on the past and present. Multiple side trips, such as to the Grand Canyon, Navajo Country, and volcanic craters are nicely portrayed and explained as well.<\/p>\n

The fun video is set to a well-produced soundtrack of country-western and bebop from back in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving ghost towns\u201d re-create the rowdy mining days, complete with street shootouts and train robberies.<\/p>\n

In Oatman, mild-mannered burros roam freely downtown and poke their fuzzy faces into cars to the delight of kids and adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the mining was over, they were brought up from underground and let loose. They\u2019re direct descendants from the ones in the mines,\u201d explains a local.<\/p>\n

Once in Santa Monica, Calif., \u201ceverybody jumps out of the \u201957 Pontiac goes and jumps in the ocean,\u201d the announcer says. \u201cRoute 66 got us there and will take us back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his next adventure, Bowyers plans to explore the first section of Route 66 starting from Chicago to Albuquerque. His family production company includes his wife, Denise, and sons James and Jonathan.<\/p>\n

Pick up a copy of Route 66: The Mother Road at the Cortez Cultural Center and Notah Dineh in Cortez.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@cortezjournal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3 years visiting towns and people along western sections of Route 66<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5961,5843],"tags":[13],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-120081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-entertainment","category-living","tag-frontpage-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120081"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=120081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}