Is still popular today, even after decades after it was decommissioned . Mr. Gerlich it has a lot to do with nostalgia today. People want to revisit places that maybe they experienced as a child. That is a huge part of the nostalgia. But there is another kind of nostalgia as well. It is called anna moya. It is a desire to visit a place in the past that you never experienced. And so, for younger americans, and for International Tourists of all ages for whom route 66 was only something they may have heard about, coming to do route 66 by car or motorcycle or bicycle today is getting to visit a distant past that they have only seen in books. When route 66 came through town in 1926, our airport, at least the modern airport, was not here. Today, you can drive on northeast 8th and you run into a fence that is now protecting the modern airport. But the road kept going. In fact, amarillo is one of three cities along route 66 in which the road is now buried by the modern airport. Amarillo, santa rosa in new mexico, and st. Louis, missouri. So, right up ahead here is where the fence and the gate are. And if you get up high enough on a ladder or on a vehicle, you can see a bit of concrete from the 1920s that was still left here. It exists just beyond the outer ring road of the airport and runs up to one of the current runways. I just saw a plane take off here. It literally crossed over route 66. And so, it is still there. Hardly anybody knows about this little fragment of the mother road that is hiding in plain sight, but right beyond that gate is where the old road was and still is. Where did the idea for this book start, or come about . Mr. Gerlich ellen and i met on facebook. And it would sound cliche today, but we did. In several facebook groups for route 66. And she and her husband in germany had been wanting to pursue a book project, as they had been over to america a couple times prior and had done a lot of photography on the road. And they wanted to partner with someone from america who knew the route and was prepared to write about it. So, we kind of had a blind date in may of 2015. They asked me via facebook if i would like to meet them for dinner in downtown amarillo. And i said, of course, i would love to do that. Dinner, theyd pitched the idea, and we all fell in love with each other. From that point forward, ellen started working on the structure of the book. Where we wanted it to go, what kind of shot, what kind of narrations we wanted. And her husband, udo, who was already an accomplished author, had decided he was going to be our manager. He kept us on task through all of that. So, we began our joint efforts in september of 2015 on one of their subsequent trips. And we traveled extensively the next three years, visiting many sites all along route 66. So that i could experience what ellen was experiencing, and more specifically, what she was seeing through the lens of her camera. And that had a big part in the naming of our book, a matter of time route 66 through the lens of change. It was not just clever wordplay, it was truly what we were doing. We wanted to chronicle change. And that is a reoccurring theme in the classes that i teach as well. I think it is important to know your history, how it all began. And then it is important to take note of where you are today. Because the only way to plan for the future is to know your past and your present. And that is what we wanted to do with the book. In those photos, we were able to chronicle the decay of many things that were once prospering along 66. But also the emergence of new businesses along route 66, as well as the evolution of older businesses. Because 66 is not dead yet. I do not think it will ever be dead. Parts of it are, but other parts are very much alive. And we wanted to focus on how things have changed. Some things didnt change for the best, but other things did change very well. People have evolved, businesses have evolved, and they are still out there meeting the needs of tourists today. Ok, we are coming into downtown amarillo on pierce street. And we are going to stop and take a look at the herring hotel, which was built in 1926 in 5. 5 months. A 13 story building, absolutely amazing that somebody could do that in 5. 5 months. They cannot even build an overpass into years here these days, much less a 13 story hotel. And it was situated just feet off route 66. It had a soft opening on december 15, 1926, which was only a month and four days after the birth of route 66. And then they had a big gala on new years eve of 1926. And then they were in business for good. It is an amazing hotel. It has been abandoned for many years. And it needs a lot of money and a lot of tlc, but it could be something again today. This had 600 rooms. It also had people who lived in it. In other words, it had condos before condos were a thing. Folks had fullsize living quarters, apartments, on the upper floors. And this is where the movers and shakers stayed. The basement had a club where oilmen and cattle barons could come hang out and do business back in the old days. It had on the second floor, a coffee shop. There was also a big ballroom on the second floor. This was the premier establishment in amarillo. So, we are on southwest 6, this is route 66 going through town. We have got the courthouse and library on the right, juxtaposed with nice modern structures with all reflecting surfaces. Right across the street, the First Bank Southwest Building a couple of blocks down the road. Its the tallest building between amarillo excuse me, its the tallest building between fort worth and denver at 31 stories. But right ahead here is the barfield building undergoing renovations right now. It will reopen in 2020 as a marriott autograph hotel. That is a big part of the experience here in amarillo, is being able to see the old amid the new and how it all kind of comes together. Ellen, she is a really good photographer. She has been influenced by a lot of really good street photographers through the years. You know, she could really see the juxtaposition of the old and the new here, the skyscraper, andold sign and so forth, the old street. So, we are in the far Western Region of the texas panhandle, unfortunately driving a bit on interstate right now, but only because route 66 was obliterated here in the 1970s. We are going to get off at exit 0 and visit one of the coolest ghost towns along all of route 66, glenn rio. So, we are going to cross the freeway here now and get onto a little strand of old route 66, the last strand in texas going west and the first strand if you are going east. And with that in mind, we are actually going to stop at the first last motel, which is right on the state line. And just like the name implies, it was the first or last thing you saw depending on which way you were going. We are standing inside the longhorn cafe, which was built around 1951 in glenn rio. This is where everybody had their first or last meal in texas. It was an exceptionally busy, successful cafe because it was conveniently located in the middle of nowhere. People could fill up their bellies, fill up their tanks in their cars, and if they were tired, they would get a room at the motel in the back. But either way, glenn rio was a happening town back in the 1950s. This was definitely in the book. We had a lot of fun glenn miele was a busy place. Cars would be stacked up in the middle of nowhere. Look to theto do is freeway a quarter mile north. This and otherh programs on the history of communities across the country on cspan. Org city toward. City tours. In 1957, the soviet union orbit. D sputnik into american educators reacted with surprise and determination to improve education. Next, the left commissioner report on the status of schools at the time. Teacherssuggests that are underpaid, parents are apathetic and too many students drop out before they graduate. Johnny is my given name. America is my nation. The schoolhouse is my learning place