Route 6 PA in the Fall

A few images to tease you out on US Route 6 next year:

Route 6 PA in the Fall

Lake Wallenpaupak, PA

Westernaire Weighs in on Her Great Experience Outside of Denver, CO on US Route 6

Today, I received this message from a reader who commented on my initial Westernaire's Write Up.
Over 1,000 Westernaires, ages 9 - 19,  learn responsibility and earn respect through horsemanship, and three years ago, I was honored to watch one of their top performing groups drill while the sun set over the Rocky Mountains in the background. It was spine-tingling.

Thank you to Westernaire, Rayne Veazey, for the comment that I've copied in its entirety below:

I am a Westernaire, I will be in my fifth year in September. Right now I am a Shadow Rider. I came across your blog and I thought you captured Westernaires perfectly. We learn horsemanship, discipline, and basic integrity. We also learn confidence, I was really shy when I started Westernaires and after having to go talk to strangers in order to sell tickets for Annual Show and therefore I have become more confident. I hope that you come to visit sometime again, we have some new baby ponies one is named Queen of Spades (we call her Queenie), the other one is named Eclipse (she was born the night of the eclipse), they were born a few days apart. Westernaires is doing really well, maybe you should come visit and see how its doing for your self. THANK YOU!!! - Rayne Veazey

Fred Hahn, Champion of US Route 6, Passed Away Today, June 11, 2014

Fred Hahn was a champion of US Route 6, particularly in his home-state of California. I met Fred at the tail end of my trip across the country in the summer of 2011 and he was generous, enthusiastic and extremely nice.

According to Russ Lombard, Director of the US Route 6 Tourist Association,

 "Fred was the person who made sure no-one filming for movies or TV was injured during those special (pyrotechnics) effects. He represented the insurance companies when filming was done on locations outside the studios. His approval was required before the filming of burning buildings and explosions, etc. He is also retired from the County of Los Angeles Fire Dept. and past two term Mayor of the City of Lancaster."

Fred Hahn passed away last night and his great energy and friendliness will be sorely missed.

Rest in Peace, Fred.

Fred Hahn and friend with Malerie Yolen-Cohen in Lancaster, CA

Route 6 Tragedy, Posthumous NY Times Best Seller

As US Route 6 spans 3,205 miles across the United States, crashes, injuries and deaths are a common occurrence.  But none captured the attention of the world as did the May 2012 death of 22 year old Marina Keegan, a Yale graduate with a promising future as a writer, in Dennis, MA on Cape Cod.

Here's a short write-up from Waylandenews.com the day after Keegan's death:

Cape Cod Today 5/27/12: Woman dead, male driver injured in Dennis rollover on Route 6. One person was killed and another injured in a single-vehicle rollover on Route 6 eastbound in Dennis Saturday at 2:20 p.m. The couple were both 22 and had graduated last Monday from Yale University in New Haven, CT. The man was driving, and his woman passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. The Yale Daily News reports that the dead woman was identified as Marina Keegan of Wayland, MA. She was a passenger in a 1997 Lexus ES300 driven by Michael Gocksch of New York, and both members of the 2012 class at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, where she excelled as a student and featured on National Public Radio and the New York Times.

The last essay that Keegan wrote for the Yale newspaper, The Opposite of Loneliness, is the title of a collection of her essays and stories - and now a New York Times Best Seller. 

May you rest in peace, Marina. Your spirit lives on to inspire others.

Hartford, CT: A Capitol Reason to Stay A Few Days in This Route 6 City

Connecticut State Capitol Building

If you’ve ever been curious about why Connecticut is called The Constitution State, Hartford is the best place to find out. The groundwork for the US Constitution was laid right here – in a 1639 sermon, The Fundamental Orders, by the Reverend Thomas Hooker – calling for a representative government in Connecticut.Home to the State Capitol, the Old State House (where you can ogle a two-headed calf), Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher-Stowe, an arcade-like state-of-the-art Science Center, America’s first public Art Museum, and a plethora of great restaurants,  there’s more to this Insurance hub than actuarial tables.  Come for the business, stay for the pleasure on this constitutional Getaway.

For lots more about where to go, what to do, where to eat and stay, check out this Getaway Mavens post.

Real "Heaven Is For Real" Family from a US Route 6 town: Imperial, Nebraska

I just came across this article from AARP.Com by Bill Newcott.  I have to say that Imperial, NE charmed me in many ways - and one of them was the friendliness of the people there.  Carolyn Lee of the Imperial Republican interviewed me, and I had breakfast with several senior citizens who both cracked me up and made me wonder how people out here "in the middle of nowhere" could be so worldly. Imperial itself was a surprise: so remote, yet fully wired.  The whole town  - all one main street of it - was in internet hotspot.

Now, this new movie is bound to bring attention to this little town on the border of Eastern Colorado, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.  I suppose "protective" would be the closest thing.
Read the following, and if you want to read more, click this link to the page.

And if you want to read my original post about my stay in Imperial in mid June 2011,  check it out here.

From AARP:

Heaven Is for Real is the story of the Burpos’ son Colton, now 14, who at 4 nearly died from a ruptured appendix. During his time on a hospital operating table, he later told his parents, he experienced a trip to Heaven where he heard angels singing and sat on the lap of Jesus. The Burpos dismissed the accounts as a child’s Sunday school-fed fantasy until Colton started telling them about visits with people he’d never even known about — people like Todd’s grandfather, who had died decades earlier, and a daughter the Burpos lost in a miscarriage before they had Colton.

Bill Newcott pulls up a pew with Sonja and Todd Burpo.

It was an intensely personal family experience that Todd says he didn’t even want to write about at first. But then, “People I didn’t even know would come up, knock on our door, and say ‘God told me to tell you that you should write a book.’ I heard it so much, I began to think maybe these people weren’t crazy, and maybe it was what God wanted me to do. But I was resisting it all the way.

“So I said to God, ‘I’m not going to call anyone from the publishing world. If they discover me here in little Imperial, Nebraska, I’ll write the book.’ I felt I was pretty safe. Then I got a phone call: ‘You don’t know who I am, but I’m with a literary agency and I’ve heard about your son’s story. I’d like to help you write a book.’ ”

Getaway Mavens on US Route 6: Wellfleet Oysters Are Only the Beginning

WHY GO: If the Cape Cod town of Wellfleet MA seems vaguely familiar, it’s because Edward Hopper captured these scenes in many of his paintings and Henry David Thoreau penned his journals nearby. Besides the vast beaches of the National Seashore, you’ll find remnants of Victorian-era technology, one of the country’s last surviving drive-ins and a wildlife rich sanctuary. There’s a reason that Wellfleet Oysters are so popular around the world: come to the source and find out for yourself. 

Things to Do in Wellfleet MA

VISIT: Marconi Wireless Station @ Marconi Beach. A Marconi Wireless Telegraph diorama is located in the spot where the first Telegraph Station once stood (its terminus was in England) and offers some idea about the precursor to the internet.  Planks of rotted wood held down by rusty chains are all that remain of this now antique international communications center, where on January 18, 1903, Marconi successfully transmitted messages between Teddy Roosevelt, the president of the United States and King Edward VII of England.

VISIT: Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. For a taste of Cape Cod and its varied landscapes, don’t miss this former bird-banding station run by Mass Audubon.  On 1,200 acres, you can easily spend a full day hiking along five miles of trails and boardwalks through a variety of habitats – woodlands, tidal marsh, beach, coastal sandplain, and fresh water ponds.  You’ll encounter ospreys and otters, kingfishers and muskrats, crabs and hundreds of other miracles of nature. Walk into the LEED Certified (read: Eco-Friendly) Esther Underwood Johnson Nature Center and sit in a sling-back chair for a bit while gazing at bird feeding stations through a wall of glass. Open daily Memorial Day to Labor Day 8:30AM to 5PM, off-season Tues. – Sun. 8:30am-5pm

To read the rest of Getaway Mavens overview of Wellfleet, click HERE

Dennis, MA to Eastham, MA on Old Route 6: The Getaway Mavens Trace Route 6 in New England

WHY GO: The light.  The clam shacks.  The breathtaking salt marshes.  All that is authentic Cape Cod is concentrated along this magnificent stretch of old Route 6A, where you can indulge in great art followed by exquisite meals and then spend a night amid the splendor

Things To Do In Cape Cod

DO: Bike the 22 Mile (each way) Cape Cod Rail Trail. The well-maintained flat and paved 22-mile Cape Cod Rail Trail runs from Dennis to Wellfleet.  No worries if you don’t have a bicycle; there are plenty of places to rent along the trail. At Cape Cod Rail Trail Bike and Kayak in 
Brewster, you can park for free, rent a bike for $30 for the day and start on the trail right out back.  You’ll share this popular path with tots and seniors – it’s the perfect “leg stretcher” before retiring for the night nearby.

For the rest of this Getaway Mavens Post With More info and pictures, CLICK HERE. 

GetawayMavens.com Provides Great Offbeat Tips on US Route 6 Towns in New England, New York and PA

And they start at the beginning with THIS POST. 

WHY GO: Provincetown, MA on the tip of Cape Cod is high energy and gay in all definitions of that word. It’s beautiful, fun and free-spirited; perfect for like-minded souls. Once a maritime center, and where the tired Pilgrims on the Mayflower originally landed, Provincetown began to draw actors and artists when “alternate lifestyles” were best left to edge of earth locales.  Now, it seems, everyone – gay or straight – wants in on the action.  If it’s your wish to rub elbows and other body parts with as many people as possible, come “in-season” – end of Spring to early Fall.  Otherwise, enjoy Provincetown’s quiet history and world famous dunes when the weather chills.

Things To Do In Provincetown MA

CLIMB: Pilgrim Monument For an overview of Provincetown and much of the Cape, there’s no better perspective than from the top of the Pilgrim Monument, the tallest all-granite structure in the United States completed in 1910 to commemorate the Mayflower’s 102 passengers who took solace on these shores. After climbing the 252 foot tower (116 steps connecting 60 ramps), spend some time in the “Grandma’s attic of P’Town,” the adjoining Provincetown Museum, which highlights early Native American life, Pilgrim days, whaling and fishing industries and the influx of artists. A Mayflower replica, Provincetown’s first horse-drawn fire engine and mock-ups of both a Captain’s home and ship Captain’s Quarters take center stage. But allow time to poke around for little gems, like the photograph of a blackface Eugene O’Neil who appeared as a “Negro Sailor” in his play, The Thirst, originally staged in Provincetown. $12 adults, $4 children, Memorial Day to Labor Day 9am-7pm, check website for other times of year.

To read the rest of this Getaway Mavens post, Click Here.