Weekly Countdown: 2 weeks to go

Today, Nathan (my youngest) wasn't very well, didn't go to school, and so I stayed at home to look after him. Somehow I have managed to miss seeing Disney's "Cars" film, so this morning we both settled in to watch the DVD. It's primarily about a precocious young racing car called Lightning McQueen. However what it's really about is the effect on a bustling Route 66 town, when it was by-passed by the Interstate system. Quite poignant really, but of course it was a Disney film so there was a happy ending. I dare say that there will be many ghost towns along the route I travel, just like Radiator Springs almost became. The film's worth a watch, and spotting the Route 66 references (like the Cozey Cone Motel - an obvious reference to the Wigam Motel).

I'm told that Pixar are making a sequel at the moment and last weekend were out on the Route in Missouri and Oklahoma doing background research and making a documentary "extra" for the DVD. What with that, Billy Connolly's up coming documentary and, of course, my trip it looks like a high profile year in the offing for Rt66.

So, back to my trip. With just 14 days left top go, the planning is pretty much there, and I'm left with a feeling that I should be doing something, but not sure what! I spoke to my friend Dave only to find that he's traded his ElectraGlide in for a Kawasaki 1400 tourer. However as he often does, he's still managed to come up trumps; He still has a set of luggage designed to fit into the ElactraGlide's tourpac (or topbox as non-Harley people call them) and panniers, and he's letting me borrow them - what a top man! I'll go over and see him tomorrow and pick them up.

Days to departure: 14
Paydays to departure: 0, although there is one while I'm away.

Billy Connolly to follow in my footsteps!

I have just found out that Billy will be making a new TV travel series for ITV about travelling Route 66 on his Harley Davidson trike.
He's due to start filming in May - just as I get to the end of my journey, so unlikely that our paths will cross. I'm sure that he got the idea from reading this blog though!
Amazingly his book of the series is already available to pre order at Amazon. It'll be on my Christmas list!

Here's a link to the announcement