BYWAY TO AMERICA'S PAST; NOSTALGIA SPURS RESURGENCE OF INTEREST IN HISTORIC ROUTE 66.

Byline: Don Holland Staff Writer

If you ever plan to motor west,

Travel my way, take the highway that's the best.

Get your kicks on Route 66 . . .

It was an adventure to remember, cruising in the family station wagon through the heartland of America, then sweeping across the desert Southwest until finally reaching the promised land of California.

In the four decades since he made that first, memorable trip on Route 66, Tom Snyder has traveled the 2,400-mile highway more than a dozen times.

He's written about the road, interviewed its small-town shopkeepers and marveled at the Mother Road's great sights, from the Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest to the mighty Mississippi River.

A Ventura resident and founder of the U.S. Route 66 Association, Snyder was an early cheerleader for what has become a growing legion of admirers of the fabled highway, which stretches from Chicago to Santa Monica. His ``Route 66 Traveler's Guide'' has sold more than 100,000 copies in English and German, and he just finished work on the third edition of the book set for release next year.

``Route 66 has become an international phenomenon at this point,'' said Snyder, noting that Europeans account for one-third of the 30,000 motorists who tour the road every year. ``The importance of Route 66 is that it encompassed so many cultures and it brought people west for so many generations.''

Route 66 was the first all-weather highway in the United States, following routes used by American Indians, early settlers and railroads. In 1926, when the road became official, only about one-fourth of it was paved.

In the early 1930s, much of the road that traversed parts of Arizona and California's Mojave Desert was made of wooden planks or well-worn ruts in the bare soil. Gas stations were few and far between, so all but the bravest of motorists put their vehicles on railroad flatcars for the cross-desert journey.

But with the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932, organizers lobbied for desert segments to be paved. It turned out to be a critical decision in the development of California.

``They were terribly afraid that people from the East, knowing it was an arduous journey, would not show up,'' said Snyder.

The paving project opened up California to waves of Dust Bowl migrants and those uprooted by the Great Depression.

With the start of World War II, Southern California's aircraft plants sent caravans to the impoverished Midwest to recruit factory workers.

A decade later, during the post-war prosperity of the 1950s, vacationers flooded Route 66. Roadside diners and curio shops selling rubber tomahawks flourished. Most set up shop facing the east, hoping to lure westbound travelers before they spent all their money in California.

In its heyday, Route 66 included Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena and parts of the Pasadena Freeway, as well as much of Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards.

The allure of Hollywood drew would-be actors, directors and songwriters, including Bobby Troup, who penned ``Route 66,'' the song made famous by Nat ``King'' Cole and recorded by more than 40 other singers.

``So many (entertainers) went west on Route 66,'' said Snyder. ``It became a common thread of experience for them, and they almost always wrote about it. Soon you begin to realize there are more songs, more stories, more books and more television shows written about Route 66 than any other highway in the world.''

The birth of high-speed interstate highways sounded the death knell for Route 66, which John Steinbeck dubbed ``The Mother Road'' in his 1939 classic ``The Grapes of Wrath.'' As interstate highways bypassed Route 66, the towns that once survived by selling gasoline, trinkets and greasy hamburgers languished. Some sections of the road were overtaken by weeds while others were used as frontage roads.

In the late 1980s, Snyder started exploring the old route and talking to those who still loved it.

``When I talked to people about it, they would get all misty and tell me their story,'' said Snyder, a former technical writer. ``After I did that about a dozen times, I realized I'd tapped into something that was really important.''

Fans of the road have formed associations and museums across the eight Route 66 states.

``People are looking for nostalgia. They're looking for the good old days,'' said Chick Kirk, president of the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville. ``The unique thing is the interest young people have, whether it's to try and remember what mom and dad endured, I don't know.''

Snyder attributes the road's resurgence to retirees who are retracing trips from years ago - about 85 percent of the road is still driveable - as well as baby boomers who have never set out on the great American road trip.

``When they take a tour, even a short tour on Route 66,'' Snyder said, ``they are just astounded by the roadside culture and the feeling of personal discovery that the road can engender.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1) Route 66 follows routes used by American Indians, early settlers and railroads, and was the first all-weather highway in the country.

(2--3--Photo 2 ran in Conejo and Simi Editions only) Tourist attractions can still be found along Route 66, such as the concrete wigwams, left, on Foothill Boulevard just east of Pepper Avenue in San Bernardino and the Tyrannosaurus rex beckoning passers-by to visit Grand Canyon Caverns east of Kingman, Ariz.