Is still popular today even after decades after it was decommissioned decommissioned . Placesle want to revisit that they experienced as a child. That is a huge part of the nostalgia. But heres another kind of nostalgia as well. Its called anna moya. It is a desire to visit to place in the past and you never experienced. So for younger americans, and for International Tours of all ages, for route 66 it was only something they made a part about. Coming to do route 66 by motorcycle or bicycle today, is getting to visit a distant past theyve only seen in books. And when route 66 came through town in 1926, our air force like that modern airport was not here. Today, you can drive on northeast and run into a fence that is now protecting the modern airport. But the road kept going. In fact amarillo is one of the three cities along route 66 in which the road is now buried by the modern airport. Amarillo, new mexico and st. Louis missouri, right up ahead here is where the fence in the and the gate are. And if you get up high enough, on a ladder or on top of the vehicle, you can see a bit of concrete from the 1920s that was still left here. It exists just be on the outer beyond the outer ring road at the airport and runs up to one of the current runways. I just plain takeoff here. Literally crossed over route 66. It is still there. Hardly anybody knows about this little fragment of the mother road. That is hiding in plain sight. But right beyond the gate is where the old road was and it still is. Where did the idea for this book start to come about . Ellen and i met on facebook. I know it sounds cliche. We did. In several facebook groups, for route 66. She and her husband in germany, had been wanting to pursue a book project as they had been over to america a couple of times prior and had done a lot of photography on the road. And they wanted to partner with someone from america but in the 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. So we met and had dinner in the and they pitched the idea and we all fell in love with each other. And from that point forward, ellen and i started working on the structure of the book where we wanted it to go, what kind of narration we wanted. Her husband who was already an accomplished doctor and decided he was going to be our manager. He kept us on task for all of that. We began our joint efforts in september of 2016, on one of their subsequent trips and we traveled extensively over the next three years visiting many sites all along route 66. So i could experience what ellen was experiencing and what specifically, what she was saying through the lens of her camera. And that had the big part in the naming of our book. A matter of time, route 66 through the lens of change. It was not just a clever wordplay, it was truly what we were doing. We wanted to call for change. Chronicle change. Thats a recurring theme in the classes that i teach as well. I think its important to know your history. How it all began and then its important to take note of where you are today because the only way to plan for the future to know your past and present. 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 running along 66. Also the emergence of new businesses along 66 as well as the evolution of older businesses. Because 66 isnt dead yet. It i dont it will ever be dead. Parts of it are, but parts are very much alive. And we wanted to focus on, things have changed. Some things didnt change. Some of the things did change very well. People had evolved, businesses. And there still out there. They are meeting the needs of downtown amarillo and were going to stop and take a look at the hotel. This was built in 1926. In five and half months, a 13 story building, absolutely amazing somebody could do that in five and half months. They cant even build an overpass in two years these days, much less a 13 story hotel. It was situated feet from route 66. They had a soft opening on december 15, 1926. It was only a month and four days after the birth of route 66. They had a big gala on new years eve of 26 and then they were in business for good. Its an amazing hotel. Its been abandoned for many years. 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 live did it. In other words, it had condos before condos were thing. Folks had living quarters, apartments on the upper floors. This is where the movers and shakers stayed. The basement had a club where oilmen and cattle barons can come hang out and do business like in the old days. On the second floor, a cop shop, copy shop. Also a big ballroom on the second floor. This was the premier establishment in amarillo. This is route 66 going through town. We have the historic courthouse. Library on the right. Nice, modernth structures. Reflecting surfaces. Right across the street. In the first bank southwest building, a couple blocks down the road. Its the tallest building between amarillo excuse me, the tallest building between fort worth and denver. 31 stories. Right ahead here is the garfield building, undergoing renovations right now. It will reopen in 2020 as the marriott autographed hotel. A big part of the experience here in amarillo is being able to see the old with the new and how it all kind of comes together. Ellen is a really good photographer. Shes been influenced by a lot of really good photographers through the years. She can see the juxtaposition of the old and the new here. Old signs, o streets. So we are in the far western part of the texas panhandle but driving a little bit of the interstate right now. But only because route 66 was in the 70s. Ated here in we are going to get off at exit zero and visit one of the coolest ghost towns along oliver and 66. Were going to cross the freeway here now and get onto a little strand of old route 66. The last strand in texas going west. The first strand if you are going east. Mind, we are going to stop at the First Last Motel which is right on the state line. Just like the name implies, it was the first and last thing you saw depending on which way you were going. We are standing inside of the longhorn cafe. It was built around 1951. Thats 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 the cars, and if they were tired, they would just get a room at the hotel the back. Anyway, glen rio was a happening town back in the 1950s. This was definitely in the book. We had a lot of fun photographing this and a lot of fun writing about it as well. Glen rio was truly a busy place along route 66. It is hard to imagine the cars would truly be stacked up at the gas pumps in the middle of nowhere like this. Especially since its so quiet today. All we have to do is look to the freeway about a quarter of a mile north. That is where everybody is. Watch this and other programs on the history of communities across the country at cspan. Org restore. This is American History tv. Only on cspan3. Each next, as the u. S. Postal service and its rule in voting by mail are featured on current news, we feature several films about the u. S. Postal service. First, a film introducing zip codes, which were introduced in 1963. Then men and male in transit from 1956 when train transporting most of the male in 1956. The mailman is a 1946 educational film which takes a at thethe scenes look Postal Service. We end with a 19 70 Postal Service film docking