Findlay man turns miles into memories

FINDLAY — Tom Brumley can mark another item off his bucket list. The 84-year-old retired ophthalmologist recently returned after driving nearly 2,500 miles along one of the most famous highways in America — Route 66. "I'm a hopeless car guy, and I have always been intrigued with Route 66," Brumley admitted. "America's Main Street" stretches through eight states from Illinois to California. Its designation in 1926 as one of the first U.S. Federal Highways makes this year the route's centennial anniversary. Brumley, who has family on the West Coast, said he often drives parts of Route 66 on the way to visit. But when friends took a trip of the iconic highway on their own, it wasn't good, he said. All along the way are roadside attractions, diners and refurbished gas stations. But it's hard to find all the sites that you need to see on your own, he said. "So I kind of figured, well, maybe this isn't the thing to do," he said. Then last year he came across a man who owns Two Lane America, a company that gives guided tours. Brumley said the guide has done the trek 100 times and knows the routes, the good restaurants and places to stop for gas. "And on top of it, he gives us these two-way radios and gives a dialog as we go along, the turns, the sites, any questions we have, the gas stops," said Brumley. The option sounded like a good opportunity to fulfill one of his life's goals. Brumley decided to drive his 1956 restored Ford convertible. He said the vehicle came out of a junkyard in Kingman, Arizona. He had placed an advertisement in a car magazine looking for such a car. Two years later, a man called and said he'd seen the ad but put it away. "I just finally found it," he told Brumley. "You still interested in that car?" Brumley noted that the vehicle was in rough shape, but it was all there. So he bought it and restored it with all modern running gear, a modern Ford motor and transmission, power steering, power brakes and air conditioning. He thought he was ready to make the trip and even had a friend who said he'd go along. However, health issues forced him to back out, Brumley said. While the tour technically started in Chicago where Route 66 starts, Brumley opted to stay at his friend's home in Niles, Michigan, then meet up with the group in Pontiac, Michigan on the second day. There were 13 cars in the convoy including a Porsche, a BMW, Chryslers and several Corvettes. The group included people from all over the country and all walks of life, said Brumley. The guide also drove a van with three passengers who wanted to go along on the trip but didn't want to drive. Proceeding from Pontiac, their first stop was the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, Illinois. It tells the story of the quirky Muffler Man and Bunyan Giant fiberglass figures that sprang up as advertising gimmicks across the USA in the 1960s. Then it was on to Lincoln's tomb in Springfield, Illinois. There is a bronze bust of Lincoln there, and it's a tradition for visitors to rub the nose for good luck, he said. "Apparently that turned black with tarnish during COVID because people didn't want to touch it," Brumley laughed. "Now it's after COVID so it's polished again." Another stop was at the restored Soulsby Shell Service Station in Mount Olive, Illinois. Henry Soulsby built the station in 1926, the same year Route 66 was officially designated. Soulsby's son and daughter would run the business for 65 years until 1991. The new owner and Soulsby Preservation Society started work to save the landmark which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame. In St. Louis, the group traveled 630 feet to the top of the Gateway Arch. They also toured the Budweiser stables and brewery, and traveled underground to see Meramec Caverns in Stanton, Missouri, which was said to be one of Jesse James' hideouts. Brumley said Route 66 has a short passage through Kansas on the way to Oklahoma City. In Arcadia, Oklahoma, they stopped at a place called Pops. "If they had one, I bet they had two or 300 different kinds of soda pop," he said. "They even had a peanut butter and jelly one and a Route 66 soda which I had." Shamrock, Oklahoma took on an Irish character when the town was surveyed and platted. Main Street was named Tipperary Road, and other streets were Cork, Dublin, Ireland, St. Patrick and Killarney. Buildings were painted green, and the town acquired a Blarney stone. The group visited Cadillac Ranch in Amarilla, Texas, where a row of old Cadillacs are buried nose-first in the ground. "People bring spray cans and spray paint on the Cadillacs. It's hard to see whether they're Cadillacs or not because people take a lot of parts off these cars," Brumley said. Route 66's halfway point is in Adrian, Texas, he said. Other places they visited were the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Continental Divide and the Grand Canyon. One of Brumley's favorite stops was in Winslow, Arizona, where Brumley had his picture taken, standing on the street corner. It commemorates the song "Take It Easy" which was recorded by the Eagles. The song includes the verse "Well, I'm a-standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, and such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me." The group made it to the famed Santa Monica Pier, home to the "End of the Trail" sign by Day 12. Although Brumley said that's not really the end of Route 66. "It's a tourist kind of thing. Actually the end is kind of in mid Los Angeles," he said. "But we went to the pier anyway. You've got to go do that." On their last meal together, Brumley was presented a Route 66 sign by the guide for having the oldest car he's ever had make the trip. It was signed by everyone in the group. "Actually the whole thing was great. Actually maybe the people were the best, wonderful people. They really were wonderful people," he said. "We all had fun. No one got sick or had an accident. No one ran out of gas." The only problem Brumley encountered was a bad switch on his convertible top. It went down but it wouldn't go back up, he said. When the tour stopped in Oklahoma City, a friend directed to a mechanic who was able to fixed it.