American Road Trip Talk

Cars Yeah creator and host Mark Greene has an unquenchable passion for automobile technology and the countless places it can take us. To start 2021, we talk with Mark once again about the array of museums and exhibits that put automotive ingenuity on proud display from coast-to-coast.

Fantasy Lights is a drive-through Christmas light display located just south of Tacoma. It's the largest holiday drive-through event in the Northwest, featuring nearly 300 elaborate displays and thousands of sparkling lights. An eye-popping variety of displays are found around Puget Sound, as detailed by guest Matt Shea.

Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) was founded by Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) in 1931 to research and explore a wide variety of spiritual subjects. His headquarters, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is still going strong as a center of inquiry and metaphysical tourism. Josie Varga and Kathy Lamm share their appreciation of a unique man and his legacy.

Chances are, that orange beauty you turned into a delicious pie or impressive jack-o’-lantern came from one of three Pumpkin Capitals of America, located in Floydada, Texas, Morton, Illinois or Half Moon Bay, California. Eric Spitznagel joins us to celebrate the most famous of pumpkin patches.

(Originally aired 2-28-20) Cynthia Schreiner Smith is an actor/writer who was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota where she still lives. Since 1998, she has worked at the Wabasha Street Caves in St. Paul, researching, writing scripts and acting as a guide for their historical tours. Cynthia shares her knowledge of the town's Gangster Era and talks about why the Twin Cities are hardly identical.

The holiday feast dates back to November 1621, when the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at Plymouth for an autumn harvest celebration, an event regarded as America’s “first Thanksgiving.” History merges with our personal recollections in this episode dedicated to America’s perennial time of gratitude

The World’s Only Corn Palace is Mitchell’s premier tourist attraction. Some 500,000 tourists come from around the nation each year to see the uniquely designed corn murals. The city’s first Corn Palace was built as a way to prove to the world that South Dakota had a healthy agricultural climate. Today, the Palace is a cultural showpiece of the Prairie with cleverly designed themes. Thanks to cornpalace.com for their information.

Tom Yamarone lives in California and has been researching Bigfoot for a long time. He is beloved in the Sasquatch community of believers and seekers. As a balladeer, Tom is sometimes referred to as the Bob Dylan of Bigfoot songs! In this Trip Talk episode, he shares from his comprehensive store of insights and experiences.

Harry Thomason is the Hollywood award-winning producer & director best known for the tremendously popular and iconic TV hits Designing Women, Evening Shade and Hearts Afire. His TV Miniseries,The Blue and The Gray won the prestigious People's Choice Award. In his riveting podcast series, The Story You Never Heard, Harry vividly brings to life fascinating moments, intriguing events and thrilling if lesser known stories about people and places in history.

Built in 1853 as a company owned logging town, Port Gamble, Washington today is a Victorian vision out of time, a fun getaway with friendly locals and more than its share of resident ghosts. Matt Shea chronicles paranormal activity in the Pacific Northwest; he joins us to share a brief history of the town that once was home to sailors and society folk alike. Apparently some citizens liked it far too much to leave.

JoAnne Worley’s instinctive comedic timing and irrepressible laugh make her a favorite of audiences everywhere. Her work runs the gamut from television, movie and stage productions to game shows, talk shows, commercials, cartoons and opera. For more than 40 years she has been involved with the organization Actors and Others for Animals (founded 1971), which funds spay-and-neuter programs, and provides veterinary financial assistance to pet guardians in Southern California. Since 2007, JoAnne has served as president of the organization. Her expertise in safe and enjoyable travel with pets is known and trusted far and wide.

Once the proverbial phrase for hunting, now “Sport of Kings” typically is used to exalt the world of thoroughbred horse-racing, although the earliest uses of the expression related to war, as in the days of King Arthur. We talk with Marie D. Jones about the Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown and famous racing venues from coast to coast that have been elevated to shrine status.

Erika Nelson is back again with the highlights of her latest foray into the wilds of artistic expression. Being an independent artist and educator, Erika is always up for a new cultural safari as she explores contemporary art forms in the public realm. Next stop: Wisconsin.

encore- Erika Nelson is an independent artist and educator, exploring the fringes of art and culture as experienced on the back roads and offbeat roadside attractions that dot the American landscape. Her recent exploration of Tulsa, Oklahoma got her up close and personal with a celebrated statue known as the Golden Driller and other memorable landmarks deep in oil country.

With an explosion of wildfires consuming millions of acres and threatening lives in the Western United States, travelers are forced to reconsider their plans for dreamed-of road trips to the region. Mark Greene of Cars Yeah discusses the enormous impact on residents and visitors alike.

David Gessner discusses the most celebrated legacy of the first President Roosevelt, referred to admiringly as TR by millions of tourists who annually traverse a gorgeous labyrinth of National Parks, Forests and Lands that Roosevelt championed as America’s gift to the world

Picturesque and blissfully removed from the traffic and haste of the big city, Camano Island treats visitors to a plethora of rustic natural wonders along with some of the finest crab (and crabbing) to be found in the Pacific Northwest. Recent arrival Sig Hess shares his story of retiring from Boeing and Seattle to his version of Eden.

David Crockett, affectionately referred to as Davy, today remains an American icon of courage and patriotism. There is much more to his story than his celebrated stand at the Alamo. Seven sites endure as living memorials to a man for whom history and legend compete in defining a frontier hero and uncompromising lover of freedom. Jess Winfield, American Road editor, joins us to discuss his article, King Of The Wild Frontier.

Route 66 is part of the native range for Tom Cotter aka The Barn Find Hunter. He and his BBF (best barn finder) pal Brian Barr sought rusted gold in every state The Mother Road passes through. Along the way, ace lensman Michael Alan Ross documented their finds, mishaps, and various adventures. Starting in the Midwest and barreling through Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, the barn-find bunch drove on to Arizona before completing their quest in Santa Monica, California. You'll never guess what automotive treasures they discovered peeking out from corroded garages and behind weary buildings along the way!

Nowhere is devotion to The Mother Road more evident than in Mohave County, Arizona where the Arizona Route 66 Museum beckons you to Kingman with a soft glow of neon and the kind of hospitality you only find where past meets present, sprawled out on the rugged desert floor. Nikki Seegers, Director of Operations for almost 3 years now at the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona shares with us, joined by Joshua Noble, a local county historian whose appreciation of the Road and surrounding area is unsurpassed.