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Old Route 66 still lives in Arizona. A 100-mile stretch of the highway John Steinbeck called the mother road leaves the heavy traffic of Interstate 40 behind and snakes its way through the state from near Kingman to a few miles west of Williams. Its two lanes are filled with reminders of the old road’s glory days. On May 1, Sue and I spent a day there.

It was 2011, but it could have been a year from the distant past from the traffic passing by. The Route 66 Fun Run was taking place and hundreds of vintage automobiles filled the two lanes. They ran the gamut of motor vehicles from decades past. A model A Ford chugged into Seligman followed by a 1939 Chevrolet coupe towing an Airstream Clipper trailer. Every model of Corvette was present; 42 passed by in one long, shining caravan.

Seligman was filled with Fun Run participants, and tourists who had come to see them and take pictures. The Snow Car from Delgadilla’s Snow Cap Drive-In was entertaining people by driving about the village with a Christmas tree prominently displayed on the rear of the gaudily painted, vintage Chevrolet. The business was founded in 1953 and has attracted visitors from around the world. It’s refreshing to find places where you can purchase items from the person who actually owns the business.

That’s true of the Hackberry General Store located near the west end of the historic two-lane route. The store is indeed a treasure. The Pritchard family noticed the run-down general store building in the 1990s and decided to give it a rebirth. They not only reopened it, but they also created a Route 66 Museum with enough memorabilia to occupy visitors for hours. Items range from a vintage juke box to a Model T truck.

On the day I was there, the store was home to a lively crowd of visitors, including two van loads of tourists from Northern Arizona University. The building is full of souvenir items relating to Route 66. An old cooler in the back is covered with dozens of pictures and notes people have mailed back to the Pritchards from just about every state and several foreign countries. A letter from Germany nudged a note from Mississippi; both thanked the family for providing an opportunity to visit a slice of the past.

Thurston Pritchard manages the store. The day I visited he was being assisted by Amy. She described herself as part-time help, and a member of the neighborhood. They patiently answered questions people had, and rang up sales behind the vintage counter. Thurston said at one time they passed out booklets with a brief history of the store and the neighborhood where it stands, but they kept running out of the booklets. He then set up a website (http://hackberrygeneralstore.com) where all the information is available.

Two of the visitors from California lamented the fact there was so little left of the old road, but then agreed the stretch they were on was the best that could be found in present-day America. Each of them had a Route 66 street sign in their hand, as they stood marveling over the 1957 red Corvette sitting in front of the store.

Thurston said the Hackberry Store was a busy place during the tourist season, but there was a chance he might be found sleeping on the couch in the off season. Amy commented it was a fun place to work, and she enjoyed meeting the people who stopped by.

They graciously agreed to have their picture taken in front of the unique establishment, and then returned to wait on a number of people whose arrival was announced by the thunder of Harley Davidson motors. The Hackberry General Store on Old 66 is a great place to visit, and it didn’t appear Thurston would be sleeping on the couch anytime soon.

Donald Richter’s column appears every other week in the Commercial-News. He is a member of the Vermilion County Museum Board.