On our way home from Bella Vista, Arkansas we detoured to Galena, Kansas. We found old Route 66 and a little place called "Cars On The Route". I thought Silas would love this place and its permanent outside "Cars". Cars On The Route is home of "Tow Tater" the inspiration for Tow Mater in Disney's Pixar movie, "Cars". Mater's design is based on a 1951 International Harvester boom truck once used to lift equipment from mine shafts in Cherokee County, Kansas. The Route 66 town of Galena was named for the lead sulphite ore galena, to which the series of small mining towns around Baxter Spings owe their boom and subsequent bust. The original truck is currently kept at the former Kan-O-Tex Service Station in Galena, KS. The station was restored as a Route 66 diner and souvenir shop by four women on the Route one year after the film's 2006 release.
You can find out more about Cars On The Route by visiting their facebook page...
There were also a few other old cars and trucks sitting around the shop that we looked at....
Cars On The Route also has a life-size version of "Red" who was also a character in Disney's Pixar movie "Cars".
The kids are pictured below with Tow Tater, the inspiration for Tow Mater.
Below on the right is Tow Tater's tow cable hanging down from high up in the sky.
Tow Mater is one of Silas's favorite characters in the Disney movie "Cars". Mater is a character in the 2006 animated Pixar film "Cars" and its sequel as well as the spin-off series "Cars Toons". He is voiced by Larry the Cable Guy and inspired by a 1951 International Harvester tow truck. Originally portrayed as a sidekick and friend to Lightning McQueen, he had a breakout role in Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales and in other media related to Cars. Mater's driving skills include a claim to be "the world's best backwards driver," an ability picked up from none other than Dean Walker, a Kansas Historic Route 66 Association president known in Riverton as "Crazy Legs Walker, the Ambassador of Crazy Feet on Route 66" for his ability to twist his feet backward and walk in reverse.
If you are driving through southeast Kansas or traveling Route 66 be sure to stop at Cars On The Route and get a picture of yourself and your traveling buddies with the original Tow Tater in Galena, KS.
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