Last year, my wife and I embarked on a memorable two-week journey along Route 66. Our adventure began at the starting point of The Mother Road in downtown Chicago, with our destination of Santa Monica, California. To ensure we captured every moment, I packed a trio of cameras: Canon 6D (digital), Yashica Mat-124 G (1970 – 1986), and the Olympus OM-1N MD (1979). I shot Kodak Portra and Kodak Gold in the Yashica, and then used various black and white films in the Olympus. Even though the trip was over a year ago, I’m still going through all my images. A lot of great photos and a lot of fun memories.
When we arrived in Lebanon, Missouri, we decided to stay at the Mungar Moss Motel. Built in 1946 and owned/operated by Bob and Ramona Lehman since 1971, the Mungar Moss has become one of the last charming mom and pop motels along the route. After Bob passed away in 2019, Ramona continued to run the motel. Each of the rooms at the Mungar Moss has been kept as original as possible. The room my wife and I stayed in was complete with a matching teal colored sink, toilet, and tub.
On August 2, 2023, Ramona Leham passed away. As her obituary reads, she was “the Mother of the Mother Road.” She was passionate and loved to share her knowledge about Route 66 with travelers from all over the world. My wife and I spent some time talking with her. She shared photos and told us stories about coming from Iowa with her husband and purchasing the motel. Ramona was a special part of our Route 66 experience. From Lebanon to Santa Monica, it seemed like every motel clerk knew Ramona and held her in high regard. It’s not often that you get to meet a stranger that immediately draws you in and makes you feel welcome. Someone that makes you feel special to experience something that they want to share. That’s the kind of woman Ramona was.
Route 66 Motels
Camera: Yashica Mat-124 G (1970 – 1986)
Film: Kodak Porta 400 & Kodak Gold 200
Scanned: Epson V700 Photo
Utah Film Photography 
Telephones reefrigerated … the real cool stuff. Fine gear you used on your journey. Well done 👏🏻
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… sorry, ‚refrigerated‘ …
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I was hoping you would show Amboy. That brings back a lot of childhood memories.
My dad, for awhile, worked at the nearby salt mine operated by the Leslie Salt Company and I grew up nearby. To this day, I prefer the solitude of the desert.
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The rumor was, or at least it was last year, that someone had bought the Roy’s property and was going to restore everything.
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I heard that too, but I won’t be holding my breath. 🙂
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great trip and excellent photos you made. I made the same trip in 2012 with my parents, that was an all time dream of my mother to travel the route 66. It was about time she was 81 when we did it. I just regret we didn’t have these easy video capabilities back then so I didn’t film the trip and I had brought a film camera but I barely used it as we were so busy enjoying the experience (it was a jammy Lubitel 66 original one from the Soviet era that would jam every so often so I only made 2 or 3 films during the whole trip. Fortunately I also had a digital camera and took plenty of pictures. But some Kodak film pictures like the one you made would have been better, specially now a long time farther from the trip.
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