Having a background in fine art, design and photography, I began exploring and photographing Route 66 over three decades ago, and haven’t stopped.

My solo photo exhibition, Return to Route 66, toured the U.S. for sixteen years, ending in 2008. Along the way I authored Tales from the Coral Court and co-produced an award-winning documentary film, Built for Speed: The Coral Court Motel, based on that book.

I have been honored as a recipient of the John Steinbeck Award for Historic Preservation, and my work has also appeared in regional, national and international shows. In the mid-2000s, I co-authored two additional books, the award-winning Route 66 Sightings, and Secret Route 66, and in 2018, I joined the non-profit Route 66 Co-Op for a three year preservation project to save the historic and endangered Painted Desert Trading Post in Arizona. 

Minor but cool: In 2020, working with the county highway department, I designed a sign commemorating a section of Route 66 roadbed listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a second sign paying tribute to rock legend Paul McCartney at a place he stopped near my home while touring the route. Since then, I’ve devoted some time to working with other non-profits as a graphic designer, providing various organizations with logos, brochures, newsletters, photography and tee-shirt designs for their promotional and fundraising efforts. 

Currently, I live happily on Route 66 near Arcadia, Oklahoma, with my husband, author & historian Jim Ross. In-between projects, I enjoy feeding birds, chipmunks, deer, squirrels and other critters around our property. In 2023, Jim and I adopted Scout, a blue heeler mix rescue dog that had been abandoned on Route 66 in Bridgeport, Oklahoma. We are truly a Route 66 family.