in amarillo, we rode along with nick gerlich, following the path of the old highway. >> why do you think this highway is still popular today, even after decades after it was decommissioned? nick: it has a lot to do with nostalgia today. people want to revisit places that maybe they experienced as a child. that is a huge part of the nostalgia. but there is another kind of nostalgia as well. it is called anna moya. it is a desire to visit a place in the past that you never experienced. so for younger americans, and for international tourists of all ages for whom route 66 was only something they had heard about, coming to route 66 by car or motorcycle or bicycle today is getting to visit a distant past that they have only seen in books. when route 66 came through town in 1926, our airport, at least the modern airport, was not here. today, you can drive in the northeast and you run into a fence that is now protecting the modern airport. but the road kept going. amarillo is one of three cities along route 66 in which the road is now buried by the modern airport. amarillo, santa rosa in new me