Bob Waldmire-- Part 5-- "The Johnny Appleseed of Route 66"

Continuing with the Tribune article.

Colon cancer is claiming him and he might have just a month to live. But he hopes to hang on until November 22nd when he has his final art show at the Cozy Dog in Springfield, Illinois. I would like to be there, but will be in North Carolina with family for Thanksgiving. However, I am hoping to see him this coming week.

His father, Ed Waldmire is said to have perfected the hot dog on a stick at the Cozy Dog after seeing it while stationed in Texas, but that is another story. Only, don't ever call it a "corn dog" around the Cozy. It is a Cozy Dog as you'll soon learn.

Bob said he knew about the cancer ten years ago, but chose to go ahead with his life and ignore it. I doubt that he ever had insurance of any sort living the lifestyle that he did. When Liz and I saw him at the Cozy Dog this last September, something about him just didn't appear to be normal. Others were thinking the same thing. About a month ago, we found out the reason, but didn't say anything about it until the article in the Springfield paper came out last week.

Of course, there was also him saying at the time that he wanted to do one more Route 66 thing and that was to travel the road and locate the final resting spots of all the people who have put their mark on Route 66 over the years.

Goodbye to Route 66's Johnny Appleseed. --RoadDog