PONTIAC -- Among the thousands of visitors at Pontiac Summer Bash this weekend are some people who crossed the Atlantic Ocean to be there.

Route 66 fans Bill and Aida Dalton, of Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, in northeastern England, read about the Walldogs festival in a newsletter published by the Route 66 Association of Illinois. The festival, which is part of the Summer Bash, features about 160 artists from across the country and from overseas painting 18 murals, many with a Route 66 theme.

"It's brilliant," Aida Dalton said Friday of their time in Pontiac. "It's absolutely fantastic, and we're certainly enjoying it."

They have traveled to the U.S. every year for five years to visit their son in Fort Wayne, Ind. While visiting the country, the couple fell in love with Route 66.

When asked what they were looking forward to the most, Aida Dalton said "just being in America."

Other than the heat wave the state has been experiencing, the Daltons said the most noticeable difference between the United Kingdom and the U.S. is the personality of the people.

"The people are a lot friendlier here than they are in England," she said. "The people here have been fantastic."

Among the Walldogs is professional sign maker Manfred Didier of Ofterschwang, a German town near the Austrian border. This is Didier's first Walldog event, and he said that he would come back for more.

"We've talked about moving to America before," he said. "We prefer the American way of life as everything is easier and more fun."

Friday was the second day of the Pontiac Summer Bash, which will continue through Sunday. It was created this year to bring together the Walldogs visit with the annual Heritage Days festival, the Hang Loose Chapter 24 car show, the Pontiac Cruise Night car show and a celebration on Sunday of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday.

Bill Diaz, owner of Diaz Sign Art in Pontiac and an organizer of the Walldog event, said this may be the biggest and best Walldog event since the mural-painting gatherings began 16 years ago.

"Everything has gone really well, and the people are really impressed with the amount of community involvement that has gone in," Diaz said.

For more information, visit www.visitpontiac.org.