Day Twenty-six – October 4, 2018
The morning is dismal compared to most mornings out here in the west. As we continue to watch the Weather Station we know we should keep moving east as another storm is headed this way.
I have taken to asking people in the hotel elevators “where ya’ll from”? Dale is starting to get a kick out of this since he is the more social being than I. It’s all about aloha friends!
We need to gas up the car and notice the front passenger side tire is registering low air so we are in search of a gas station with a working air compressor. Not as easy as you might think!
We pass the Quarter Horse Museum again and head out of Amarillo.
We are looking for the “Big Texan,” a restaurant on the original 66. This restaurant offers a 72-ounce steak – which you can get for free – if you eat it all in one hour. We couldn’t eat that in a week much less an hour!
And there he is – larger than life – just like most things in Texas.
We are traveling on I-40 right now because the visibility is rather limited and we don’t know what the back roads of the 66 might be like.
The next attraction to see is just east of Groom – and we pick up 66 there.
The “Leaning Tower of Texas” is out in a field.
The story goes like this – the tower was built this way as a tourist attraction – seems they thought passers-by would be curious and stop to see just what this was – and, oh by the way, have lunch, get gas, buy stuff!
The cloud cover seems to be lifting as we head east on the 66.
Next stop, Shamrock, Texas. Shamrock is very close to the state line with Oklahoma. The panhandle of Texas is very different than the route we took last year further south – this is very flat and green.
We are looking for the U-Drop Inn and Tower Service Station. This is an example of art deco design in the 1930’s. We are told the neon green lights are so bright they are seen for miles and miles.
There is a lot to see here – again, free admission – just looking for a donation if you choose.
That Elvis – he just gets everywhere.
As we drive east we find ourselves suddenly in Oklahoma – no visitor center – no Welcome to Oklahoma sign – just this Okie sign to let us know.
If you travel the old 66 you will find many little places that are not on the tourist attraction lists – like Erick, Oklahoma. We found this quite by accident as we follow the signage.
All things Roger Miller. We seem to be here at lunch time because this museum and the 100 Meridian Museum are both closed – there are other visitors trying to get a glimpse of what might be inside. This looks really interesting. Too bad we are just able to take a few photos and then move on.
Wow – is that cotton? We did not expect to see cotton this far north – very cool!
In our pursuit of all things 66 we find a remnant of the older alignment – it is closed now, well except for local traffic!
Travelling through Sayre into Elk City we spot another museum that is not on the attractions map.
So we stop to visit an area that is set up like a little town. There is a fee for this museum so we are hoping for a lot of new information. A movie starts in just a few minutes so we get a good seat and wait.
The movie was worth the price of admission – without seeing another thing here. There is some film shot in the 1920’s showing the hard work it took to construct Route 66. Mud is everywhere. Men with picks and shovels – no dump-trucks, no bull dozers, no front-end loaders. All this work is done by hand.
Then the Depression, the Dust Bowl, the bad times and people were poor and starving and California offered hope and farms and greenery. In the 1940’s the 66 became a highway for the military to move troops and artillery and goods. After the war ended and times were good and car were affordable – the 66 became a parking lot with so much traffic there were traffic jams. The film footage is great and we learn so much!
We spend about an hour here but keep mindful of the weather that seems like it is chasing us.
A local place is suggested for lunch so we stop at Big Splash Burgers – cute little place with a surfing theme, and have a quick bite to eat. I get a bowl of chili and Dale has the Hawaiian Chicken Wrap – with grilled chicken with pineapple, honey mustard, lettuce and tomato, onion and swiss cheese. He is very quiet so I know it must be good!
On our way out of Elk City there are even more sights. We are reminded we are in the Great Plains here and on part of the Great Western Cattle Trail. The sky has a little blue in it now – that’s encouraging.
Clinton, OK houses the Oklahoma 66 Museum. This one is a bit different – the road is divided into decades and each decade has its own room full of photos and memorabilia and interesting information.
We have been on parts of the 66 that are made with this same material so it is fun to see a chunk of the curbing as well!
More exhibits!
Some of these food descriptions on this table are just too funny.
Now, one of us, not me, is talking about “needing to get a Volkswagen Bus.” Or not.
We may have seen a lot of the same things along the way but this display is definitely very well done!
Just east of Clinton we are looking for the Pony Bridge. This is supposed to be one of the longest bridges on 66; built in 1933.
The name is from the “Pony Truss” style – meaning that the traffic flows “through the truss but the top of the bridge is not joined together with cross braces.” Thanks to “Garrett’s Bridges” for that great description of what we are seeing.
And we find another part of the original road!
Making our way into Oklahoma City we are back on the Interstate for a bit before we try to locate our next icon – the Milk Bottle Grocery.
This building is triangular in shape and very small – 350 square feet.
We expect to see a giant milk bottle on the roof of this building so it should be easy to spot. There is a lot of traffic though so we are trying to be on the look-out. There it is!
We would like to spend more time in Oklahoma City but there are many more states to go through and a limited time to complete the trip. We will be back Oklahoma City – we will.
It is starting to get late and we still have more to see. West of Arcadia we spot “Pops.”
This is the “world’s largest known soda bottle” with straw, at 65 feet, and has over 700 different soda varieties inside. Granted, this is a newer attraction to the 66 but still – in the spirit for sure.
We are able to find the Round Barn of Arcadia. This was built in 1899 and is only 100 feet from the original highway. Not sure why it is round but being different brought in tourists along the 66.
The Route 66 Interpretive Center is closed for the day so we will have to pick that up on another trip. We continue on.
The Rock Café in Stroud is amazing.
This is actually built in 1936 from the excess rock used in an alignment of the 66. There was a fire there but it has been restored.
It’s getting dark now so we need to find a place for the night. Heading through Bristow and Sapulpa we find a place in Tulsa.
It has been a long day and we feel like we are on over-load. Dinner in the room – leftovers.