What a day. So much has happened that I’m not sure that I can really summarize it.

I woke and showered and loaded up the scooter and by 8:30am I was off and heading for Elk City, OK. There was a museum there that I wanted to check out. The weather was iffy, but I figured that it should be ok. And it was.

Before Elk City was the small town of Canute. I think Canute used to be a pretty big town. But after the interstate by-passed the town in 1970, it basically died. It has some old motels and a grotto. Neat little town. Shame it’s dead.

The road from Canute to Elk City, like a lot of 66 in western OK is basically a frontage road, however it’s still concrete from the 1930’s. Can’t complain about that, really.

Elk City is a bigger town and was nearly able to survive being bypassed. However, there are still a lot of abandoned gas stations and motels.

The thing Elk City’s got going for it is the museum. So I decided to check it out.

It was weird, but ok. It’s divided into four buildings. There are actually a ton of buildings, but you can only get into four of them. They have it set up like a town and it is rather cool, but the vibe was weird. However, it was only $4 to get in, so I really can’t complain about that either.

I spent about an hour there, which maybe was too much, but still had a good time.

As I left Elk City, the sky was clearing up and there was tons of blue to be seen! Which was a good thing, since I was up for a little exploring of some of old alignments, which are dirt roads.

I wanted to see the little-known town of Doxey - bypassed by Route 66 in 1930ish. There’s nothing left of it, not even foundations. But it was neat to see.

Upon entering the next town of Sayre, the skies got darker. But it didn’t really rain. Sayre was another town that basically died after being bypassed. You might recognize the county courthouse from the movie Grapes of Wrath.

I’ve been this way twice before and both times I remember the stretch of road from Sayre to Erick (great name, huh?). It used to be a 4-lane highway, but after even that was bypassed by the interstate, only two lanes were needed. So the remaining two lanes were abandoned. There’s also an old Rock Island Railroad line next to it.

We drove on the abandoned section in ‘04 and ‘06, but those were rental cars. Taking a Vespa down that road is asking to plug a flat tire in the rain.

And speaking of rain, the sky was looking a bit rainy. I pulled over as it started to drizzle and contemplated throwing on the Devo suit. I chose not to, ate a Clif Bar and rode into Erick. As I rode into Erick, the rain started to really come down.

In Erick, I found an old gas station (not hard to do) and took shelter under it while I began to put on the rain gear. A dog barked at me through the door and windows. I barked back and he moved farther away. Good dog.

After struggling with the gear, I hoped on the scooter and rode around Erick, taking pictures here and there. I found a great building with tons of signs all over it, took a picture or two and was getting frustrated with the rain.

Just as I was getting ready to ride off in a grumpy mood, a gray-haired woman in overalls came over and told me that I could park the scooter under her porch. It was the same porch with all the signs all over it. I agreed and she asked if I was coming there to see them.

I said that I was. And I was. I just didn’t know it.

She invited me in and I remembered hearing about this redneck/hippie couple who have a store full of things not for sale. I found it.

Or rather, they found me.

So here allow me to introduce my two most favorite people of Route 66. Harley and Annabell of The Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick, OK (The Redneck Capital of the World!). You can see rednecks work and play in their own environment!

This really was what I was searching for.

Sandhills is not a store. Like I said, nothing in it is for sale. It is a meeting place. Mostly, it’s a stage for Harley and Annabell. Harley make an art form out of vulgarity. His medium, at times, is obscenity, just as Picasso’s medium was paint.

We sat around asking each other questions about each other and basically had a wonderful couple of hours. These are good people. Kind and loving. The kind and loving show through Annabell more so than Harley, but honestly, it flows pretty heavily from both of them.

They opened a healthfood store, then a music shop and then an antique shop. When none of those worked out so well, they were playing some music, just the two of them, and a group of tourists stopped by. By the next song, the shop was full and everyone was having a great time.

Over the years, word of mouth made them Route 66 icons. They do no advertising, ask no money and basically have a blast not doing so.

How did I miss hearing about them? I have no idea. But I’m glad that I didn’t. I’m glad that I didn’t go into Erick thinking “hey, I wonder if I’ll get to meet Harley and Annabell.” I’m glad they found me. It sort of gave me a bit of hope in the happy coincidences category.

They sang me a couple of songs - one was a kick ass version of Route 66, which I got a video of and another was one of Annabell’s about a day in the country side. It was beautiful. They’re both wonderful musicians. Heck, they’re both wonderful people and I believe they made my day.

Here’s the video. Sorry it’s a bit small. I tried to change it, but couldn’t.

While I was in there, the sky cleared.

So off with the rain gear and on with the journey! 100 miles to go!

They saw me off with hugs and blew me kisses as I rode down the street. I blew kisses back and honked my horn, so thankful that people like this exist.

Texola was my next town and I’ve explored it before, so mostly I gave it a quick hello and a look-see to see if anything had changed. Not much had really. Thankfully, my favorite sign on Route 66 is still there.

Texola is in Oklahoma. But barely. At the edge of town begins Texas. Yee-haw!

The road from the state line to Shamrock was long and straight and mostly concrete. Shamrock is about 15 miles in and there’s not much to see along the way. Just flat Texan beauty.

Shamrock is itself pretty run down. However, since I was there, someone decided it would be a neat idea to put in an Econo-lodge. I wonder how long that will last.

What Shamrock is most known for is the U-Drop-Inn. It’s an old gas station and cafe done in a very art deco style. It’s been restored (though I think the tower is leaning a bit). I was running a bit late and didn’t go inside. Next time, I hope.

And though I’ve stopped there before, no trip through McLean, Texas would seem right without a visit to the Devil’s Rope Museum. The DRM has more examples of barbed wire than anywhere else in the world. Probably by a long, long shot. It is utterly fascinating how many different kinds of barbed wire there are.

They’ve also got a very small, but in my opinion, the best Route 66 Museum on the route. Many would disagree, but I stand by my claim.

Before I went into the Devil’s Rope Museum the sky was lovely. Upon coming out, the sky was not quite as lovely, but still really nice.

And so here it is. My chance to finally explore the area around the Jericho Mud Gap. You can read a little about it here.

It’s unfortunately impossible to do the whole route since some of it is now on private property. But it is possible to do some of it, provided it isn’t raining. And, for now, it wasn’t.

County Road BB is what it’s called now. But from 1926 to 1932, they called it Route 66. It was unpaved and thick as paste. Farmers used to make a good bit of money by pulling people out of the mud. Stay away when wet.

I knew this. In ‘06 I even experience how thick and impossible this mud could be. We visited the old town of Jericho. There’s not much left, just an old motel and a house or two. But this time around, I wanted to explore the roads that lead up to Jericho.

I hopped on BB and immediately climbed a hill. From the summit, I could see the Old 66 descended into a valley and then up another hill, several miles away. Was I really able to do this. The dirt was like sand. I couldn’t go faster than 15mph. Was this even remotely a good idea?

Well, no. But why should that stop me.

I could see some clouds gathering in the distance, but it was nothing.

The road was slow-going. But there was no turning back. It was longer than I thought it would be and as I cleared another hill, I could see that rain was falling well off into the distance. It wasn’t a big deal, I was just thankful it wasn’t falling here.

I turned a bend and up another hill and suddenly started feeling rain drops. And then saw lightening. The land here is much different than back home. What looks like it’s miles away is basically right on top of you.

Now I was worried. I didn’t want to get stuck out here during a thunderstorm. I grabbed my map to find the next road that would take me back to the paved Route 66. County Road 23. It was close. But so was the end of BB. I was so close to finishing it!

As I reached County Road 23 the rain stopped. The sky got a little brighter and there was no thunder, no lightening. It was as if nature was daring me to keep going. And believe me, it was tempting. It was probably only another two miles. Maybe 15 minutes at most. So tempting.

But no. I had already done a dumb thing by attempting this, I shouldn’t compound my woes by continuing when I know that I’d get stuck. So I hung a right on 23 and in a matter of a minute or two I was back on paved 66.

One minute later, the sky opened up.

Lucky for me, I was under and overpass, putting on the Devo suit.

And from that point until I rode into Amarillo, nearly 60 miles away, it rained and rained and the temperature dropped to 50 degrees. I was cold, miserable and wished that this wasn’t how I was going to end a wonderful day.

But it was. I rode through Groom with it’s giant cross and Conway with its Bug Ranch and a bit farther was Amarillo.

It was too cold and wet to camp, so I found a really cheap motel (campground prices) with free WiFi and here I am, again, drying out.

There is a lot to see in Amarillo. And tomorrow I’ll show you around.

Here are my pics from today.

Miles today: 195
Miles total: 2705

Today was supposed to be one of my shorter days. I purposely did this to break things up and so that I wouldn’t always be getting in late.

“Getting in late” means after 7pm. I just don’t want to do that.

After a shower and packing up my things, I was on the road before 8am. Of course, getting through Oklahoma City at rush hour, I thought, would be a hassle. But no. Even that was no problem at all. There was hardly any traffic. And this was prime rush hour time. Nothing. Do people not work here?

In very little time I was in the north west corner of OKC riding down 39th Street, Old Route 66. It was nice to be back on The Mother Road. Even if it’s just newer hotels and car dealerships. There were a few old motels, like the Western, but mostly everything was modern, like Old 66 was never here.

Getting out of OKC and into the next town, now nearly merged with it’s larger neighbor to the east, is Bethany. Bethany seems to celebrate Route 66 a bit. The town was started by a Nazarene church for for the longest time didn’t allow the sale of cigarettes, booze or tobacco. Movie theaters were also disallowed. While this is no longer the case, the two schools in Bethany are both Christian (one is a Nazarene and the other is a Holiness Pentecostal). Such is the south.

Bethany wasn’t much of a feel for Old Route 66 either. For that, you’d have to exit off of the 39th Street Expressway and do a quick trip around Lake Overholser, a man-made lake which Route 66 skirted until 1958 when it was moved to present-day 39th Street Expressway.

This is definitely the better way to go.

After crossing a 1924 bridge, you’re taken around the lake, which today was choppy as the winds were really tossing me around. The short route, much of it on the original concrete, used to take you “out in the country.” But now it’s housing developments and gated communities.

When we were through here in 2004, there was a whole community (I use that word VERY loosely here) surrounded by a moat. I didn’t see it this time, so perhaps the moat didn’t work and they were invaded by ruffians. I certainly hope so.

Not too much later and it’s back to the 4 lane into Yukon. Yokon is the home town of Garth Brooks. He may still even live here. Who knows. It’s also a town that seems to like that it’s on Route 66. They even hold in their possession a Route 66 icon: The Yukon’s Best Flour grain elevator. You take what you can get, I guess. It’s pretty impressive at any rate.

And I’m sure El Reno is a great town. But it didn’t impress me. Sure, it’s where the motel scenes from Rainmain were filmed, but that’s not enough to make me stop and even take a picture.

El Reno is named after Fort Reno, two miles west. Fort Reno was named after the Civil War general who was killed at the Battle of South Mountain (though the historical marker says it was the Battle of Antietam). I visited the spot where he died a couple of months ago. See it here.

About this time, 9:30ish, maybe 10, the winds picked up considerably. Weirdly, the wind was coming out of the south and as I was traveling in a westerly direction, it was tossing me about something terrible. They were 20 - 30mph. Not as bad as I’ve had before, but definitely something that makes you take notice.

It was a challenge keeping the scooter on the narrow stretches of concrete Old 66. Thankfully it wasn’t also raining.

Though, the sky looked very threatening and the weather folks said that possibly tornado-spawning thunderstorms would be lurking here and there.

But through the wind and the threat of rain, the road stretched on and on to the horizon, showing me that my day would extend farther than I could see. Of course, that’s any given day. It’s just nice to have a reminder now and again.

West of El Reno I had two choices. The first was to take the “El Reno Cut Off,” the second was to take the longer, older alignment. I almost always choose the latter. For most Route 66 is connected with the 50’s. They connect it to cars with big chrome bumpers, to doo-wop and poodle skirts, to that increasingly annoying Bobby Troup song. But I connect it to the 20’s and 30’s. So, when available, I like to take the old way.

And today, the old way meant once again departing the sometimes well-placed “Historic Route 66″ tourist signs and heading to parts unknown.

This time, parts unknown were sort of known to me. In 2006, we tried and failed to find where an old bridge to the town of Bridgeport was. We looked, got really hopelessly confused and epically failed.

In 2008, all that was changed. I got a good map, knew exactly where to find it and set about through the towns of Calumet and Geary. The skies were growing darker and I knew that if it rained, I couldn’t take these roads.

These roads were dirt. Not just any dirt, but, when wet, thick, sticky, pancake batter mud. Even when dry, this stuff was nasty. When wet, it was simply no longer a road.

The paved roads to Geary, now US 270, were, more or less, Route 66 from 1926 to 1933. The road went up through Geary and then turned south, heading through Bridgeport.

It created a large northerly bump that the El Reno Cut Off essentially cut off, saving westward travelers quite a bit of time.

However, from 1926 to 1933, this was the way to go, even though it was never paved. It connected, on it’s dissent into Bridgeport, with a Postal Road and the Ozark Trail. It also ran along side the Rock Island Railroad Line before they both crossed into Bridgeport.

In 1921, they built this really cool suspension bridge into Bridgeport. The bridge is gone, but it’s foundation is still there. For some wacky reason, I wanted to see that.

To do that, however, I first must navigate these amazingly crappy roads. The sand-like dirt was sometimes a couple of inches thick. And to make matters more interesting, 18 wheelers thought it would be fun to use it. Why? I had no idea. But soon I would find out.

I passed where the road connected to the Ozark Trail and saw the old Rock Island Line turn off to the west and I knew that my road to finally see this bridge thing was coming up.

And it was! And there it is! And there are all the 18 wheelers that passed me! And there are a bunch of other construction things! And there go my hopes of seeing it!

Sort of. I could see it from the other side! Route 66 used to go through Bridgeport till ‘33 and after that, it went about a mile away from it. Bridgeport is still very much accessible. And a few miles of crappy dirt roads later, I was onto the more modernish Route 66.

Before going into Bridgeport, I had to cross the 38 Pony Bridge. It’s called that because there are 38 sections, or Ponies. I’m not sure why they’re called that, but they are and thus: 38 Pony Bridge.

Incidentally, this begins the longest stretch of original Route 66 pavement - a mere 18.2 miles. But still, there’s nothing like riding/driving on concrete.

The state doesn’t seem to want tourists on this road, as they’ve posed “Road Closed” signs with the addendum “Local Traffic Only.” I figured that it wasn’t really true and pressed on.

38 ponies later, I was across the South Canadian River and heading into Bridgeport.

There’s something about Bridgeport that I really like. They say it’s a ghost town, but it’s really not. There’s a community center, a working church (at least I think it’s working), a place to pay your water bill and, most importantly, there are people living there.

The bridge to Bridgeport arrived via Main Street. Main Street is and probably always was a dirt road. So I took Market Street into town. That’s paved. It took me to the town “center.” From there I could hang a right on Broadway and then a block farther, a left on Main and about a half mile later, I’d be at the bridge!

Except that’s not how it would work. I got into Bridgeport just fine. Took some pictures and rather enjoyed my time. Until I turned to go down Broadway and saw several construction vehicles and a few dump trucks blocking my way.

That’s odd. What were they doing on BOTH sides of the same old river crossing. I’m not really sure. I can’t imagine they’re rebuilding a crossing. But why work on both of the roads at the same time? Who knows.

All I know is that I didn’t get to see the old bridge crossing today.

Not that the day was lost, of course. Moving on, past Bridgeport is that long stretch of old pavement. It took me past Hydro, with their wacky parking (I stopped, but didn’t really do anything in town), past a section of road that nearly got washed away. It was really close to taking out the whole road. See my pictures for close ups.

And on into Weatherford. It was around 12:30 and I was getting a bit hungry. Because of this, I stopped at the New Young Chinese Restaurant. It’s not just Young, it’s New! Because they couldn’t tell me if their brown sauce had chicken stock in it, I ordered broccoli with tofu fried in soy sauce. It was pretty ok. I’m glad I got some tofu. The soy sauce was WAY too salty. I need to start carrying low-sodium stuff.

I finished up and headed down the road, now a frontage road, to Clinton. That’s where the Route 66 Museum is. I’ve always wanted to check it out and finally had the opportunity to do so.

And I’m quite glad I did. It’s full of history and artifacts from the early, pre-Route 66 history to the present. And the admission charge was only $3! My kind of joint!

They’ve got full rooms devoted to each decade and music from that decade to accompany you! And thankfully it’s not ALL the Bobby Troup song.

It’s a great place, so if you ever get the chance, check it out. I wish I would have a long time ago. I’ve been by it three times now.

As for the rest of Clinton, not all that interesting.

It was still early in the afternoon. Maybe 3pm. And my day was soon finished. The KOA is in Foss and that’s only a few miles down the road.

So a few miles I went, stopping in Foss to see what’s there (not much) and to check out some really old alignments (which were pretty cool). They were both dirt and have never been paved, so I decided to look but not touch. I have more than enough dirt roads ahead of me.

I pulled into the KOA around 3:30, set up camp and basically took the afternoon off. A very nice, light day. Nothing too challenging on a mental or physical level. Just a pleasant ride.

Oh, and as for the tornadoes, they never came. That bit of cloudiness that I rode through around Geary seems to have developed into some nastiness for southern Oklahoma, but for me, clear blue skies!

Here are my pics from today.

Miles today: 156
Miles total: 2510

You can click on this to see the big version!

Right back where I started from.

So I woke up today. Early. Ready to hit the road. But first two things. I had to mail a package back home. See, I packed a little too much and I’m sick of dealing with things, so I mailed out some stuff that I’ll probably end up needing.

And second, I needed to get a rear tire.

The first was no problem. The second, I thought was going to require a miracle. But no. I showed up at the Vespa dealer and the mechanics decided to get me in right away. The down side is that they only had Pirellis, the same tire that wore out on me. The up side is that I was WAY under inflated for a weight this big, so this one should last longer. Lesson learned.

The folks at the dealership were great. Real nice folks. Sort of pricey, but nice folks. I saw the new Vespa S and I pretty well like it. If it were a 250cc rather than a 150cc, I’d get it. So I’m glad it’s not.

They also had a nice yellow soft tail that they were working on. Pretty like. I don’t know if I’d ever want one, but if I wanted a cycle, that’s the one I’d want. Make sense? Ok.

While I was there, I was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my day. Should I go to Paris, Texas for the nice and ride back here the next day, starting up Route 66 again the day after that? Or should I just stay in OKC?

They were finished with the scooter in no time at all, so I grabbed a bite to eat at Denny’s.

Well I decided to take a little loop trip south. I was going that way anyway, so I’d just let the fates decided.

I have reservations at the Blue Swallow Motel (seriously - check this place out). And if I could move it to a day earlier, then I’d head back to OKC and leave for 66 tomorrow. If I couldn’t change it, I’d keep on keeping on to Paris, Texas. Make sense?

I took some streets that were easy to follow and eventually ended up on US 77 South. The towns through there are mostly uninteresting. To me anyway. My apologies if you live there and like it. That’s great. I’m sure they’re real swell places. But not for me.

The road was straight and pretty boring.

So I pulled over and called the Blue Swallow. Joyous! They could indeed change my reservation.

And after I got on the road again, the road itself started to rise and fall and suddenly out of no where, there was altitude! Hills! They even called one little bump a mountain!

Folks, Oklahoma is FLAT. Except here. It’s not flat at all!

The road was doing some twisties and it was a pleasant change from a road so straight you could sleep while riding.

And then - presto! - my first mini-destination.

See, today had no real destination. Just two things I wanted to see. The destination was either Paris, TX or OKC again. But by now I knew it was OKC again.

Anyway, Turner Falls!

Very very beautiful. Also $10 to step foot into. Fine if you’re going to spend the day there. But I had no time for such things. I took a few pictures and scrammed.

Down the road, and then a left and then a sign for…

GENE AUTRY, OKLAHOMA!

There is actually a town in Oklahoma named Gene Autry. No, it’s not like the town in Maryland called Chevy Chase, which has nothing to do with who you think it does. This one (Gene Autry) has everything to do with who you think it does.

See, once upon a time, there was a town in Oklahoma named Lou. They didn’t like that name, and really, who can blame them, so they changed it to Dresden. Dresden is a fine, respectable name if you want to be bombed by the Allied Forces during WW2. Dresden was renamed Berwyn (well before WW2, thank goodness). And about 60 years later, a famous cowboy guy named Gene Autry bought a ranch outside of said town.

The town, in a fit of “there’s nothing else to do in Berwyn” decided to rename the town once again - to Gene Autry.

This wasn’t a coincidence. They named it after Gene. There’s no report of what Gene thought of such a thing. However, at the name changing ceremony, 35,000 people showed up to take part in it. That’s more than FOUR times the amount of people in the whole state of Oklahoma!¹ Amazing!

Anyway, I followed the super awesome signs, riding down Happy Trails Road, to Gene Autry, Oklahoma, home of the Gene Autry National Museum. Which closes at 4pm.

It was 4:30pm.

This happens to me quite a bit.

But I was content to see the town, which consists of about 200 people and a grain elevator (naturally). There’s evidence of an old store and an old gas station. I should have taken pictures, but didn’t.

And then I scurried back to the same campground as before. KOA in Oklahoma City. My new home.

Until tomorrow when I start back up on Route 66.

Here are my pics from today.

Miles today: 239
Miles total: 2354

1. This is true, I promise. [↩]

The city was dead today. But it was Sunday and I guess that’s how it goes.

I decided to stay put in OKC instead of running to Arkansas. So for all you Hogcallers¹ out there, from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry.

However, I did decide to ride the 20 or so miles into downtown. I went to a healthfood store and bought some toothpaste and then rode to an Indian place for their buffet.

The Indian place was great. Really went all out on the decor. The food was good as well. A little pricey, but worth it.

My plan was to then ride to the site of the Oklahoma bombing. There’s a huge memorial there now.

They closed off a whole city block to memorialize it. I took a bunch of pictures. Please look at them.

There is also a museum that is really really well done. It starts you off explaining what was going on that day before the blast. You are then sent into a room where you get to hear a recording of a meeting of the OKC Water Commission (or something like that). During the recording you can hear the blast and the horrible commotion thereafter.

The museum houses a lot of evidence, including the axle of the truck that carried the bomb. It’s got quite a lot of debris as well.

The whole thing is really moving and should definitely be seen if you’re in the area.

Why something like this hasn’t been done for NYC and 9/11 is unbelievable. It’s a disgrace, really.

I spent about three hours there and it definitely could have been more. Again, this is a must-see.

The ride back to the KOA was uneventful, but really simple. The city is really easy to navigate. In face, I didn’t even need detailed instructions. Just a little slip of paper with some chicken scratch on it.

Here are my pics from today.

Miles today: 63
Miles total: 2115

1. ”Hogcallers” is the name for Arkansas Razorbacks fans. [↩]

Remember the guy I met yesterday? Gary. He built his own service station along 66 in Missouri. That guy. He was talking about how every time you travel 66, even if it’s a hundred times, you see something new.

In 2006, I traveled the same stretch that I traveled today. From it, I recalled merely one thing (which I’ll get to in a bit).

I took only five pictures in 2006 of the ground I covered today, writing only three short, almost dismissive paragraphs:

Tulsa, Oklahoma really screwed us up. We read two different directions from two different books and were very confused. Nothing made sense. 11th Street becomes 10th that is broken up by a hospital and then becomes 11th and 12th is somewhere in there too. It was horrible. We made it (obviously), but not without a lot of sweating.

The drive from Tulsa to Oklahoma City (actually, even north of Tulsa) contained a ton of drives on the old alignment. The whole trip was on Route 66, of course, but when we could get off more recent alignments and hit the ones from the 20’s and 30’s, it was just special. The old road follows the contour of the land. The newer alignments and interstates cut through the land. There’s little beauty in that.

When we got to Chandler, mere minutes away from Oklahoma City, I made some “could we *be* anymore in Chandler??” remarks. Boo giggled and giggled, but didn’t understand why it was funny. Nikki understood, but didn’t find it humorous in the least. How sad is that? Anyway, Chandler had their last cowboy shoot out in 1924. Sort of behind the times.

Today was much different. Today I feel like I really got to know Route 66.

I broke camp around 8:30 and the sky appeared gray and ready to rain. I stopped on my way through Tulsa and moved my rain gear from the bottom of my pillion to the top. Just in case.

Riding into Tulsa on 11th tossed me into a town that is holding its own and holding onto Route 66. Many of the businesses are Route 66 businesses. Many of the motels are still operating, though some are more apartments than motels now.

I’m not even sure if I went through here last time. I must have, but I don’t remember it. The Route has changed considerably in the past two years, but still. No excuse.

The sky dripped a bit upon us as we rode into downtown.

It was supposed to rain today. But not yet. I nearly pulled over and threw on the Devo suit. But I thought that I’d wait it out a little longer. I knew it was going to rain, but not quite yet.

As I was thinking these thoughts we rode by six houses parked along side the road. They were all on trailers and they all seemed to large to be on trailers. They are all also for sale.

There is a story behind these, but I don’t know what it is. If anyone does, please let me know.

My theory is that they wanted to take them on the Interstate, but couldn’t fit them or were disallowed by the long arm of the law.

They appear to have been there for years.

Sapulpa is the town after Tulsa. It’s down this long, sort of winding road along side rail road tracks. The road is long to the point where you think that you’re on the wrong road. It’s not marked. Of course not. And just when you’re this close to turning around, you see where you need to hang a right to go into Sapulpa.

Seriously, folks, put more signs up, ok?

Sapulpa, named after the Indian chief who settled nearby, seems to be pretty into the fact that they’re on 66. They had some murals (of course) and some Route 66 businesses. All in all a fine town. But it seems to living in the shadow of Tulsa. Sapulpa might just be “the town after Tulsa.” That would be a shame.

Today was a day, after Tulsa, made up almost entirely of really old (and sometimes craptastically maintained) alignments. At this point in Route 66’s wanderings, the early 1920’s alignment often follows the path of the Ozark Trail. As it stands, pretty much the more history, the better.

The first such part including a 120 foot, brick decked, 1921 bridge. It’s steel and the beams were riveted together rather than bolted.

While the more modern alignment of 66 isn’t very busy, it was nice to get away from pretty much any traffic. This short, but lovely, run was very typical of Route 66 and it’s always enjoyable.

But that lead to a bit of confusion. I’m not sure how, but I found myself on a dirt road that I thought was Route 66 heading west (which, in this case, geographically, would be south. I wasn’t totally sure, it could have been just some dirt road.

After a couple of miles, I noticed a cut into one of the hills, which proved to me that it was an old road and not just some dirt road. A mile or so later, I found a 1927 iron bridge. This wouldn’t have been on just some dirt road.

But where I screwed up was when I assumed that old road = old Route 66. The road came out on Oklahoma 48 North. That’s right, north. Now, I’ve got a pretty good sense of direction. I have no idea how this one slipped by me. How I did a 180 degree turn I’ll never know. But I did.

I eventually figured out where I was and where I wanted to be. I just don’t know how I got there.

And if you’re wondering, I’m now assuming that the road I was on was Old OK 48. I know nothing about that one, would be nifty to find out.

After booking it back to Route 66, I took another 1920’s alignment and ended up in the town of Bristow. Bristow was having some sort of big shindig and the street was blocked off.

This afforded me the opportunity to explore the town a bit. There isn’t much to explore, but it seemed like a nice little town. Part of me wanted to see what the festivities were all about, but mostly, I needed to push on. Best not to get involved.

From Bristow, it’s a straight shot into Dewpew. Meaning there aren’t old alignments to delve into along the way. But 66 hasn’t actually gone into Dewpew since 1926. Motorists traveling after that had to make an effort to see this little town. Or rather, Dewpew had to make an effort to be seen.

Dewpew really wants to be a Route 66 town. But it never really was. They welcome the tourist - there’s even a hand-painted sign along the highway with a Route 66 shield and an arrow to lure in the savvy traveler. We were lured and I’m glad for it to be true.

We didn’t see much - there’s not a whole lot going on.

In what might be the last realignment of Route 66, the road from Dewpew to Stoud was moved in 1984 (Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985). All along this distance, you can see traces of the 1926 - 1984 alignment. Mostly, they needed to widen the road.

Some of the stretches are drivable, but since it’s usually only 20 or so feet away from the new highway, what’s the point?

However, it is along one of the rare stretches that slides away from the new highway that I finally came across something I remembered.

That thing is the Route 66 Biker Rally & RV Park.

In 2006, we must have pulled off to the side and accidentally saw it. I basically did the same thing today. I wasn’t looking for it.

I took a picture of it then and that’s here.

We also stopped at the Route 66 Shoe Tree, a mile or so down the road form the Biker place, in 2006. I vaguely remembered that, so I guess it sort of counts, right? Anyway the shoe tree is one of two (maybe more) trees along Route 66 where people throw their shoes up into its branches and … well that’s about it. But that’s what makes it a shoe tree. Otherwise, it would just be a tree, and while lovely, it’s not a fun as a shoe tree.

Looking over the few pictures I took in ‘06, I see that we must have been through Stroud. All of the pictures, the Biker place, the shoe tree and the Skyliner Motel are from Stroud. Stroud is the one thing that I remember. And I don’t remember it well.

It’s a nice enough town. And really into being on Route 66. They seem to be big enough to support it, which is a good thing. Some of the same towns have the spirit, but just can’t pull it off. But Strouds got quirkiness (the shoe tree), an old motel (Skyliner) and some Route 66 based businesses (Rock Cafe, established in 1939).

Enough of the hustle/bustle of the big town, let’s hit the Ozark Trail and a 1926 alignment of Route 66. Leaving Stroud, you basically have to know where you’re going. Thankfully, the appropriately-titled book Oklahoma Route 66 by Jim Ross was my guide.

The book is good, but needs to be updated and must include more modern names for roads.

This section of the Ozark trail is special because along it is one of four Ozark Trail obelisks remaining in Oklahoma. These obelisks were placed along the trail like road signs. I’m not sure why they chose something so huge, but it’s fine that they did. I was surprised when I saw it from a distance.

It has been spray painted by the locals, but still in fairly good shape.

Here the dirt trail leads us to the town of Davenport, which was celebrating its Nettie Davenport Day!

Nettie was the town’s first Post Master in 1892. They named the town after her family. And this was one strange town.

My introduction to the town came via one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen ever. I am sorry to report that I have no picture of this event.

As I was riding into town I saw a 14 year old blond girl… talking on her cell phone… wearing spiderman pajamas… with no shoes or socks… while riding a four-wheeler down the main street of the town.

It was amazing and I turned around to follow her so I could take her picture, but alas she was gone. There were, however, many other folks riding ATVs. From four year olds to the older citizenry. There were even families with babies on four-wheelers!

The four-wheeler is to Davenport what the golf cart is to Florida. It’s that simple.

Route 66 is basically unchanged through the town of Chandler, which is pretty big as far as small towns go. They really seem to be trying to bring Route 66 back. Chandler has always been a little behind the times, their last gunfight was in 1924 - when most folks were watching silent films about cowboys. It killed Marshall Bill Tilghman. You can read about Chandler’s fun history here.

Just after Wellston, a town bypassed early-on by Route 66, is a stretch of privately owned abandoned Route 66. That in itself isn’t so rare. Many abandoned runs reverted to the original owners. This one, however is signed.

There’s a huge sign reading “Private Historical Site.” And you’re not quite sure if you’re allowed there. Was the guy just being a jerk or was he advertising a lonely stretch of road for all (except trucks, according to the sign) to visit? I erred on the side of curiosity and hung a right. The little stretch is maybe a half mile long with a gentle curve in it. Not bad. Original concrete. But just weird.

And just before Arcadia there is a run down little stone service station owned by the Rock of Ages Church nearby. This one is obviously opened to the public. And the story of this old station, one of the first along this road - even before it was Route 66 - if a fun one.

There was no electricity there in the 20’s and gas, oil and kerosene were dispensed via 55 gallon drums laid upon their sides.

All that changed when a gentleman drove through, offering to see the owners a plate for printing their very own $10 bills! They took him up on the offer and all was going very well for awhile. They’d print their money in a small back room, accessible through a hidden window. They were, of course, finally found out. The service station closed, never to reopen.

It was bought by a local church and they’ve preserved it very well.

But what Arcadia is most famous for is their big round barn. It was built in 1898 and restored to pristine condition in 1992. It’s maintained by a historical society and, at least when I was there, admission was free.

They even rent out the loft of the barn for parties. So if you’re ever wanting to have a fun ol’ time in a round barn, this is your place.

It’s really beautiful, definitely a “must see” on your way into Oklahoma City.

And speaking of OKC, I was only the town of Edmond away from it. Edmond, except for their fairly nice downtown, is one big stripmall. It seems to be more a suburb of OKC than anything else. I rode through it, but didn’t really stop.

I wasn’t really entering OKC today. I was skirting the edge and then heading to the KOA on the southeastern side of town. It’s about 14 miles off of Route 66 and was a very long and boring ride through stretches of basically nothing.

Luckily, I found a quaint little chinese place owned by a Taiwanese family and staffed by a high school aged goth girl who reminded me of this guy, Joe, I used to know. It was strange. But I got tofu and all was well. Thanks, tofu!

The day was at an end. Early too. That was nice, since I could really use some time out of the saddle.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is still up in the air. I’m watching the weather for tornado-like stuff and will base my decision upon that.

More when there is more to tell. Goodnight!

Here are my pics (not as many as yesterday).

Miles today: 195
Miles total: 2052 - I hit the 2,000 mile mark!

Here’s a really rough map of the ground covered today.

Today was such an incredibly long day. I’m beat. I saw a lot, but mostly just took it all in.

My day began at the Springfield KOA. There was supposedly a storm coming, so I waiting for it. By 9am, the radar said that it was raining where I was. However, it wasn’t. By 9:30 I decided to be on my way. I got a late start. Again.

My day actually began well before I would have liked it to. All through the night, I was woken up by jets, trains and a huge flood light next to my tent. Springfield KOA really is a nice place. But wow. Even with earplugs, the trains were loud.

I found my way back to Route 66, hung a left and was on my way. I knew today was going to be mostly I-44 free and I was quite thrilled.

This first section from Springfield to Carthage would take me away from the interstate. In fact, I didn’t even see it.

My first duty was to find John’s land. John has been reading my blog and offered to let me stay here. I’m sort of a shower freak, so I couldn’t. But I wanted to check it out anyway. I think I may have found it. It’s a nice chunk and I hope he does something fun with it.

Not too much farther down the road I ran into Gary. I saw what I thought was a restored Sinclare gas station. I pulled over and this fellow motioned for me to enter.

What I thought was a restored station was actually built by Gary to resemble a gas station that used to be on the same spot. He did a great job and talked my ear off (and I his) for about an hour.

It was weird to talk to someone. I’m sort of doing the loner thing at this point. I don’t usually enter places like this because I feel bad for not being able to spend some money. But he didn’t really seem to care - he didn’t even ask. He just talked about his shop and all the people who visit him.

Before leaving, he gave me a little map to a place called Red Oaks II. He told me to visit it because I would like it. It was a mile or so off of Route 66, but that’s fine.

And hour later, I was on my way. I’m really glad I stopped in.

The road winds its way out of the Ozarks and is, at time, very beautiful. We crossed a few old bridges though Spencer and avoided a busy State Route for as long as we could.

But eventually, we had to concede to State Route 96. 96 used to be 66. But now it’s widened and full of very fast traffic.

I could keep up, but Ruby wouldn’t do more than 70mph. I could have used a bit more top end here, but she wasn’t giving it up. That’s strange, even with the packs, we can usually do 75 if there isn’t a wind. I figured that she was a bit moody and 70 was all she had at the moment.

We did our best through towns like Albatross, Phelps, Rescue and Plew, stopping for a bit in Avilla, just to take a couple of photos.

I was growing weary of this widened 96 and luckily I spied an old alignment. Even better, it was marked! We rode along, happy as you please, at 55mph. There wasn’t a whole lot to see. Mostly residential. There were a few old tourist cabins and that’s always fine.

This alignment was turning to head back to 96, but as it did, I saw another, older alignment (marked as well) that went off to the left.

Curious, we followed it to see where it might take us. Where it took us was along a nearly over-flowing river and a slightly flooded Kellogg Park. I believe this park was here when the road was first used. What a treat to be driving along windy Ozark roads and come across a perfect river-side park.

And while that fun ended, more was beginning. Red Oak was now approaching. Actually, we had to backtrack a little to get to it. And then a mile off of Route 66 took a Red Oak II sign. A mile farther and we were in Red Oak II.

Now, I don’t know much about Red Oak II. I’m sure some internet searching would come in handy here. But according to the fellows I met working there, an old man whose wife left him took to drinking and brought in all the buildings and made all the sculptures. He then sold it to the folks who own it now. How much of this is accurate, I’m not sure.

This place amazed me. My pictures are accurate, but it doesn’t touch how wonderful this place really is. It’s a weird little town. Only one couple lives here (not the owners), but I’d love to live here. It would be the perfect place for a little intentional community. Please check out my photos from today to see this place. You’ll want to go there too!

I walked around the place for about 30 minutes. I wish I could go back. They’re in the process of restoring it and making it a working little tourist attraction. That’s fine. I just want to live there.

A short ride later and we were in Carthage. There was a Civil War battle fought here and I saw the battlefield park (actually, the whole town was the battlefield - it was even burned during the war!). The town itself is pretty nice. It’s got a town square with a huge city hall in the center of it.

What Carthage is most known for, as far as Route 66 goes, is the Route 66 Drive In Theater. We stopped for a look-see. This is one of two working drive in theaters on Route 66. There were three, but one (may have) burned down.

The road again takes us away from a bit of civilization. It turns and twists, but not obnoxiously so. There is little to no traffic, so the ride is carefree. The sun has even joined us for this leg of the journey!

A few weeks ago, I photographed my way through the next towns of Carterville and Webb City. This time I mostly just got lost.

The signs in Webb City are nonexistent. I’m sure that I’m not the only one two complained about this. It really is a shame.

The same goes for the next town of Joplin as well. Joplin is the last town in Missouri and so here we go for all 13.2 miles of Kansas!

Entering Galena, Kansas is sort of a frightening affair if you go the “old” 66 way in. The newer way, via 7th street, is nicer, but not nearly as interesting. Go the back way.

When you go the back way, you see Hell’s Half Acre. This is where nine miners were killed in another massacre, early in the 1900’s (I believe).

According to one of the Route 66 guides that I have:

Lead mines caused a population explosion in 1877 as Galena was born. Over three thousand people moved here in the space of two months. The “hurry-up” factor combined with slag heaps made for a less than attractive town.

One of the more interesting stories is the rivalry between Galena and Empire City. A log wall was built between the two towns to keep the good citizens of Empire City form venturing to the rough-and-tumble Galena (or was it the other way around?). The people of Galena watched as the wall was painstakingly built, and when it was completed, proceeded to burn it to the ground.

That’s just wonderful.

When you enter Galena on the old alignment, you also get to see Four Women of the Route. It’s a newish store that’s really making waves in the Route 66 community.

The most noticeable of these waves being Mater. Mater is a character in the Route 66-based movie Cars. The Four Women have the original Mater. The fellows from Pixar (who produced the movie) were traveling 66 and saw this old boom truck (like a tow truck) and decided that they’d make a character based upon it. They have it.

I hung out with M (I forget her name - I’m REALLY horrible with names. It began with an M) and she told me all sorts of fun stuff.

Like the house across Route 66 from their store used to be a whore house. It was one of three in the town. This one served the miners. The other two served blacks and the non-miners who were white - that one was called The Pink Elephant). The Four Women own the old whore house and want to make it a Victorian style B&B. She said that it was confirmed that Belle Starr was a cook there!¹

We talked for the better part of two hours and it was great to hear all about Galena. I wish I could have stayed longer and I wish I could have spent money. She made Galena sound like such a cool place to live. I don’t know for sure if it is, but it would definitely be a fun place to hang out from time to time.

She and Gary (the fellow I talked to earlier that day) have a little competition going about who can talk the longest. I believe she has him beat.

Kansas has two towns along Route 66, Galena and Baxter Springs. Baxter Springs was surprisingly busy. Almost annoyingly so. I didn’t stay long and instead opted to head into Oklahoma.

The towns of Quapaw and Commerce were both rundown mining towns. Much like Galena and Baxter Springs. Commerce had a nifty gas station randomly emerging from an old warehouse style building. I wasn’t really sure why, but it tickled me greatly.

I was getting to the end of the places that I most recently saw with Sarah and Becky. We stopped just south of Miami and Miami, with its Coleman Theater, was next. Miami is a pretty big town. It was a mining town, but somehow managed to find itself anyway.

While leaving Miami, part of the road was flooded. I stopped and assessed it. Cars and trucks were wading through it with little problem. And luckily, my side of the road wasn’t as flooded at “their” side. So I gave it a shot. Half way through, I felt the water up to the underside of the scooter, I got a little worried that I might not clear it.

But all ended well and in ten seconds we were across and it good shape. Ruby’s belly got a little bath courtesy of the overflowing Spring River.

Because of all the rain, I was worried about the next section. But there had been ample sun to dry it out. While difficult to ride, the nine feet wide “Sidewalk Highway” is a treat to behold.

For six miles, Route 66 is only 9 feet wide. It was built in 1922, before it was officially Route 66. The roadway itself is asphalt over concrete and the “curbs” are about 5 inches wide and serve as “lines” on the road.

Much of the Sidewalk Highway is fairly well preserved in two sections, a testament to its construction. Folks still live along this stretch and it even crosses over I-44.

Shortly after the cross over, it’s a quick right into Afton.

I should also note that this is where Sarah, Becky and I turned east, heading into Arkansas a few weeks ago. That makes this next section of road - all the way to Oklahoma City - the only section of Route 66 that I’ve only driven once.

It’s a strange thing. Everything I’ve seen so far has been familiar. And if not familiar, like in the case of Illinois Route 4, well studied. I barely remember the last time I was through in, in 2006.

Also noteworthy is the fact that I was weary. Very weary. I wanted to pull over and set up camp right here along the side of whichever alignment I was riding.

And so Afton and Vinita, the next two towns on the fast-moving Oklahoma State Route 66 (once US Route 66) are blurs.

This is in part to Ruby. I can blame her, can’t I? For some reason, after gassing up before the Sidewalk Highway, she was peppier. In fact, on a slight incline, she reached 75mph with room to spare! We hit 80 on a straight stretch. I’m not sure what happened, but I was tired of riding and anything she could do to get me to camp was fine by me.

I did have to stop in Foyle to visit an lovely old stretch of concrete 66 and the Andy Payne monument. Andy Payne was a long distance runner who grew up in Foyle. He was also the winner of the cross-continent “Bunion Derby.” It was a footrace from Los Angeles to New York City in 1928. The winner would receive $25,000. And so Mr. Payne, only 19 years old, got his 25 grand.

There’s a park and monument dedicated to him just south of town.

My weariness got me a bit lost while trying to find my next and final stop: The Blue Whale. Instead of following a “very Route 66-esque” turn in the road, I continued straight. Doing that took me over a bridge that spanned an abandoned section of interstate. It always impresses me when they completely abandon and close off to all traffic a huge chunk of four lane.

This added to my weariness and when I finally reached the Whale, I just didn’t much care.

The Whale is cool, don’t get me wrong. But at the end of a long day (it was 7:30pm) and all by my lonesome, a big Blue Whale isn’t as fun as you’d think it would be.

From the Whale, my campground was only a couple miles away. That short distance didn’t stop me from getting confused and lost. And while the campground was exactly where my directions said it would be, I was too out of it to really make that distinction.

Tomorrow, on a stretch of 66 that I’ve only seen once, let’s hope it’s a fun day of riding. From just north of Tulsa to just west of Oklahoma City. California, here I come!

Click here to see all 173 pictures.

Miles today: 223
Miles total: 1857

Rough map of my travels.

1. From the Rittenhouse Guide: Her maiden name was Myra Belle Shirley, and she spent her girlhood before the Civil War in her father’s hotel on the north side of Carthage’s court house square. Belle’s brother, Bud, a Confederate guerrilla, was killed during the war and the family went to Texas. Belle was an excellent shot and took her brother’s place as a member of the band of the guerrilla raider, Quantrill. Her second marriage was to Same Starr, whose ranch became the headquarters for her band until she was shot by another outlaw. [↩]

Today was a really strange travel day for me. First, it was a blast. I love being out on 66 and I’m so glad that I got to see quite a bit today.

But the strange thing was, though I was seeing a LOT of what I’ve seen before, *how* I got there was totally different. The thing is, I can’t understand why.

Route 66 has a couple different alignments, sure, but even in places where there was only one alignment, I felt like I had never been there before. Honestly, I think I must have skipped quite a bit, at least in Missouri, on the first time through.

At any rate, a really cool thing about today is where we left Route 66. Originally, the plan was to drive to Lebanon, MO… or, if we were lucky, Springfield, MO. But by the time we got to Springfield, it wasn’t all that late. Also, Becky doesn’t have to be in Memphis till 3pm on Monday. So we could do some of the traveling to Memphis tomorrow. Right? Right!

And all that adds up to having more time on Route 66. I know I was grateful for that.

We made it all the way through Missouri. Into Kansas. Did all 12 miles of Kansas. And then made our way through a pretty good chunk of northern Oklahoma! To Afton!

We then said our goodbyes to Route 66 (the last thing I did was take a picture of the last section of road that we were on. There was a train in it. Aww.

After that, for the next couple of hours, we winded our way out of Okahoma and into Arkansas. Tonight we are holed up in a nice motel outside Harrison, AR. Great room.

See the pictures. I’m pretty happy with them.

And here are Sarah’s.