A Trip to Amarillo (Mostly) on Route 66 By Carolyn Hasenfratz. Photos by Carolyn Hasenfratz unless otherwise noted. On Saturday, June 4, 2011 my Dad, Don, and my brother, Larry, picked me up at my home in Brentwood, Missouri for a trip to Amarillo, Texas to attend the 2011 International Route 66 Festival taking place June 9-12. We stretched it into a 10-day trip by making some additional stops on the way there and back. Friends don't let friends drive the interstate EXCEPT when time is a critical factor, so we headed southwest on Interstate 44 until we had to turn off on OK-66 / US-60 to divert from the Route 66 corridor and go to Bartlesville, Oklahoma where we planned to spend the night. Along the way we stopped in Marshfield at a Subway for lunch and we stopped in Joplin for gas. As we passed Joplin, some of the tornado damage was visible where the killer storm clearly crossed the interstate, but other than that Joplin looked normal from our vantage point - not to take away from the horrendous grief and suffering going on in that community - we just could not see much of it. We arrived at the Price Tower in Bartlesville at about 3:48 pm, just in time for our 4:00 tour of the only skyscraper attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright. It was built in 1956 as a multi-use building with office space for the H.C. Price Pipeline Company. The builiding was later sold to Phillips Petroleum which used it for office space before refurbishing it and donating it to the Price Tower Arts Center which now operates it as an inn, restaurant, bar and museum. Photos were not allowed on our tour due to the owners of some loaned items not giving permission - I had taken some on a previous visit when they were allowed. We did get to see a restored apartment that was not on the tour last time. The apartment looked striking with custom made rugs and FLW designed fabric for curtains and chair cushions. Harold Price's office had also been improved with a rug since my last visit. The tour guide told us that the globe with water and sun damage visible had been sent back once by Mr. Price when new because it didn't have Bartlesville on it. Frank Lloyd Wright was against the inclusion of the globe because he didn't want any circles in the building, but Mr. Price insisted. Mr. Wright did not like anyone interfering with his vision! Like many of his buildings, the Price Tower is stunningly beautiful and innovative and if you appreciate design you may find a visit to be a life-changing experience as I did. Taking the tour and staying overnight will also illustrate how practicality was not always Mr. Wright's top concern. Being a total rock star with a rock star attitude before there was such a thing, he could get away with a lot! His larger than life personality lives on through total sensory experiences like the Price Tower. The Price Tower with 66 sculpture by Robert Indiana After the tour we watched baseball for a bit in the room and got ready for dinner. We stayed in Room 84 on the eighth floor. The Inn at Price Tower rooms are decorated in a contemporary way dispaying remarkable creativity in the use of materials and in keeping with the spirit of the building. Just being in the rooms brings an amazing sense of peace and harmony - not what you'd expect when you're staying in a former workplace! The excellent restaurant in the Price Tower was having an event that evening so for dinner we walked a few blocks to Frank and Lola's for a fabulous meal. I had rigatoni with sun-dried tomatoes, chicken, asparagus, cream sauce, blue cheese, and parmesan - the best plate of pasta I have ever had. I also consumed a martini and a little taste of bread pudding. Decadent! Bartlesville Community Center On the way back Dad and I walked out of our way for a few blocks to see what kind of churches there were in town. We passed the community center, where an event was in progress. Deliberately designed to be full of curves to contrast with all the triangles in the Price Tower, it is the work of William Wesley Peters, apprentice and protege of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a treat to see the building with all the lights on - extremely creative light fixtures are one of the designer touches I expect to see in a Wright-designed or Wright-influenced building. On Sunday morning Dad and I walked to mass at St. John's which was at 10:30. Previously in the breakfast room we had met a man named Sean who was in town for his high school reunion. He lives in Dallas now. He pointed out for us which church was the Catholic one from the 16th floor balcony where we were eating breakfast. On the way back from mass we stopped at the 66 sculpture again. We then packed up the car and got on our way to our next scheduled stop, Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve, founded by oil tycoon Frank Phillips. Larry stayed in the car to listen to a baseball game while Dad and I took a hike on the asphalt trail, Warrior Loop and Outlaw loop. I looked for a letterbox which I did not find at Indian Princess Falls, but I did find another kind of box - a nice ornate box turtle! I really enjoyed the trails here. It looked to me like we were a lot farther west than we were because of the red rock all around. There were pretty streams and the vegetation was mainly meadows alternating with scrub oak, juniper, wildflowers, an occasional prickly pear and yucca. We saw a stream with many springs feeding into it. One of them you could see bubbling intermittently. You could tell it was a favorite bird spot and we saw little birds flitting around and heard them singing. We saw a deer too and a beautiful frog - possibly a leopard frog or pickerel frog. Toward the end of our hike was a small lake with pretty yellow-flowered vegetation. Just the sight of water is refreshing on a hot afternoon! Ornate Box Turtle Artifacts at Woolaroc Museum "Uncle Frank" birthday memorabilia including a piece of cake from 1942! The museum at Woolaroc was spectacular - if you have any interest at all in "The West" whatever that means to you, you will not be disappointed. I would describe it as a "Man's Man" kind of museum including among other things exhibits about the Wild West complete with a large collection of guns. Of great interest to me were Native American artifacts from many eras and cultures. Frank Phillips was a amateur archaeologist and participated at digs at Spiro Mounds (built by the Caddoan people). He was made a member of the Osage Tribe. Mineral rights and an oil strike made the Osage the richest nation in the world per capita at one time. I presume Frank may have had something to do with that. The door to the museum had replicas of shell gorgets on it that looked like examples excavated from Spiro Mounds. The grounds are attractivlely landscaped with flowers, ponds and statuary. I did not get chance to explore as much as I would have liked, and I would welcome a chance to come back. The collection is huge and of very high quality and that invites comparisons with collections of a more public nature. One of my favorite things about travel is the opportunity to visit lots of different kinds of museums. There are cheesy touristy collections, and there are serious scientific institutions. There are museums that are deliberately eccentric and quirky and random small-town collections that make their own kind of statement with refreshing artlessness. There are big-budget government institutions and big-budget private institutions. All the different types have their own purpose and their own messages that they are striving to convey. Being a collector myself I'm sensitive to the fact that each object in a museum has it's own story, and the act of selecting certain objects, the way they are displayed and even the design of the dispays and buildings combine to add more layers of meaning to the objects. The time period of the collection of the items and the curation of them add more nuances to the points of view being expressed. These points of view will be seen as education or propaganda depending on whether the viewer agrees with them or not. I did not know much of anything about Frank Phillips before my visit. After looking at the museum, I have formed some opinions about him. Are they the opinions that were intended to be conveyed? That is something to think about in every museum you visit. After leaving Woolaroc we drove through Pawhuska and Ponca City, then we headed south on 35 to meet up with the turnpike and go around Oklahoma City to El Reno where we got on Route 66, where we belong! There is a letterbox in Pawhuska for which I had brought along clues but did not stop to look for it because we were all tired. I did look around in Pawhuska to see if I could find a Bruce Goff designed gas station which is said to not be very recognizable any more. If it's the white one with geometric brick I saw it. I did not stop for picture which I regret now - I really do try to be well rested on trips so that I don't do dumb things like this but sometimes fatigue makes you have a weak moment! I hope there is a chance to get a photo the next time I'm in the area. Bruce Goff was an architect that I really like who was Frank Lloyd Wright influenced and had a special flair for the creative use of repurposed materials. I first became aware of his work via a photo of the Lutheran Redeemer Church in Bartlesville in the book "Populuxe" by Thomas Hine which I've read more times than I can count. I own a guidebook to finding Bruce Goff buildings and I try to visit the ones I can whenever I'm in the region where his buildings can be found - they are mostly in Oklahoma but there are examples that I know of in California, Texas, Missouri and Illinois. His best known project is probably the Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At one time Goff's office was in the Price Tower, and he played a small but important role in the creation of that masterpiece - he suggested to one of Harold Price's sons, who was a student of his in architecture at the time, that his father might want to meet Frank Lloyd Wright to talk about the new building he wanted - and the rest is history! Our motel in El Reno was the Days Inn, which I only mention because the last time I stayed at this Days Inn (2005) the local weather was so wet that one had to be careful when opening the door because toads would hop into the room! I love amphibians so that's actually a treat for me, but I imagine some of the other patrons did not care to entertain bumpy, jumpy guests. While definitely greener than Texas which is undergoing a serious drought, this time Oklahoma was distinctly drier than home which has been absolutely drenched over the last few months. We took our time getting on the road after sleeping well in El Reno and first stopped at Wal-Mart so Dad and Larry could get towels for our upcoming stay in Palo Duro Canyon State Park (where you are required to supply your own linens) and so we could stock up on portable and microwaveable food and other odds and ends that we forgot to bring. We got on 66 through Western Oklahoma and switched to the interstate to save time once we reached the Texas border. We saw some tornado damage on the way including some sheet metal wrapped around trees - a sobering sight especially when you live in tornado country like we do. On the way back home we stopped to take pictures of the wreckage and I noticed the ruins of this small building which looked vaguely familiar. I thought it might be the remains of a Route 66 related building so just in case I took a fragment of roof asphalt and a fragment of ceramic tile block for my collection. As it turns out, another roadie investigated and it indeed was an old gas station, so the Mother Road has unfortunately lost another site to Mother Nature. It's not as painful to lose a site to a natural phenomenon as it is to lose one to deliberate human destruction, but it's still very lamentable. Tornado damage in Western Oklahoma Red Rock Canyon State Park Along the way we detoured into Hinton to go to Red Rock Canyon State Park where Dad and I had an excellent hike. First we followed clues to find a letterbox. I think we got really close, but could not find it. Still the great hike was worth it. The trails were beautiful with lots of varied terrain and pretty red rocks which were somewhat reminiscent of Elephant Rocks and Johnson Shut-Ins in Missouri, only they were made of sandstone and not granite. We saw trail ruts from the California Road, lots of ant lion pits and a couple of cardinals. We didn't encounter much other wildlife but we enjoyed nice wildflowers, prickly pears, yucca, juniper trees, scrub oak and cottonwood trees. The prickly pears here were green and fat in contrast to the ones we saw later in Texas which were shriveled and sickly-looking. There was a cute campground in a little canyon with appealing A-frame cabins. Our next stop was the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford. We were impressed and stayed about two hours. I particularly enjoyed the philatelic items, the Space Shuttle tires and tiles and the models of rockets and airplanes. There were replicas of famous aircraft such as the Wright Flyer, Blériot's plane that he used to cross the English Channel, and the Spirit of St. Louis. I enjoyed the display of small models of planes and early flying machines, rockets and parachutes. Amelia Earhart's Electra 10-E Special was represented - what a beautiful plane that was! From what I've read it might not have been that comfortable to fly, but it looked great. There were models of historically significant aircraft such as a Pan-Am China Clipper, a Vega model flown by the likes of Amelia Earhart and Wiley Post, and the Enola Gay. Some of my favorite aircraft were present in model form, such as the B-52, the B-1 and the Hindenburg - one interesting fact I learned - the Hindenburg was almost as long as the Titanic! Several of the models had the TWA insignia which made me sad - I miss the historic airline with such deep roots in my hometown. The Soviet rocket models were really interesting, they look very different from American rockets. The American and Soviet space programs were compared and contrasted with displays of both competitive and cooperative phases. Display of tires used on the Space Shuttle lander The exterior of our cabin - Cow Camp Cabin #4 Bunk beds in our cabin Photo by Don Hasenfratz It was necessary to get to Palo Duro Canyon State Park before 10:00 pm, so we had to make good time after leaving Weatherford. Our only stop between Weatherford and Palo Duro was the spectacular rest stop on westbound Interstate 40 in Texas. We arrived at Palo Duro at about 9:30 and checked into Cow Camp Cabin #4 which was at the other end of the park, about 8 miles away. It was not easy finding the cabins in the dark because they are built into the hillside to resemble ancient cliff dwellings. But we finally found ours and tried to get some sleep which took awhile because the bunk beds swayed every time someone rolled over or got up to go to the bathroom. We finally resorted to removing the mattress from the top bunk and putting it on the floor. Then we got some sleep, and slept kind of late. The cabin we stayed in was one of seven built by the CC in the 1930's. Besides the bunk bed, it was furnished with a dining table, four chairs, a fireplace, a microwave and a refrigerator. The bathrooms and showers were about a five-minute walk away. One morning while walking there I saw a deer on the way there and a pair of turkeys on the way back. On the route was a Western Kingbird nest. I've heard that Kingbirds have a lot of attitude to the extent that they have been observed attacking aircraft, and I believe it - instead of just hiding, each time I passed the nest the bird flew out and chattered at me. The patio next to the cabin was equipped with a picnic table, an electrical outlet, a hook for hanging a lantern, a water pump and a fireplace. There was also a nice little stone table which I found to be very handy for packing. Due to the dry weather there was a burn ban so we did not use the fireplace or the fire pit outside. Dad in the dining area of the cabin A pretty nice "breakfast room" Sunshine, hot tea and a laptop to write on On our first morning at the cabin we took our time getting up and getting into the day, and Dad and I took a couple of chairs out of the cabin and ate our breakfast sitting in the shade of a tree and looking out over the canyon. In the early afternoon I bought a cooling scarf (because I forgot mine), a souvenir patch and a walking stick badge. I'm starting to collect these - I need to make myself a nice walking stick to put them on. I went for an hour-long horseback ride from the Old West Stables concession in the park. My mount was seven year old Mustang named Reno, originally from Wyoming as indicated by the brand. He was one of the better behaved horses in our group lukcily for me - I'm far from an experienced horsewoman. I really enjoyed the ride. It was scenic and the terrain varied enough to be very interesting. Horseback ride at Palo Duro Canyon State Park View from the Juniper Trail - Riverside Texas Horned Lizard CCC Exhibit in Visitor Center Later in the afternoon Dad and I went on a hike for about four miles on the Rojo Grande trail. It was pretty hot - about 100 degrees, but we had fun. I saw a mule deer by a stream - the area was very dry and the streams if not dry were pretty shallow and full of algae. Nevertheless some were flowing and supporting small fish. We took a break from hiking until about 7:30 then we got on the Juniper Trail - Riverside and the Sunflower Trail and hiked for about 6 more miles. In the cool of the evening of course it was much more fun and I saw considerably more wildlife. A highlight of the second hike was spotting a Texas Horned Lizard. To my surprise when I bent down to pick it up it did not run away and it even let me hold it and pet it. Aside from the previously mentioned prickly pears, the vegetation in Palo Duro was amazingly green and healthy-looking - no wonder the area is named the way it is. Both trails were open to mountain biking as well as hiking. They looked like a lot of fun to bike and not too difficult - if you go in the morning or evening and not the hottest part of the day. Here is a list of the wildlife I can recall seeing during our stay at Palo Duro - Deer, Mule Deer, Bullock's Oriole, Western Kingbird, Texas Horned Lizard, Turkey Vulture, Turkey, Mourning Dove, Raccoon, Cottontail Rabbit, Cliff Swallow, Mockingbirds, Six-Lined Racerunner (lizard) and a Collared Lizard. We heard coyotes and Dad saw a mouse in the cabin. If you stay here you might want to lock up your food in the car overnight if it doesn't all fit in the refrigerator. On the morning we were to leave Palo Duro, I got up earlier than everyone else so I set my laptop and my hot water maker outside and I had my morning tea while starting to write this account of our trip. I was visited by three deer, a lizard, and a Bullock's Oriole. Before leaving the park we stopped at the visitor center. There was a room with displays about the CCC's activities in the park including some CCC-built furniture. There are also exhibits about the geology and wildlife in the park and a gift shop where I bought a couple of books. Right inside the entrance gate is a fenced area where longhorns gather to be fed each day at 1:30 pm. It was getting close to feeding time when we left and the longhorns were starting to mill around the feeding area but we did not stay to watch the feeding. Longhorns are impressively sized animals! Our next stop was at Schlotsky's Deli in Amarillo for a very good lunch then we arrived at the Ambassador Hotel which was to be our home for the next four nights. The first thing we did after lugging our gear into the room was to get into our swimsuits and make use of the indoor pool and hot tub. After some R & R I dressed for dinner and met up with some fellow roadies for dinner at TGI Friday's where we discussed the next day's Summit Meeting and other 66 related topics. Dad and Larry had their dinner at the Big Texan. The next morning I attended the Summit Meeting. First we heard from Kaisa Barthuli of the National Parks Service, then the Route 66 Alliance, the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce, Young Roadies, Eagle Rider and Texas Panhandle Tourism. Then delagates from each state association spoke. No one was officially designated to speak for Missouri so Pat Henderson and I shared the duties. We talked about the Scenic Byway Corridor Management Program, our magazine "Show Me Route 66", our upcoming Motor Tour and efforts to get the United States Postal Service to issue a commemorative Route 66 stamp. The meeting was still going on at 1:00 when I left but it was time to meet my Dad to go exploring on Route 66. First we went to the Cadillac Ranch where I slapped a Sell66Stuff.com sticker on one of the Cadillacs. We signed our names in pencil - I forgot to bring a Sharpie marker again (by now you'd think I'd remember this essential item). Some cans of spray paint had been provided for decorating the Cadillacs but they were mostly empty. There were a lot of people visiting the Cadillacs - I found a letterbox here and it was really a challenge to rehide it with all the visitors around. One of my decals at Cadillac Ranch Cowboy Motel Sign Next Dad and I got on Route 66 and drove eastward through Amarillo. The east side of of town looks rough but it has quite a few interesting road artifacts including the Cowboy Motel and the Triangle Motel which is currently undergoing restoration. I added a few more retro photos to my collection! We also saw some random signs around town created as a surrealist art project called the "Dynamite Museum" by Stanley Marsh 3. I didn't get photos of all the ones we saw during our stay in Amarillo, but below is a small selection. The next morning was the eGroup breakfast, for members of the Route 66 Yahoo group. As usual there were great prizes and gifts distributed. Dad scored two books and I got a whole tote bag full of American Road magazines and a handmade purse by Betty Bauman, a talented craftsperson who unfortunately passed away recently. Tattoo Man Ron Jones is very proud of getting a photo of his back showing his tattoo of Roy's next to Roy's in Amboy, CA on a Jones Soda bottle. Here he is showing off his new Toilet Tattoo of that very photo! How cool is that? Ron Jones with "Toilet Tattoo" Carolyn at Authors, Artists and Collectors Expo Photo by Ron Warnick After the eGroup breakfast I headed to the San Jacinto Christian Academy on Sixth Street where I set up my booth for the Artists, Authors and Collectors exhibition. We were in the cafeteria building which was deliciously retro and nicely decorated with road signs - we felt right at home. At my table I was selling copies of "Things to Look Out For on Route 66 in St. Louis" by Kip Welborn, a fellow member of the Route 66 Association of Missouri and Friends of the Mother Road, my rubber stamps, my Route 66 photos, and I was also promoting the launch of a new web site called Sell66Stuff.com, a free directory designed to help businesses sell their wares on Route 66. Scan the QR code with your mobile device to view a special presentation Information on suitable apps To promote the site, I had brochures to hand out and I also experimented with marketing the site using QR Codes. I had three categories of prizes on the table, and some printed cards with QR codes on them. Visitors to the booth were invited to pick up a card, which I would then scan with my iPhone, and the prize they won would be revealed on the phone's screen. One prize was a button and one prize was a decal, both with different QR codes that lead to a multimedia presentation about www.sell66stuff.com. Many recipients put on the buttons before leaving the booth, and at least one reported getting his scanned on the street! Two other exhibitors at the festival were using QR codes in their printed materials - one led to a web site, and one did not work with my scanner so I couldn't see what it was supposed to do. Carolyn scanning QR codes with smartphone Photo by Mark Potter Wild Bill's Fill'N Station This one is wating for someone to do something with it After the expo closed at 4:00 pm, and my Dad and I took a walk on Sixth Street to browse what shops were open and drop off brochures for Sell66Stuff.com. We had a great time in the Alley Katz antique mall where I bought a set of salt and pepper shakers that say "Lubbock Texas" on them (that's a private joke in my family but they also go with my kitchen decor which is Tex/Mex + Retro) and a souvenir booklet of the Glass House Restaurant on the Will Rogers Turnpike (now a McDonald's). I was tempted by some Frankoma pottery which was very attractively priced but it was not the pattern that I collect (Aztec) so I decided to leave it for someone else. There were also a lot of photo opportunities of Route 66 relics on Sixth Street. Many are happily finding new life as shops, bars and restaurants. By this time Dad and I were hungry and thirsty so we stopped by Cowboy Gelato and had a weird but tasty meal of Sangria served in big Mason jar mugs, hot dogs, and ice cream. There were lots of toppings available for the hot dogs, I choose BBQ sauce and green chilies which the waitress thought an unusual combination but was very good. They offered a lot of innovative ice cream flavors. Dad had Sangria ice cream and I had Lime Coconut. I meant to come back the next day and try the Watermelon Chili ice cream but there was so much going on I did not have time. We finished eating just in time for the car cruise to start. A variety of classic cars, motorcycles and other impressive vehicles cruised back and forth on Sixth Street. A relaxed and happy crowd cheered them on. Dad took extensive video which is nice because half the fun of a car cruise is the sounds. Dad had left our car at the hotel so we walked back after the cruise, which took about a half hour but was very welcome exercise. Being a bike rider, I was interested to see this entrance to the City of Amarillo Rock Island Rail Trail - looks like fun! City of Amarillo Rock Island Rail Trail I slept for about 10 hours and barely made it to my booth in time for the 10:00 am start to the second day of the Artists Authors and Collectors expo. My Dad watched my booth for me for awhile while I visited the other exhibitors. I bought four new Route 66 themed books. At 4:00 I packed up my stuff and Dad and I went back to the motel to get dressed for the banquet. We were asked to dress western so I wore jeans, boots, some rather loud costume faux turquoise and silver jewelry and belt (only the earrings were real), and a western blouse that used to belong to my Mom. She bought it in Miles City, Montana in 2008 when we were driving some of the Yellowstone Trail on the way back from Yellowstone National Park. It was fun to dress western - I have not done that since I was a kid. It's funny how in some parts of the country that is normal wear - in my part of the country it's a costume! I felt like it suited me though. The Golden Spread Chorus, an acapella barbershop chorus of which one of the festival organizers Bob "Crocodile" Lile is a member entertained us, then we enjoyed excellent BBQ fare. I don't think I've ever had better. The beef was thick and fork-tender and the sausage was full of rich and complex flavors. For desert there was cake for the 85th birthday of Route 66. There was a short speech by Amarillo Mayor Paul Harpole, an address by Michael Wallis which was filled with touching and hilarious anecdotes, some awards were given out, and the results of the silent auction were announced. I bid on a photo of a train coming through a scenic canyon which I gave to my Dad. The table decorations were for sale for the benefit of the Old Route 66 Association of Texas - I bought an Amarillo bandana which had been draped over the tablecloth. On Sunday morning, we took our time getting ready to go - we were planning to attend 12:00 mass in Amarillo so there was time for a leisurely breakfast and a session in the hot tub before we packed up four days worth of sprawl. Somehow we got it all to fit back in the car. St. Mary's Cathedral, where we attended mass, was rather advanced in the audio/visual department. We were wondering why there were no songbooks in the pews - we soon found out when the words to the hymms were projected on the wall above the altar - pretty neat I thought. There were two sign-language interpreters also. The music style was contemporary with guitar, bass and drums - very different from the mass last week in Bartlesville which was very formal with a lot of Gregorian chant style music. After Mass we headed west on Route 66. Our next stop was in Groom, Texas where we had lunch at The Grill. They were closed but had forgotten to lock the door so when we wandered in they offered to fix us burgers or enchiladas. There was no other place in town that appeared to be open so we enthusiastically accepted and the food was delicious! We made a few quick photo stops in Texola and Canute. Here is Dad at the Texola jail. Our motel for the night was the Western Motel in Sayre which was a really pleasant surprise as it had a suite (Room #45) with two rooms, one with a bed, TV, sofa and table, and another with two beds, another TV, a refrigerator, and a microwave. Perfect for a traveling party of three. The bathroom was large with a door to each room. If you're looking for an authentic retro motel in good condition, give this one a try! The Grill Texola Jail Westerrn Motel Sign Bedroom of Room #45 Bathroom of Room #45 Downtown Sayre, Oklahoma The next morning we went to downtown Sayre to see if there were any interesting places to eat breakfast. Finding none that were open, we ate breakfast at Sonic then returned to the historic downtown area to have coffee at The Brick Coffee House. We walked around looking at historic buildings for a bit and I stopped at Granny's Old Closet to do some thrift shopping. Put me in a small-town secondhand store and I'm a happy camper! I found a sweater I liked, a cool retro insulated pitcher and a vacuum cleaner bag that fits my ancient machine! National Register of Historic Places Plaque Ticket booth of a theatre undergoing restoration For more information go to www.sayrechamber.com Old DX Station We left Sayre and continued to travel through Western Oklahoma. Our next major stop was Sid's Diner in El Reno for lunch. We ordered the local specialty, onion burgers, and malts. Mine was peanut butter and chocolate - I moaned out loud after tasting it - wow! It's probably a good thing for me that Sid's Diner is almost a two day drive away from my home, or else I'd get addicted to their malts! Our last night out on the road was spent at the Desert Hills Motel in Tulsa, a pleasant and restful experience. The cactus motif was used all around the motel, even in the bathroom tiles - very nice touch. I was too tired and too full from lunch to go out to dinner so Dad and Larry left me to sleep while they ate at Tally's. I was so tired I didn't even take a photo of the Desert Hills neon sign at night, which is not at all like me - luckily Dad took care of that. Onion burgers cooking at Sid's Diner Bathroom tile in Desert Hills Motel Carolyn's Foot Yvonne, Allison and Bob Gehl at the Blue Whale We were determined to get as much as we could out of our last day on the road, so we stopped at the Blue Whale where we ran into the Gehl family also on their way back home to the St. Louis area. The first time I ever visited the Blue Whale, I took a photo of my foot on top of the tail platform, and at every visit since I have kept up the tradition. Our next stop was for lunch at Cotton-Eyed Joe's in Claremore. I liked the moist hot towels provided - all restaurants should do this! I had the hot-link sandwich which was superb. Our afternoon stops included a visit with Laurel Kane at Afton Station and ice cream at Dairy King in Commerce, which is in an old Marathon gas station. Allen's Fillin' Station across the street was not open, but made for a great photo-op. We stayed on Route 66 through Joplin, where we saw one broken window but no other tornado damage. It's true what they say, the Route 66 portion of Joplin was unaffected. The only hint that there was a disaster nearby was a truck full of downed trees that had a sign saying "Disaster Relief" on the side. Detail of one of the Packards at Afton Station Historic photo at the Dairy King Allen's Fillin' Station We still had five hours to go to get home, and it was getting late in the afternoon, so we reluctantly got on the insterstate for the rest of the journey. We managed to squeeze a little bit more fun into the day by stopping for dinner at Missouri Hick Bar-B-Que in Cuba where I ordered the smoked turkey, green beans, and a baked sweet potato, washed down with O'Fallon Smoke beer, which was the best dark beer I have ever tasted. You're probably wondering at this point how much weight I gained on this trip. I was wondering that too, until I weighed myself the next day - I gained nothing! I probably have all that hiking we did to thank for that. We crammed a lot of fun into 10 days, it was a very satisfying trip - but as you know Route 66 trips are never long enough. I can't wait for the next one!
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