Route 66 – Days 5 and 6

 

Day Five

We opened the curtains and were delighted to see it had sprinkled over night. The day started in Tulsa. We went to Cry Baby Hill to see the statue of old road meets new. Here’s a shot of it from atop a route 66 arch:

  

Author included for scale:

Then the skies got darker and it started raining. And raining. Like 6 inches in 6 hours raining. We got flash flood warnings on our phones and our little Jum was throwing seven-foot water spouts on each side as we drove down the narrow, old, rough road. Did that stop us? No, it did not. 

Behold, the giant gas pump for which I hung out the window of the car in the pouring rain so as to snap a photo:

Not one, but TWO brick outhouses. The first is the last known urban outhouse in Oklahoma, the second is the only known outhouse in Oklahoma to offer iron toilets. 

 

 

 

This is a round barn. It was glorious enough to risk opening my window and getting a bucket of water thrown in my face.

We stopped at Pop’s, which is this cool place with a billion different kinds of sodas, but were so wet and befuddled, we forgot to take a pic. We did meet up with two of my wonderful writer friends, Rinda Elliott and Rachel Vincent. If you haven’t read their books, I highly recommend you click on over and do so. They are terrific ladies, and amazing writers I’ve known for a decade. (Deadline Dames 5ever!)

Then we got lost. I blame the rain. We went in circles until we finally, finally found the longest bridge on 66 (5/8th of a mile). The Pony Bridge is near the little town of Geary and it is beautiful. I’m glad we were stubborn enough to track it down. If I do a final recap of the trip, I’ll add that photo. (I don’t have it handy at the moment.)

It was dark by the time we rolled into Elk City, found a motel, and hit the hay. 

Day Six 

Bright and early on this windy day, we trotted on over to the Route 66 museum. Fun place! We got bumper stickers.

Then we said good-bye to Oklahoma and hello to Texas

In Shamrock, we found this stunning art deco Conoco service station, that is still in use. C’mon, look at that beauty!

 

Shamrock also has a piece of the Blarney Stone which was brought over from Ireland. Did we kiss it for luck and the gift of gab? Oh, you bet your buckles we did!

Onward to the largest barbed wire (or devil’s rope) museum in the world. It was actually pretty fascinating to see all that history on barbed wire. Also, the building used to manufacture bras. There’s sometime oddly delightful about that. 

I valiantly held up the Britten water tower in the blowing wind

We found the buggy ranch where VW bugs have been buried to mimic the iconic Cadillac Ranch

Lunch time was interrupted by a giant monster sighting

And right around the corner was the iconic Cadillac Ranch

Rambling down the road a bit we FINALLY made it HALF WAY!!! The mid-point of 66 sits in Adrian, Texas. 

 

Just after we arrived, a trio from Slovakia pulled up. They were headed East, we were headed West. Here’s a picture of hubby getting a group photo for them. We said our farewell with the common “Safe Travels” that most of those following the Route seem to prefer. 

Texas stretched behind us, and we hopped over to New Mexico.

Night fell, we drove, and yes, we caught another beauty of an icon. The Blue Swallow Motel. What a lovely way to end the day.