The Road Goes On…

Category: Oklahoma

  • Guthrie, OK to Shamrock, TX

    We cheated a bit today! But first we had a great breakfast as guests of our new camp site friends Wanda and Andy which was a lot of fun! Yes, and then we had to leave and still couldn’t go through Guthrie because of the flooding, which was sad because we had decided to visit this town because of its Victorian architecture and the drive-in movie theatre, both we were not able to enjoy, even today. Nevertheless we had a day full of new impressions. It began by cheating! We couldn’t take Route 66 as planned but had to take two faster highways to Oklahoma City, in a way a nice treat since we average only about 70km per hour on Route 66. Route 66 in Oklahoma City did not lead us into the modern city centre but even the outskirts were modern, impressive and cheerful. In some areas however neglect was predominant. We left Oklahoma City via 39th Street Expressway and came to Lake Overholser, named after mayor Ed Overholser, crossed the beautiful Overholser Bridge and drove along the shore of the lake.

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    Beautiful scenery and not much flooding there. In Yukon we caught sight of the very self assured statement “Yukon’s Best Flour – No finer or more modern mills in America” by Yukon MIlls & Grains Co. and fortunately we didn’t find any evidence of the Tornado that came down in the area on Friday.

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    Passing through El Reno however should a different picture. On a small section of our route through El Reno we could get a glimpse in the magnitude of destruction this section of the city has to deal with now.

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    Martin’s brother asked whether our tour gives us more the feeling of the old glory of Route 66 or rather a dreary look at harsh realities. Martin and I both see that the glory of Route 66 is in the past. However, off and on there are examples that give way to hope, that highway travel in the fast lane will still have an alternative in the future and will find people who will appreciate a way of travel that lets you get to know places and people of the area you drive through. One example of the attempt to recreate an icon of the past is Lucille’s Roadhouse. Lucille Hamons had her Gas Station and small restaurant in Hydro and was famous for sharing road stories with her customers.

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    After she passed away, her gas station and eatery were closed since her location on Route 66 was by-passed for a long time. However, a brand new Lucille’s Roadhouse opened in Weatherford. The architecture is similar and on the menu in the restaurant are some of Lucille’s dishes.

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    Another example are the Drive-Ins which could be found everywhere on Route 66, some old ones are still in business and a new chain is doing good business.

    In Clinton we visited the Route 66 Museum – definitely a Must-Visit if you do this route.  It shows the history of Route 66 starting from its planning through to its decommissioning.

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    The outside collection of buildings at the Old Town Museum at the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City was a nice additional treat.

    We then crossed into Texas and stayed at the West 40 RV Campground in Shamrock, Texas.

  • Tulsa, OK to Guthrie, OK

    It was nice to sleep at a hotel during some unpredictable weather. And we were so lucky, while there where tornados and thunderstorms, flooding and flying objects in areas not too far from Tulsa, we in Tulsa had only some thunder and lightning, stronger winds and a bit of rain, that was it! In the morning everything looked peaceful. At breakfast at the hotel we watched the news and saw what could have happened to us a few hours earlier.

    We packed our things back into the RV -since we had literally moved out of our beautiful vehicle just in case…- and continued our trek to the west. Tulsa is a nice city which made its money through oil.

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    Sinclair and Phillips 66 are only two of the household names. We didn’t spend much time in the city but went on to see the more remote areas. One of the small towns we drove through with their old signs for motels and restaurants was Sapulpa. It had pottery and glass industry, both are gone by now. But still, the city is very much alive with new businesses and a vibrant downtown core. And today was a very special Saturday for Sapulpa: It was old car show time. 80-100 cars, all polished to a mirror finish, stood proud in the bright sunshine and hundreds of people came to admire them.

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    But even Sapulpa has its forgotten spots, the beautiful Rock Creek Bridge and the Teepee Drive-In Theatre right on a very old section of Route 66 are an example.

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    Oil did not make everyone rich, even if the pumps and the old oil tanks are in your back yard, as we saw on the Tank Farm Loop in the Kellyville area.

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    Another example of the not so fortunate towns is Depew, once a well to do business town it is almost a ghost town today with only 500 people who live their lives separate from the downtown area.

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    The Rock Café in Stroud and the almost finished renovation of the old Phillips Gas Station in Chandler lifted our spirits again.

    And the first cactus (opuntia) in bloom brought a big smile on our faces.

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    Oh, and then came the flood part 1, there were fields that had turned into red lakes within a couple of hours!

    The largest soda bottle, signature icon for a gas station and a soda shop came as a stark contrast to harsh reality.

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    And our great camping spot was separated from the town of Guthrie shortly after we drove from the town up to the campsite. The river had swollen so much that blocks of houses lost their streets completely to the red water rolling in.

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    Time to leave Oklahoma if only the floods of Oklahoma City will let us pass through…

  • Carthage, MO to Tulsa, OK

    Homework – routing Kansas and Oklahoma – was on the agenda even before breakfast. E-mails were written, notes for next blog entries crafted, needless to say it was lunch instead of breakfast at our restaurant that let us sleep in their lot. When we left it was very hot and humid … we should have known.

    The 66 Drive-In Theatre still in Missouri was in beautiful condition and is still in use.

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    The gas station in Kansas of the four women received an exceptional face lift. We talked to one of the four women who owned this gas station during the hey days of Route 66 and she told us that the gas station and the tow truck at the station were inspirations for the animation movie Cars.

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    The building next door was a brothel with very interesting stories of crime and intrigue. We were told to stay tuned.

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    One more stop at the Blue Whale, a former water park and from then on we only looked at beautiful Route 66 sites briefly because we were on the run chased by tornado warnings.

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    And in the end we made it safe and sound to one of the places the least hit in the tornado zone today, to Tulsa. Here we parked the RV at the Hampton Hotel and splurged by taking a room for a safe night.