The Road Goes On…

Category: Route 66

Shamrock, TX to Amarillo, TX

Today was a very exciting sightseeing day starting with the Art Deco U-Drop Inn building in Shamrock.

Next stop was the Devil’s Rope Museum in McLean which made us aware of the importance of all kinds of barbed wire, particularly for cattle containment but also for its military purposes. “Barbed wire gave us control of the land and windmills make the land habitable”. The was also a great photo and first hand account of the dust bowl in the 1930s.

Just east of Amarillo was a Peace installation designed by Richard Baker. Fascinating.

At point it was 3PM and our small breakfast had long worn off. Time to hit the Big Texan, home of the Free 72 oz Steak Dinner if you can eat it and three sides including a fully baked potato in 60 minutes. The current record holder accomplished this in just under 9 minutes! And yes, one brave soul attempted the feat but ultimately wasn’t successful. They even have a live webcam where you can watch the action as customers attempt the feat – http://www.bigtexan.com

Everything truly is bigger in Texas.

Free limo service to the restaurant is available in these fine vehicles:

On the menu – Mountain Oysters – “If you think it’s seafood, go with the shrimp” and “He was a bold man that ate the first Mountain Oyster”. And no, we weren’t that bold.

Last, but definitely not least was the trip the Cadillac Ranch just west of town. Several hours were spent here waiting for the tourists to finally go home so we could photograph the cars (and cows) in peace.

Tonight we’re staying at a campground near the site as it was dark when we finished the photo shoot.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 3, 2013
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 2, 2013
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 1, 2013
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.

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.

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

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.

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.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

May 31, 2013
Devil’s Elbow, MO to Carthage, MO

We left our private ‘campground’ at the Elbow Bridge early in the morning before breakfast, crossed elbow bridge, traveled through Devil’s Elbow and booted it to Lebanon to visit the Munger Moss Motel.

The former restaurant and the motel, which is still in business were established by the same people how had a sandwich place where the Elbow Inn is today. We talked to the female owner and discovered that there are states in the US that are not necessarily Obama fans.

We had liked Springfield Illinois and we liked Springfield Missouri as well first of all because of its wonderful chocolate store Askinosie, a famous judge. He established chocolate manufacture after a cup cake stint and imports the coco beans from select farmers in a couple of counties. He produces his own chocolate and shares the profits with his selected farmers. 3rd world projects are another item on Mr. Askinosie’s list. Food items are for sale in his store and the proceeds go the countries in need 100%.

The nearby Jefferson Avenue Footbridge across railroad tracks is still in use, we walked it and it is in very good shape for being in use since 1902.

We left Springfield and our next ‘quick’ stop was Gary Turner’s gas and repair station in Paris Springs.

We had a lovely visit, good chats with the family and bikers from Austria during a torrential rain. Gary, one of the experts when it comes to Route 66 in Missouri, suggested we pay Lowell Davis a visit in Red Oak II, which is what we did.

Driving through sheds of water we finally arrived on Red Oak II and met with Lowell and Rose. Lowell was born on a farm and used some of this land to create his own town using the buildings from the old village of Red Oak (I) and having them transported to his land and building Red Oak II. Art work from metal, chickens, cats and dogs add to the colorful architecture. But Lowell himself with his wonderful stories, small sculptures from metal and china, his paintings, cartoons and books was absolutely fascinating.

Finally we had dinner in Carthage at 9pm at the Sirloin Stockade, not a Route 66 must visit! And we received permission from the restaurant to sleep in their truckers parking lot. The truckers were not too pleased with us because we parked right in the middle of the lot, because it was the only level point. All had to drive with their long trucks around us.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

May 30, 2013
Eureka, MO to Devil’s Elbow, MO

Time is just running. We are still following Route 66 religiously but don’t stop everywhere anymore. We drove by Red Cedar Restaurant in Pacific and the Sunset Hotel in Villa Ridge, did stop however at the Gardenway Motel west of Grey Summit. We liked the sign with the glass blocks so typical for the time of Route 66.

The old sign of the Diamond Restaurant we missed but photographed the remnants of the building.

Time for a change of scenery, the Meramec Caverns in the Stanton region were our next stop. Amazing caves with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites and stories on bandits Jessie James and his brother staying in the caverns, sharing their loot and escaping via an unknown exit.

From cave to springs we went this day by visiting Maramec Springs and the ruins of a 19th century iron works. Very nice park and lots of information on working with iron.

We stopped later at the beautiful Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba and missed hwy 19 Drive-In Theatre and did not stop for the world’s largest rocker in Fanning-Rosati but went instead to the Elbow Inn close to Devil’s Elbow with its beautiful bridge for dinner and bear with the boys. The locals were mostly retired officers and specialists of the near by Army base and we had the opportunity to have great conversations with these super nice people. We even parked our RV at the fence of the Inn and slept right there.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

May 29, 2013
Lincoln, IL to Eureka, MO

Left Camp-a-while campground after a quick cleaning of the RV and went to see Lincoln. Missed the old Mill restaurant right away but did see Postville Courthouse, a replica. Lincoln did frequent this court as lawyer and the Deskins tavern across the street to meet with colleagues for lunch and stay overnight.

At the former site of the burned down famous Pig-Hip Restaurant and Motel we only found a plaque and an empty lot.

In Williamsville we had a wonderful hour at the vintage gas station at 117 N. Elm. The owner is a collector of everything and anything collectable and even has a small section with household goods. The die cast auto section however was a bit disappointing, the kittens however in the old truck made up for this.

In Springfield we peeked through the fence at the fine collection of car related ‘toys’ at Shea’s service station. Too bad it was all fenced off.

As the capital of Illinois Springfield gives tribute to Abraham Lincoln in a big way. We visited the tomb and rubbed the nose -as so many did before- of Lincoln’s bronze bust.

Time for lunch at the Cozy Dog Drive-In. Ed Waldmire invented these corn dogs while serving military duty at Amarillo, Texas and established a small chain of eateries in 1949 at the same time as the first couple of Dairy Queen’s in Springfield with corn dogs as their specialty. Corn dogs are hot dogs fried in batter. And yes, they are really tasty.

A nice chat with some of the other patrons followed about the economy in Springfield after the manufactoring sector left the city. After taking a quick picture of the old sign of the former Art’s Motel at Farmersville and of the Sky View Drive-In Theater, which is still showing double features on Friday, Saturday and Sunday since 1951 we visited the Ariston Café, had great cake and got our picture taken behind the bar by the owner. It is a family business still today.

Yet another old gas station came our way in Mount Olive, the Russell Soulsby Shell Station, followed by Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, which will not offend vegetarians and make German eyes smile!

Another drive in visit in Mitchell, the old Balair, was followed, and yes, there is a pattern, by another café, the Luna Café.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge was our last item on the Illinois agenda and it was a bit of a scary one. This bridge carried in the old days the traffic of Route 66 across the Mississippi from Illinois to Missouri. Today the bridge can only be used by pedestrians and cyclists. We wanted to do the same, but auto glass on the first parking lot and a lot of young people hanging out in their cars and more people coming and parking next to our RV made us feel uneasy and we took off and started the Missouri leg of our trip.

A KOA camping spot in the Eureka area was nice an quiet after our trip through St. Louis where we did not miss out on Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, the predecessor of the Dairy Queen Product in Springfield.

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May 28, 2013
Kankakee SP to Lincoln, IL

There was breakfast despite the fact that we had 4 meals the day before. And off we went in the rain back to Route 66 passing by the Schutten-Aldrich House, an octagonal curiosity from 1867.

It is said that it sheltered runaway slaves as part of the famous underground railroad. Muffler man in Wilmington was next before we spent a good hour and a half at the Polk-A-Dot-Drive-In Restaurant.

First we admired the outside in the rain with statues of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and the Blues Brothers, then we could go inside prior to opening hour and photograph the picture perfect interior.

We talked to one of the owners who told us that the first proprietor worked out of a school bus and then a small version of the restaurant was build.

Now it is a medium size place serving burgers, hot dogs, fries, ice cream, etc. and wonderful milk shakes, we can attest to that! We went on to drive the old Route 66 often parallel to I-55 and sometimes we could spot the even older Route 66, today in disrepair but still clearly visible at times. In Dwight we visited the Oughton Estate will library (former carriage house) wind mill and park.

The main building is a fine restaurant now, thank God it was closed on Mondays. From there we went on our gas stations quest: Ambler-Becker Texaco Station in Dwight, a retired service station nearby, the Standard Oil Gas Station in Odell, which even sells Route 66 pop today, which we had to buy and taste of course.

Here we found a predecessor of our RV, a tiny camper from 1953!

The quest for the oldest and most original part of Route 66 followed, in Pontiac, Lexington with its “Memory Lane” we were really close.

In Funk’s Grove we photographed an old railway station and store.

After this we headed for Atlanta, where we had a wonderful time at the Palms Grill Cafe, great food, good prices and really nice people to talk to.

On our way out of the Palms Grill Cafe we talked with Ruth-Ann, a wonderful 79 year old lady who told us about her volunteering at the local school as a “school grandmother” and her random acts of kindness gestures. She gave us each a happy face button and a small medallion. What a wonderful lady!

Now it’s time for bed at the Camp-a-While campground in Lincoln

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May 27, 2013
Van Buren SP to Kankakee SP

After breakfast, a walk along the beach with beautiful sand dunes and a power generating plant in the distance we finally decided that we had to start our Route 66 track right at the beginning, right downtown Chicago. Off we went to Chicago! The Interstates were fine, the 200km trip went smoothly. The toll routes to downtown Chicago were a bit stressful, the ticket machine ate the credit card, but thanks to a help button and a friendly voice on the other end we had it back quickly and could proceed. Wow, I love Chicago!!! The rails in the air, beautiful old buildings, art in the streets, restaurants, stores, all with a story to tell! And all decorated with US flags, it was Memorial Day Weekend after all. And thank God it was a Sunday which made the drive through the city with an RV possible.
Yes, we got the crucial shots: The signs of the beginning and the end of Route 66!

And we had a nice Greek lunch at Santorini’s and then dessert on top of it at Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant and Bakery, a downtown Chicago eatery since 1923 and a land mark on Route 66.

The first t-shirt was purchased 🙂

We left Chicago on Route 66, passed Castle Car Wash, Cindy Lyn’s questionable motel and ended up at the White Fence Farm in the Joliet area after passing by prisons onward on the older of the two Route 66 in the direction of Joliet, Elwood, Wilmington and Braidwood. The chicken outside was huge but nothing in comparison to the chicken dinner in the restaurant.

Most of it is now in our little freezer compartment in our RV fridge. Time to rest our weary bones! We ended up at the State Kankakee River State Park. We never got to see the river, it was raining so hard even Pepsi didn’t want to go out.

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May 26, 2013