Route 66 - Day 11 - Tucumcari, NM to Conway, AK

We ate at Kix on 66, which is a diner in Tucumcari. I had the huevos rancheros, which were muy bien! (Lorena Ludeña, que estaría orgulloso de mí: he usado mi amplio conocimiento del español para decir 'gracias' un par de veces en el viaje).

Nik forwarded a list of 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' for us to potentially check out from here to Memphis. Thanks, Nik!

While driving through Texas, past Wildorado, there were a few tumbleweeds rolling across the highway. Cool!

What was NOT cool was the cattle ranch after Wildorado . I opened the window to take a pic of all the cows, but should've thought of both the winds and the impact of 10,000 head of cattle in a small area. Smell-ee!

Another cop scare: we were going slightly above the speed limit, but not a crazy amount, when all of a sudden, a Texas State Trooper pulled out of nowhere, and drove up so close and so fast behind us, we both thought he was going to ram us. Then he passed us, drove about 10 ahead of us in the next lane, and craned his head around to look at us. Then he sped up, and kept tapping his brakes. Finally, he slowed down, drove over the grass median, and U-turned onto the westbound highway.

Iv's been a bit worried at different points due to his tinted windows. They're a 20% tint (i.e. they let 20% of the sunlight in). In Canada, they're legal, but in some states, apparently, 35% tints are the minimum you can have on the front windows. We're not sure how the law applies to out of country cars, but it's a consideration that we could get stopped for pimped-out glass...

We stopped at Conway, Texas, to see Bug Ranch, which is a take-off of Cadillac Ranch. It's even more roughed up than Cadillac Ranch was! Oh, well; still photo ops.

We passed by Groom again.









Groom's Giant Cross - redux (recrux?)

Onto Oklahoma! We stopped in Erick to look for a picture of the 100th meridian (everything west used to be the "Great American Desert"), but all we could find was the 100th Meridian Museum and a quiet town. The Roger Miller Museum there was also closed, so we kept driving to Clinton.

Clinton has a few things in it: a Route 66 museum, Jiggs Smoke House (they make jerky there), and the Tradewinds Inn (Elvis stayed there four times). We decided to check out the Route 66 museum.

Definitely worth checking out! Very well maintained, compared to some of the other museums we've seen on the way (the McDonald's museum in San Berdoo, for example, was mostly of the 'get some memorabilia and slap it into a cabinet without organizing it' variety). A lot of good picture moments.

I bought some stamps (finally) to send postcards that I bought over a week ago, and am writing those up now. They'll probably get back after I do, but it's the thought that counts, right?

We hit Leo's BBQ (a triple D featured place) in OKC. SO GOOD! I ordered the Leo's Light, which is obviously ironic, since it consisted of at least a pound of ribs, brisket, baloney, and a hot link, with baked beans and potato salad.

When we walked in, too, the place smelled smoky, like there was a fire burning. Once we looked past the cash, we realized why. There was a fire burning (note in the close-up of pic on right the fire behind the waitress)! Apparently, they smoke all their meat on site. Dinner was great: the hot link was the best sausagey meat I've ever had, and the same went for the baked beans. Their BBQ sauce (which came in the squeeze bottles) was a sweeter variety, and they had both mild and hot versions. I probably ate twice as much as Ivan (I ate my meal, and also polished off half of his baked potato), but this is why he looks like he does, and I look like I do. I can exercise when I get home...

So on to Memphis. Iv's determined to get there tonight, which equals 1 300 km of driving today. Ouch.

After passing Fort Smith around 8:30, a giant glowing cross appeared on a mountain in front of us. We debated whether it was guiding us, or trying to trick us into driving into the mountain. We're still undecided, because it disappeared after we turned a corner.

Maybe the cross was guiding us, because we got pulled over AGAIN for the second time during the trip (this time by an Arkansas State trooper; he was very friendly, too), and got off AGAIN for the second time. Third time's a charm (or maybe fourth time, if you count the cop from this morning)?

He came over to my window and asked for Ivan's license, registration, & for him to step outside. Then he came back, and started talking to me, but I ended up asking him more questions than he asked me (had he ever been to Canada? No. Did he know where Ontario was? Just north of New York State. Had he heard of Nova Scotia? Yes; it's out on the eastern seaboard. And so on), so I think he let us go just to shut me up.

The last part of the conversation confirmed this to me:

Jeff: blah blah Route 66 blah blah Canada blah great trip blah blah...
State Trooper (smiling): excuse me for a minute.
Jeff (ready to ask for Arkansas travel tips when he gets back): okay!

Ivan gets back in the car. The cop's car lights go on and he takes off.

Jeff (slightly hurt): He just took off?
Ivan: Yeah. He let me go, jumped in his car, and drove away.
Jeff: Oh.

Since this happened at 9:30, we decided to stop travelling just outside of Little Rock, crash at a Motel 6, and drive to Memphis in the morning (still four states in one day). Good night, all!

P.S. Watch for rattlesnakes.

Route 66 - Day Four - Joplin, TX to Albuquerque, NM

The stars at night! Are big and bright! CLAP CLAP Deep in the heart of Texas! We're more on the panhandle, rather than in the heart, but still...

First stop: the Devil's Rope Museum in McLean. A must-see! It's all about barbed wire. I know: you're thinking "must-see" and "barbed wire" are mutually exclusive. But it was a lot of fun, and there were some Route 66 exhibits, too, plus a room about the Dust Bowl in the 30s. We bought some trinkets, talked to the old lady who was volunteering, and met the guy who started the museum in the first place.

My friend Molly recommended Groom, which has a big cross. I thought it'd take about 30 seconds to see & take pics, but it was actually pretty interesting to stop there for a bit. Thanks, Molly!



When standing near a cross, make sure it is firmly entrenched in the ground. Otherwise, this will happen to you.

Nearby was the leaning water tower. Leany!


(although the one on the right that we passed in Illinois was more interesting...)

On to Amarillo, and the Big Texan: second of my must-sees/must-eats. I didn't order the 72 oz. steak, despite Ivan's urgings, but I did get an 18 oz. ribeye, which was DELICIOUS. There was a West Texas A&M football thing going on there, too, so a lot of clapping, which I initially thought was related to me eating an over 1 lb. steak. Apparently not.

We headed off to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which was the first (but not last) canyon we saw on the trip. Beautiful!











After that, we went to the iconic Cadillac Ranch. When you see it in movies or on TV, the cars look pretty good. Apparently, they get cleaned up for photo/film shoots. The rest of the time, they look like this: Still impressive, though!

Plus, since all the punks who spraypaint the cars leave their cans there, I also got to spraypaint a 'J' on one.

For late lunch/early dinner, we wanted to hit the Midpoint Cafe, located midway between Los Angeles and Chicago on old Route 66.


It was 4pm, and should've been open, but the 'Closed' sign was up, and when I walked towards the door, I heard the definite snick of the lock. Hmph.

We bolted to Tucumcari, NM, which is a pretty divy town, but La Cita had good Mexican food (but bad service).


Tucumcari also has the Blue Swallow Motel, which reminds me of a place Tobias Fünke would work at.

Finally, we did take a left turn at Albakoikie, and ended up there for the night at a Super 8. It wasn't super, but it worked.

Route 66 - Day Three (Joplin, MO to Elk City, TX)

To preface Day 3, since I got an internet connection on the night of Day 2, I was like a heroin addicted kid in a smack candy store. So I stayed up until 2 a.m., not doing anything particularly important. I hate you, internet.

This led into my mood on Day 4: CRANKY AND TIRED. It was the overarching theme of the day. What was worse, it was my day to drive. So Iv and I did a lot of bickering, 'cause he was a bit cranky, too, but his wasn't due to lack of sleep.

Leaving Montana, we wanted to stay mostly faithful to old Route 66, so we cut through the south-east corner of Kansas. A lot of 'Dust in the Wind' and 'Wizard of Oz' comments ensued. I don't think Ivan liked me calling him 'Dorothy' for the drive through.

The only thing of semi-note we saw in Baxter Springs was a cafe that used to be a bank that Frank & Jesse James held up. It's now a 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' featured restaurant (that wasn't open when we got there).

Next: O-kla-homa! Where the wind blows gently through the trees! Commerce and Miami were towns that got bypassed by the interstate, and shrivelled up. Nice towns, but sad to see what they were now vs. what they were like.

Commerce was also notable due to me changing out of my shorts and into pants on Main Street. It was freezing! I severely underestimated the temperature getting warmer (which it didn't until Texas).

Past Miami, we had the privilege of driving part of the original Route 66 highway that was a one-lane highway (also known as the 9 foot highway, or the Sidewalk Highway). We took it for a few miles. No maintenance to it since at least the early 70s, if not earlier, so there were a lot of parts where the pavement was gone.

We stopped in Vinita. Why? For calf fries, of course, at Clanton's Cafe. It was another 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives' place, but I didn't realize this until we were inside and there was a pic of Guy Fieri on the wall.

Super friendly people in Clanton's. Our waitress was nice, and so was Jim, a regular who came over to talk to us, and tell stories about Vinita (one I remember was that he claimed the first commercial signal from space was in Vinita due to a local who invented a garage door opener that malfunctioned and bounced off of Sputnik when it was passing overhead in 1957).

What are calf fries? Calf fries = prairie oysters = bull testicles. Iv refused to try them, but I thought, "why not?" People eat them down here. They weren't bad, but nothing special.

Jim told us that they don't have the best ones here, and that farmers usually keep the better ones for themselves.

Pictured: me and balls; our friendly waitress; Ivan & Jim)




We didn't eat again until Oklahoma City (OKC), which was NOT smart. Tired and cranky combined with low blood sugar made for more bickering. Over what, I can't remember now. But it wasn't a good trip.

We stopped at the Catoosa Blue Whale, and talked to the local guys running the thing. It was a nice stop. From there, we drove through Tulsa, mainly to see Oral Roberts University and the giant praying hands (which I believe were modelled after the 900 foot Jesus Oral Roberts had a vision of).

There's a huge amount of money sunk into that place, which you're not aware of until you see the size of the buildings and the amount of flair in how they're designed.

We took more of old 66 to OKC, and planned to stop at Russ's Ribs in Bristow for a late lunch. But it was closed. Blargh!

We pressed onward to the Rock Cafe in Stroud (which a lot of the feel of the movie 'Cars' was based on, apparently. It looked nice, but was a dive inside, so Ivan wanted to keep going. Double blargh!

Arcadia was nice on old 66: it had a historic round barn that was restored, and an old rock gas station that wasn't. Both were worth seeing.
(Arcadia round barn & Arcadia square, roofless, gasless gas station)

Finally, OKC. Blood sugar was dangerously low. My driving was getting more frazzled, and my mood ring was midnight black. We stopped and ate at Earl's, which was a bit chain-y, but had good food. Though I was starving, I couldn't finish the amount of food on my plate: ribs, brisket, Italian sausage links, and fried baloney, plus a loaded baked potato and baked beans.

What was very moving to see, but didn't help the mood, was going to the Oklahoma City Memorial after dinner. I was choked up, despite not knowing too much about the Oklahoma City bombing. I don't think being tired helped, either, but seeing the individual children's memorials was pretty sad.

Again, we drove: on to Elk City, where we found a Day's Inn and collapsed. BUT...before collapsing, I fiddled around with my network settings, and realized there was an ID-10-T error with my computer: I had put ultra-high security on it, which precluded my computer from accessing most free wi-fi hotspots.

Grr...maybe this will help wean me off of the internet. Maybe.