Today, we got our kicks. We started off the day on Route 66, and continued on the old road for about 6 hours. Eventually, I decided that if we were ever going to make Amarillo, TX today, well, we'd have to suck it up and take the freeway. What was planned to be an 11 hr day tops turned into a 13.5 hr trip. That said, I don't regret it for a minute, but we did all get tired towards the end.
Perhaps what kicked off our desire to see more of the original road was after talking with Gary along the way. Gary had a Sinclair gas station in which he created to his own liking. The station took the place of one that burned in the 1950's, and had stood since 1929. The service garage however, also built in 1929, still stands...filled with all kinds of cool stuff. When we left Gary, we left with a new wealth of knowledge and list of places to see. Red Oak is a must see! The owner literally built his own little town, and it's nothing short of amazing.
We took 66 until we hit Tulsa, OK, where upon I decided we simply had to resort to taking the freeway. The scenery was much better today. Once we hit the western half of Oklahoma however, things started to get desolate. Then, when we hit Texas, I redefined my interpretation of desolate. I have never in my life seen "country" like this...and I grew up in the country! That BIG Texas sky? Well, that's not an stretch, it's the honest to God truth. The fields stretch until the earth seems to curve, void of trees, and even homes or other structures aside from the occasional house or farm. Seriously though, most times you could count the number of structures in your 360 degrees of view on one hand. The sky is looks so massive that you can literally see the color change as dusk approaches, from the bright orange sun setting, to the deep dark blue as it turns to black. It's amazing, yet I'm not sure how people could live in such area. Aside from a few VERY small towns, you didn't hit much in regards of civilization until 100 miles into Texas.
It was 9:30 pm before we stopped for the night. Just in time to order dinner at The Big Texan next door to our hotel. I won't drive nearly as long tomorrow, but we still hope to get our fair dose of 66 to start the day off. Here are some more pictures from our daily adventures, as well as a link to more pictures.
We sorta find this section by accident. An original section of 66 that was just 9' wide! This was about as good as it got, as some portions were more dirt road than pavement.
Route 66: From Detroit, MI to San Diego, CA
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