Today we will spend fully in Oklahoma. We drive from Tulsa to Elk City. It’s pretty hot, just like yesterday, but that is to be expected this time of year. I was warned! Strangely, today we keep missing things. It starts out with Depew. We just totally miss it. When we realize it, we’re already in the next town, and decide not to turn around (later we will turn around for other missed locations, not to worry!). In Chandler we look for McJerry’s gallery but we can’t find it. We decide to move on and proceed to drive past Warwick without realizing it.
This time we turn around though, and we’re glad we did! In Warwick we find the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum. It houses a large collection of motorcycles, some pretty antique. I see some Indians and although I am not a motorcycle expert, I do know these are rare. Most motorcycles in the museum look to be in very good condition too.
Just when we’re about to leave, another car pulls up. Someone gets out and – like so often happens – we made a new friend and are talking about Route 66, our trip, and roadtrips in general. And once again I realize that the Us is nothing at all like we are told it is in the media. Even in Canada, we only see a certain prepare image, through the filter applied by the media. In The Netherlands, this is even worse.
The US is a great country, and we as Western world have our freedom and wealth for a large part not despite but because of the US. And in the US live great people. The majority of people here want to do what we all want : live a happy life in a good country. This is my opinion of course, but it’s based on personal experience, not on what I have heard on the TV.
Ok, enough about my opinions, back to Route 66! Our next stop is the Round Barn in Arcadia. It’s a huge wooden structure and when the builder expressed his plans to make it, back in 1898, people said it couldn’t be done, that his plans were too big. But he did it, and when Route 66 passed his barn, it became one of the most photographed locations along the Route.
We lunch at “Pops”, a new addition to Route 66, since it was built in 2007, and it’s a huge success. It certainly looks futuristic and I think it fits in well with some of the older architecture we’ve seen along the Route.
Next on the Route is Oklahoma City. We mostly drive through, but we do manage to stop for the Gold Dome buildingi and the Milk Bottle building.
In the afternoon, we drive through ever more arid landscape, and near Geary we encounter the imposing Pony Bridge. This bridge was built in 1933 and is the greatest truss bridge, spanning almost 4000 feet. The trusses are called “Pony trusses”, hence the name of the bridge.
Close to Hydro we find Lucille’s Service station. It looks a bit desolate, and it is almost unbelievable that Lucille managed to live here and operate the station for 59 (!) years, till 2000, when she passed away. She bought the station with her husband in 1941 and operated it till her death. She was called the “Mother of the Mother Road”.
After working our way through Clinton and Canute, we arrive at Elk City, where we enjoy some prime Mexican food in Lupe’s Mexican restaurant before heading to our hotel for the night for a well-earned rest! Tomorrow, we once more travel through three states (Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico) AND we’ll pass the halfway point on Route 66!