Meet Me in St Louie

May 12, 2014

Waking up to a subdued sunrise, it was already hot and humid. Supposedly we are headed for a cool spell. It must be coming after the rain that we can see brewing. The decision is to pull out and go another 110 miles to Miami(pronounced My-am-ah)  or Quapaw (pronounced o-go-paw), Oklahoma. We thought about sitting it out for another day, but what if the weather turns really nasty? At least we will have another 100 miles under our belt.  We hoped to see the blue whale, but construction prevented us  from finding the entrance.

On we went in search of the world's largest totem pole. 4 miles away from the Route is a story to experience…. Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park  is the oldest and largest example of folk art in Oklahoma: its construction lasting from 1937 to 1961. The park is located just 3.5 miles from the Mother Road. All the art objects are made of stone or concrete reinforced with steel rebar and wood mixed in 5 gallon buckets. Galloway carved the objects in bas-relief and applied paint to decorations that include representational and figurative images of birds and native Americans of Northwest Coast/Alaska and Plains cultures arranged facing the four cardinal directions.

 
Galloway was a proficient wood carver and blacksmith. When he retired he moved to the property and built his craftsman house and then started on the turtle, a rock in the yard, that is the base of the totem.

His workshop is now a museum which also houses his 300 fiddles he made each from different woods from different countries.

The other "have to" stop is where Route 66 heads into Miaimi, Oklahoma and is only 9 feet wide.

This house in Chelsea Oklahoma was ordered and shipped

from the Sears Catalog back in 1912. Sears sold ready-to-assemble kit houses through the mail and were shipped via railroad box cars. These kits included all the materials needed to build a house!



We are grateful that the site seeing was short lived because of a storm rolling in. We made it to Quapaw Casino and by the time I had us registered, Gerard had us hooked to electric and water and we were getting the bed set up when the skies turned ominous.

lightening storm brewing  over Quapaw Casino

Grateful for the rain, because I was sure the twister possibilities had most likely passed.  But little did I know the storm was just rearing her head. The lightening!!!!! Sitting in a tin can is not a place to feel secure. Two lightening strikes –one on the silo behind us but the other must have been a few feet away. It rocked us and I felt like I had been punched in the chest. Now there is just a steady rain and I can feel the temperature drop. It looks like rain the next couple days and only low 60s on the mercury.

Dairy Delight in Commerce

 Sights along the way are old 1930s gas stations some repurposed into ice cream shops like the one in Commerce.

Old Conoco Station embedded into the building wall

Old Conoco Station embedded into the building wall

Old Eisler Market continuously run since 1929 in Riverton, Kansas

We woke to chilly temps indeed and set out on the rode grateful to be inside the car most of the day. Heading out of Oklahoma and cutting across the corner of Kansas into Missouri. 

Baxter Springs, tiny town was cleaning up after some twister action.

Galena, Kansas afforded us a wonderful breakfast at Street Car Station, a rehabbed building with a sweet coffee  and jewelry shop owned by retired teacher and banker.

breakfast at The Streetcar Station

Good conversations over breakfast.

Bush Creek Marsh Arch Rainbow Bridge is the last remaining of it's kind on Route 66. In Kansas there where 3 of them built around 1923 on what would become Route 66.

The bridge was slated for destruction but was finally saved with the help of the Kansas Route 66 Association.

Once through Kansas, we still were only going a 100 or so miles to a campground 20 miles north of Lebanon, Missouri. Temps never did see the 60s so dang chilly. We would have to just tough it out because Suzi wouldn't be in St Louis until Thursday. The camp sites were right on the river....screech owl included.

campsite on the Niangua River 20 mi. north of Lebanon, Mo

tiny screech owl

We had stop in at the Munger Moss Motel. We bought the print that Jerry McClanahan painted of the place. 

Devil's Elbow pre 1926 Route 66

It was a great day for travel. We found more original pavement in Missouri than we ever expected. The road climbs and twists through hills and tiny towns that are definite throwbacks to the the 50s.

rehabbed Texaco station in Cuba, Mo

We found a fabulous Mennonite bakery in Cuba, Mo, another mural town.

Circle Inn with fabulous food at amazing prices

Fabulous road food is to be had at the Circle Inn Malt Shop in Bourbon, Mo. Can't resist a water tower filled with Bourbon?

Forest Park

Forest Park

We were happy to roll in to Kirkwood, Mo, home of Matt O'Toole and Suzi Ostos. Two different alignments  of Route 66 run on the north and south side of Kirkwood. Gerard and I both became enamored with this quaint suburb of St. Louis. It is small town America on western reach of a fairly sizable city. It was founded in 1853 and I love the architecture. While visiting we hiked Sitka around Forest Park and Laumeier Sculpture Park. We spent a morning in the Soulard neighborhood with it's fabulous Farmer's Market....

Soulard Farmer's Market

St Louis and Land of Lincoln will need to be continued as the computer's Iphoto program is not working ....keeping my fingers crossed because all our photos are there and I can't imagine losing them all. So more Kicks on 66 to come.

Kicks on 66

May 11, 2014

Adios Nuevo Mexico

Even though we have been on and off Route 66 at different points since the beginning of March, our Mother Road adventure started in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

From here we would do our best to follow all paved sections (definitely skipping the dirt portions towing a trailer). You could spend several days in Tucumcari–so much Kitch to see! We focused on a few of the famous neon and the murals.

One of the best stops was at Tucumcari Ranch Supply and Watsons Barbecue.

I was in search of a spoon rest and was told to try the ranch supply. They have everything. The aroma of pulled pork was enough to make you salivate. The actual restaurant  was not open. (I swear nothing in New Mexico is open until the weekend).

However, they were happy to wrap us up a pound of pulled pork to take with us. And if ever we are to return to Tucumcari, I will be sure to book a room at the legendary  Blue Swallow Motel.

Blue Swallow

TeePee Curios

Texas Star

I purchased the EZ 66Guide by Jerry McClanahan because I had heard 66 is not navigable by map or road signs in most places. So I took the wheel and Gerard grabbed the book and became navigator extraordinaire. I have no idea how one person could figure out how to get on down the road, you really need a navigator! Shortly before the town of Glenrio is a travel center that has an amazing car collection and antique toy display, definitely not to be missed.

Russells Travel Center

From here it is only a short distance to Adrian, Texas touted as the midpoint between Chicago and Los Angeles.

 The Midpoint Cafe and the Sunflower Station are about the only places in town and amazing to see travelers from all over the world stopping for the photo op. Traveling the Mother Road is particularly popular with Europeans, Australians and New Zealanders. Who knew?!

 

A Texas Millionaire commissioned an art group to install Cadillac Ranch in 1974 near Amarillo, Texas. It consists of what were (when originally installed during 1974) either older running used or junk Cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line (most notably the birth and death of the defining feature of mid twentieth century Cadillacs; the tailfins) from 1949 to 1963

Just down the road is the Cadillac Ranch gift shop with one of our first Giant Alerts: giant Cowboy. Kind of started the search for the giant everythings.

We realized we needed gas and pulled off to stumble on to the Bug Ranch, a satirical answer to Cadillac Ranch…VWs buried instead of caddys.

Billed as the largest crosses in the western hemisphere, 190 foot tall cross stands in Groom, Texas and just east of there is the leaning tower of Britten, built that way to attract attention.

In McClean Texas a restored Phillips 66 station stands. The original owners of the oil company were driving down Route 66 when he noticed they were going 66mph and that's when they decided to name the gas stations.

We knew, even going only 100 to 150 per day, we couldn't see it all, but we would do our best to experience as much as we could. I think one of my favorite memories will be cruising down the original1930s portland concrete, curbs and all, east of Shamrock, Texas, continuing on through Oklahoma. It truly gives you the sense of what it was like back in the day.

original pavement curbs and all

OOOOH-klahoma where the winds....

Our first night on the Mother Road was at Sayre City Park. The Beckham County Courthouse in Sayre was featured in the movie The Grapes of Wrath.

Our next day we would only cover 101 miles but with 2 Route 66 museums and more kitchy Americana, it would take us 8 hours to cover those miles!

giant Kachina at the National 66 museum in Elk City, Oklahoma

I have to agree with our guidebook that one of the best drives on 66 is the 1930s route from Hydro to El Reno. The curbed concrete heads away from any view of the interstate, curving through woods and crossing bridges revealing beautiful countryside.

1933 pony truss bridge

Our second night, we camped at Lucky Star Casino. I learned that many casinos not only allow overnight camping, but actually have FULL hook-ups. They also give you $10 on a players card and Gerard went off and won $25 on penny slots. So the casino paid us to camp!

Day three and we were on the road bright and early. I wanted to breeze through Oklahoma City with as little traffic as possible. I had hoped to stop at the National Memorial of the Federal Building, but for a Saturday, there was too much traffic and too narrow streets towing the Land of OZ and I just wanted to get through. However, the little towns following were a delight. A massive grain elevator is a formidable sight in Yukon.

The Lake Overholser Bridge has been restored and reopened in Bethany  which is the home of the Southern Christian University with its giant Globe.

The centerpiece of Arcadia is the restored 1898 Round Barn and, not old at all, but a new 66 foot pop bottle at Pops, a diner and convenience store with hundreds of soft drink flavors.

Motorcycle museum in Warwick

Rounding the bend and entering Warwick we stumbled into the Seaba station that is a great antique motorcycle museum. We gave a quick call to Jerry McClanahan, the author of our guide to see if he would be home for a book signing and tada! …our lucky day. His home and studio are in Chandler, Oklahoma. He is also an artist who memorializes this Americana in his paintings. We bought a couple prints for the trailer of course.

Jerry McClanahan, author of EZ 66 Guide

From 1926-1928, Route 66 took a loop through Depew, all but a ghost town now.

Heyburn Lake Sapulpa, Oklahoma

Not far from the route we would make camp at a CCC (Conservation Corp of Engineers Camp) at Heyburn Lake, another benefit of the federal access pass–1/2 price camping! It's been in the 90s these last couple days and being lakeside has been a great way to re-energize to hit the road again on Monday the 12th. We expect to meander into St. Louis on Wednesday or Thursday and stay with my sister for a few days.

So meet me in St. Louie