We headed out at 9:05am from the Krystal Aire (a non-smoking hotel... get it, "crystal air") hotel in Springfield, MO with a short stop at Shell to re-fuel. About 25 miles west of Springfield, we came into a very small town called Gay Parita... not that there's anything wrong with that. There we came across a refurbished, replicated 1940-50s era gas station. It even had the price of 15 cents for a gallon of
gas. That caught my attention.We pulled right up to the pump for a photo op to appear that I pulled in to refuel. I had no idea who owned the place or if we'd be tresspassing. Soon as we were about to drive off, here comes the owner. A very nice gentleman named Gary. He then opened the place up for us, showed us around and told us some info regarding Route 66.
We then continued on and made it into Kansas. Our first few miles in Kansas was, well, pretty rough roads. We did come across the Rainbow Bridge, which is a strech of the original Route 66, complete with the painted road sign on the pavement. But Route 66 doesn't run through Kansas too far and soon we were crossing the Oklahoma state line. Our first few miles into Oklahoma we came across an oncoming manuer truck, which the stench lasted for some time. "This state stinks!," Beth exclaimed.
Sometime after lunch, we came across the Summerside Winery just outside of Vinita, OK. Who would have known they grow grapes and make wine in Oklahoma. They do. We didn't get any bottles of wine, but tasted a few and picked up a great picture book on Route 66. The photos helped us better find our way.
We also made a stop in Catoosa, OK, which is home to the Blue Whale Swimming Park. It closed in 1988, but was a structure where kids could jump off and swim in a local pond.
As we drive along Route 66, it is somewhat "depressing" as Beth put it as you see so many defunct structures and closed businesses. Some of these towns we go through almost look like real to life ghost towns. The rolling tumbleweeds blowing across the street would make it complete. And you'd be surprised at the number of pawn shops and trailer parks. And further surprising, it is next to impossible to find a good diner or cafe. We run into the occasional McDonald's and such, but a good hometown cafe has been somewhat hard to find when we're hungry. And we have yet to run into a Starbucks.
Tonight we are camped out at the Holiday Inn Express in Edmond, OK. First thing tomorrow after breakfast we are going to check out the big round barn in Arcadia, OK, back just a few miles and then off for Texas!
Today's Route 66 Fun Fact: Four miles off of Rt 66 at exit 28A near Foyil, OK is the world's tallest totem pole at 90 ft high at Totem Pole Park. The park also has an 11-sided fiddle house for the fiddles of Nathan Galloway, who carved his own fiddles.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 321
Miles Travelled, Total: 768
Today's Travel Time: 10.75 hours
Today's Avg Speed: 29.86 / hour
Today's Fuel Mileage: 28.8 mpg
Today's Turnarounds: 2
Today's Encounter with Wildlife: 1 (a wild turkey in Missouri)
2 comments:
Good entry. I got a laugh out of Beth's impression of OK! LOL
We stopped at the same winery two years ago on a trip to Oklahoma. We bought a bottle. The wine wasn't the greatest, but we appreciated their effort.
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