Event Coverage Just another little Route 66 jaunt...

Great photos, thanks for sharing. I'd really like to do the RT 66 trip. If I ever do it it will be in the fall.

Gary

 

Thank you very much for sharing your trip. That sure looked like fun. I did a western version of old Route 66 from So Cal to Arizona.

 

How far did you get on the route in Kansas? I purchased the old Front Street Garage in Galena and it was about 3 miles west of the "Welcome to Galena" sign you shot. My neighbor is the original Tow Mater (Tater) which Disney saw and used to create Tow Mater for the movie CARS.
I plan on restoring the building back to the way it looked in 1947 and open it up as a Form Model A Museum, a White Rose Gas Museum and then a part of it will be transformed into a 1940's diner.
Ed
Route 66 World / Front Street Garage

 

Yep, saw it....looked at the old Ford ton across the street from your neighbor too...more pics coming

 

Thanks for the ride. Loved your photos and descriptions. Amazing what's still along those old routes.
It's great that people like EAK69 are rebuilding and making parts of our history available again.
Stop in and say hi and buy something from those people.
Still love the old iron bridges which were all over central Illinois when I was young. Nothing like driving over a wooden bridge floor.

 

After the Galena sign pic, we preceded into Galena, stopping here... Where we met the REAL TowMater...who in spite looking like a '55-'57 Chevrolet in the movie was actually an International...
His movie start twin... We didn't stay long in Galena and didn't take a lot of the pics of murals, ect. because it was hot, we were tired, and I had many pics of them from previous trips...we proceeded on and the next pic stop was, in my opinion, the crown jewel of Kansas Rt.66....
Absolutely beautiful, and kudos to the state for not ripping it out and hauling it off for scrap.

 

We then headed off to Indian Territory. My plan for taking a pic at state line signs was blown out of the water by a tail gating truck... We continued into Commerce, Oklahoma and ate ice cream here... took a quick pic here... And continued into Miami, Oklahoma, where we got a room for the night, showered, and went to get dinner at Waylon's KuKu Burger. Food was delicious, but my mind had taken leave, a victim of 100 degree plus temps, and I didn't get any pics. We went by the local Walmart and got another case of water for the ancient ice chest, and was approached by an intoxicated young lady trying to sell magazines or something. After I revealed my profession, she decided to find someone more likely to buy her scam, and complimented me on the truck as she was leaving...

 

The next morning we set out to find another of my favorite pieces of Route 66- the "sidewalk highway" or "Ribbon Road". After a couple of wrong turns and backtracking, we found it. The first half of it is in extremely poor shape.. I don't know how to preserve it, but I fear a few more years and it will be all but gone... I apologize for the shadows, but we had hit the road early in the morning to take advantage of the cooler air. One of the tradeoffs was less than perfect lighting for photos, which is evident when coupled by a novice photographer such as myself.. The monument doesn't say it, but I've read that the reason this strip of highway is only one lane is that the State of Oklahoma didn't have the money for their share at the time, so rather than pave halfway, they simply paved one lane down the center of the roadbed. Makes sense- if you meet someone just pull over.
Whether true or not, it's a very cool stretch of rural highway.
We then continued toward Afton, where we would discover our early morning travelling deprived us of touring the Packard collection located there....When we first entered I snapped a quick pic of Rest Haven Motel...Unfortunately, it appears to have became VERY low rent housing in very poor shape. Across the road..... We snapped a couple of pics, peered through the windows at old Packards that I'd love to have saw closer and loved to drive even more, then continued on through the heat.

 

Great pictures and descriptions!! Never get tired of seeing some of these sites.
Thanks.

 

Thanks for all the pictures, I'm going to explore the rout this September.

 

We continued along the old road, keeping an eye out for cool stuff, like this bridge over Pryor Creek... Riding these little forgotten segments is fun... As we continued on, we tried to keep an eye out for things that might not be in the guidebooks. Coming into Chelsea, we saw the murals on the town walls just off of 66, so we stopped and got a pic while parked on very cool old brick streets. Uncle Ron made the comment that it must've taken forever to lay them by hand- the magnitude of such a job is mind blowing to me...
As we pulled away, Uncle Ron remarked that it'd be cool to see the first oil well, and it was too bad that they didn't have a replica to show. (He's from Missouri, the Show Me State, and had never ventured into Oklahoma before). Just after he said that, we turned onto Route 66 (seeing a '50's Chrysler whose owner nodded, but didn't seem interested in talking, sitting at a nearby parking lot) and headed west.
We had not gone a mile when I spotted a small sign indicating directions to "Oklahoma's First Oil Well". And, just like that, we were off exploring. About five miles down a country road, I was beginning to think I'd missed it, when a sign appeared with a arrow...we followed it and about two miles later, another arrow and sign. Finally, nearly 10 miles from where we started we found it...

 

Next touristy stop was in Foyil, and another side trip to see the world's largest totem pole, which they were power washing.... All in all, a cool sight, although one with a lot of kids running around....
Then it was on to Catoosa to see Big Blue.
(Man, I've got to fix that door handle. It works fine but is missing a spring to pull it back to level)
We walked around the Blue Whale's little park, and I climbed back into the upper level to try to find my daughter's signature we signed a few years back. Apparently a lot of people do this- I couldn't find hers anywhere.
As we prepared to leave, I noticed a van come whipping in with a passenger holding a big movie camera. I didn't think much about it...

 

Great pics, thanks!

 

Shortly after I see a bright yellow Mustang convertible driving along with two guys hanging off the back with big cameras... That, my friends, in my line of work should be a clue...however, I was totally focused on their subject...
A '35 Auburn. Drool was running....
The driver pulls it into the same spot I had taken Rusty's picture at before. As they get out and walk into the park with camera crew following every move, I asked one of the guys with the group, the driver of the Mustang, what they were filming. "T.V Show". Okay. I'm thinking documentary, and go off to look at what interests me- the
Auburn. Grabbed a pic of it and Rusty, then turn to leave. At this point the driver came out of the park sans cameras, and calls to me, asking about Rusty. I told him then asked what year the Auburn was, never knowing I'm talking to a celebrity, and asked where they were heading. "South Dakota".
He bends his head down to look in Rusty, and my uncle lets out a squeal like a 16 year old girl. "My god, it's American Pickers! Mike! Can we get a picture?!?!"
Mike and Danielle were both gracious enough to let us take pics, although we didn't have time to talk much as they
. were filming. ^ Uncle Ron with Mike and Danielle...

Me with Mike and Danielle..
After returning home, I posted on Mike's facebook page thanking him for taking the time for the pic and got a "Killer truck, man" comment in return. Ha! Made my day..

 

Very cool !
Thanx for sharing. Looks like you guy's had a blast !

 

Continuing on into Tulsa, I concentrated on finding the Route. I'm sure we passed many picture opportunities, but at this point we were looking for food. Finally stopped at Billy Ray's BBQ, which was pretty good food, then proceeded on down the highway, stopping here for pics of a train and Tulsa's oil derrick.. For some reason, I can't find the pic I took at the base of it, but it had a large "Route 66" sign inset...
Another train pic Then a side road segment of Old 66, I think this was a "Brushy Creek" bridge- they are all running together on me now.LOL An abandoned drive inn still hanging on..

 

Finally, we came into Stroud. A little late for lunch, a little early for dinner, and very hot... so we stopped for a bowl of ice cream...
After discussing the prospect of fighting Oklahoma City traffic at quitting time, we decided that this would be a good place to leave the Mother Road until next year. Breaking out the maps, we mapped a route to I-40 and eastbound. As soon as possible, around 75 miles of interstate later, we found Oklahoma 266 which parallels I 40 and slowed back down.
We stopped for the night in Fort Smith, where HAMB'r Minnesota68 and his lovely wife came and picked us up at the hotel - in an AIR CONDITIONED car!!-, took us out for a delicious meal and carried us by a local cruise night..
The next morning, we walked around Judge Parker's courtyard grounds, took a pic or two... ...and headed home.
Zero problems out of Rusty the '46, who averaged nearly 28mpg on the first tank, 25 on the second (Tulsa searching destroyed my mileage) and 28 on the third. We drove somewhere north of 870 miles, and loved every minute.
If you plan on doing Route 66, I would definitely advise a/c or doing it in the fall...lol Having said that- one of the best little 3 day trips I've taken, and we are already planning next years' road trip! Thanks for tagging along!

 

Mate that was a great read, thanks for posting.

 

Those are some really nice pictures. And it just shows you have to be at the right places at the right times.
I think Danielle is hot but don't tell my wife!

 

Wow. What an awesome ride, with pictures to match! Thanks for sharing this wonderful trip. The wife and me are very very jealous. Next time we're in the States, we want to go on a similar trip.

 

Thanks for the ride! Great pics and an awesome read.

 

great thread. in 1970, two friends and i did a road trip and came back from l.a. via route 66. one scary "almost" happened about 30 minutes after we passed the spot: striking teamsters fired on a loaded dynamite truck. it exploded and made about a 50-foot hole in the highway!

 

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed it very much.

 

Looking forward to your next episode .

 

Nice , thanks again !

 

Thanks for pics looks like a great time !

 

Thanks for the pictures. I've been to some of those stops but not all.

 

Thanks for the pictures looks like you had a good time that trip is on my bucket list someday or year kept saying that every year like to take my 50 ford wit v8 flathead

 

Very kool trip.....keep em coming

 

Thanks for the trip. Brought back memories of our trips in 1995 and 2009. Had dinner one night at the Rock Café in Stroud. They had a fire there a several years back and were just getting to reopen in 2009 when we came through.
I remember the original owners had a sign that said "never trust a skinny chef" and he was one big boy!!!