OKLAHOMA

It was pleasant to discover that Oklahoma has some rich Route 66 memorabilia, and that the residents, various local authorities and private businesses have provided funding to preserve many of these.

Route 66 follows the interstate for most of the journey through Oklahoma, which makes the tracking of it quite easy. Frequently it switches from side to side of the interstate, but often it just ends, and it is necessary to travel along the interstate to meet up with the next section of 66, so this became a familiar sight:

In some instances, where 66 did veer away from the present course of the interstate, many sections had already been duplicated into two carriageways, but as with single lane sections, these are also now desolate and seldom-used:



We stopped at Erick, a tidy little town, which like Winslow, Arizona, hangs on to some insignificant piece of history to establish its claim to fame. In the case of Erick, unfortunately its biggest tourist puller is the fact that Roger Miller grew up here (Roger who? - I know what you mean). There's even a Roger Miller museum in the middle of town.




Erick did have a classic motel, the West Winds, which in its day was a popular Route 66 stopover, and it survived for many years after the by-pass, but eventually like most others, went to the graveyard.


This West Winds customer must be waiting for his wake-up call

After passing through numerous other towns we reached the relatively big town of Clinton, which is home to the official Route 66 Museum, and it is a classic, being a 'must-do' for all Route 66 travellers.

The Route 66 Museum with the 'truck' out the front

Just got to love this cigarette ad!! Don't think it would get through today's politically correct auditors

And another truck parked out the front. Somehow it seemed to have more character than the Toyota

From Clinton, the next stop was another 66 icon, Lucille's gas station at Hydro. This establishment, ran by Lucille Hamon for 59 years from 1941 until the day she died in 2000, is mentioned in most if not all books written about Route 66. Lucille became known as "The Mother of the Mother Road" and was very proud of the heritage of the road. The station has been restored, but sadly no longer operates.

Oklahoma is the home of some classic 66 bridge structures.




Just west of Oklahoma City we passed through a small town called Yukon. The kids were quite excited as apparently it's where Garth Brooks spent his childhood. Garth Brooks registers just above Roger Miller on my radar so unfortunately my adrenalin didn't pump quite so hard, although when we crossed Garth Brooks Boulevard I did feel a small amount of froth developing around the corners of my mouth.

As with most cities, Route 66 passes through the older areas, which these days are usually quite run-down and the residents are similarly so. The Oklahoma City we saw persuaded me to ensure the truck doors were all locked and to quietly ask for forgiveness of all my sins to ensure all the traffic lights stayed on green. Sadly, its biggest claim to fame is the 1995 bombing of the Murrah building.

Route 66 was famous for thousands of neon signs advertising various businesses along its entire route. Most of these have disappeared, although there are some classic survivors, the Skyliner Motel at Stroud in Oklahoma being one.

Next stop was at Depew, which has become another mainly ghost town, although through the efforts of locals, significantly Linda Spangler, owner of Spangler's Grocery Store, the town has been tidied up and doesn't have the derelict feel of many others. The town 'boasts' that the Route 66 alignment dates from the 1920's and that the concrete is the original road and has never been overlaid (sounds a bit like some sections of the Pacific Highway north of Grafton in NSW)

At Sapulpa we stopped at the Tee-Pee Drive-In Theatre, another casualty of the interstate.


We had lunch in Tulsa, as we discovered another great diner, Tally's Good Food Cafe.


The Blue Whale at Catoosa, just east of Tulsa was a favourite stop-off point for 66 travellers in years gone by. Once part of a park containing a swimming hole, zoo, picnic area etc, it closed in the late 1980's and fell into disrepair, but has been restored in recent years.

Chanelle discovering The Blue Whale

At Vinita, we visited what is claimed to be the largest McDonalds in the world. Although in floor space, this may be the case, inside much of the building is occupied by other businesses, and the actual serving area looked no bigger than the Coolangatta store.



At Afton, some more well-preserved Route 66 buildings, this time a genuine Packard dealership,




and so on to Missouri......