Road Trips : US Tour 1997 : Oklahoma and Texas
Saturday 4 October 1997
This morning, I did the Route 66 tour and hit thrift stores, following breakfast at the Classen Grill, which was recommended by not one or two, but THREE people. It was good, but not the religious experience I expected. Busboys were cute though...
"Oklahoma City is mighty pretty...you'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico"...
I've moved into the real nitty gritty of Route 66 now. This is a really great part of the trip. I'm no longer worried about the itinerary or the nightlife or what time zone I'm in (except for tonight, when I missed "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill"). It's now all about exploring a part of the country I've never seen and a road which has as much history as any Civil War battlefield.
On the way into Amarillo, I hit most of the old 66 loops in Oklahoma and Texas. I avoided a parade in Yukon and saw Garth Brooks Boulevard (this was more amusing than thrilling). I had lunch at Pop Hick's, an institution in Clinton OK, and talked with a very friendly waitress who was most proud of the 66 tourists who stop in. In fact, everyone along the route seems proud of their place in history.
Clinton is also home to the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. I stopped, of course. Good museum. Good gift shop. Minimal free stuff.
Eventually, Oklahoma became Texas, and before long I was in Shamrock, home of the U-Drop-Inn, some boarded-up gas stations, and not much else. The interstate pretty much ruined Shamrock. The U-Drop is great though, a late 30's modern/streamline gas station and restaurant. It's a major Route 66 landmark and incidentally, it's vacant and for lease...
With Shamrock covered, I began to contemplate food and sleep.
I DID see Amarillo. In fact, I spent the night there last night. It's an interesting place, which reminds me a lot of Fresno or even Bakersfield: flat, linear, and just a bit behind the times. It's a tremendously unpretentious place...depressed even. There are great buildings and cheesy motels to look at. Route 66 (Amarillo Blvd.) is a major thoroughfare which goes on forever. There are bars. I opted against, so as to get an early start this morning.
Sunday 5 October 1997
On the outskirts of Amarillo stands one of the most unusual and most visited art installations in all of Texas. The Cadillac Ranch dates back to the late Route 66 era and is the creation of Stanley Marsh. It's a very simple piece (or roadside attraction, should you prefer that term): ten 50's-era Cadillac buried in the sand and left open to the elements as well as the graffiti artists.
After leaving Amarillo, my first big and exciting stop was Tucumcari, a motel town like almost no other. "Tucumcari Tonight" signs have flanked Route 66 and I-40 for years. It is most definitely possible to avoid the chains here.
A few more loops through small and sometimes almost-deserted towns and I made my way to Albuquerque.
It would have been nice to spend the night here; it seems like an interesting, vaguely nonconformist kind of place, and also appears to be a magnet for scruffy long-haired boys AND skaters. Hmmm...my two favorite flavors...
Alas, something (I later learned it was some kind of Balloon Expo) was going on in town and jacking up all the room rates. Since I'd now hit Mountain Time, I used the extra hour to get to Gallup, after touring the 66 strip (Central Avenue) a few times and looking around downtown and at a thrift store.
There are motel relics from the past everywhere in Albuquerque; I had to do some serious editing to cut down the number of pictures and move this page along. A few other biggies here included lunch at the Route 66 Diner, crossing the Rio Grande, and seeing highway signs which just read "US 66" rather than "Historic Route 66" or whatever. It made the dream just a touch more realistic.
About this time, I realized that I was getting sunburned. Not, mind you, the sunburn that comes from hanging the arm out the window. No, it was my INSIDE arm which was turning red. We're talking serious sunshine here. I hate sunshine. So with my arm slowly getting redder and redder, I headed up Route 66 for Gallup NM.
Had dinner at Safeway (don't ask) and then drove around taking pictures and seeing what was around. I closed out the night watching cable TV at the motel (such a bargain...).