Have you ever spontaneously jumped into the car and hit the road without really having a plan or agenda? That is basically what we did last year when we decided to combat the winter doldrums by taking a little drive into Oklahoma to do a little cruising down historic Route 66. We started just north of Tulsa in Catoosa, OK at the site of the Blue Whale. It is a nice little area with a big bright blue whale extending out over a pond right beside the roadway. Unfortunately, although the whale is sitting on a pond and seems to be designed to encourage swimming and playing in the water, that activity is no longer allowed probably due to liability and the sue crazy world we now live in. There are however plenty of trees offering shade and a respite from the sun as well as picnic tables to sit at or to enjoy a leisurely meal. Much like travelers use to do when they packed sandwiches to carry with them on their travels to be eaten at the many roadside parks that dotted the roadways. Of course, this was before fast food became so prevalent in every small town. When times were slower, life was more simple and people were friendly to one another. Which is just the essence of what a trip down Route 66 is designed to capture. Sometimes the best experiences happen when you have little to no expectations and allow it to flow at its own rate. I think that is what made this trip so enjoyable!
We traveled next through Tulsa on our adventure. Trying to avoid the freeways as much as possible to maintain the essence of our trip into the past. There were quite a few old neon signs and business’s still around but many of them had been re-purposed by new owners. You could easily let your imagination drift back to a time when these motels and gas stations were in their heyday.
As we left Tulsa behind we put our attention on the next Route 66 jewel to be discovered. We discovered that traveling in the winter many of the sights and attractions were closed down for the season which was a little disappointing but never the less we tried to not let this phase us, promising ourselves to return next time in the summer months. Our spur of the moment vacation was taken in my husband’s Dodge pick-up which we had modified on the passenger side by removing the original seat and installing a Bruno Turny seat. This is an electronic seat that will turn and lower out of the truck down to a level that will assist in allowing a person of limited ability to transfer their body from a wheelchair or scooter into the seat and then be raised back up into the truck. It is a wonderful piece of equipment that has really opened up many more options for travel for myself as well as countless other disabled individuals.
Back to our adventures! In Stroud, Oklahoma we had a delightful lunch at the Rock Cafe an interesting little place owned by Dawn Welch who was the inspiration for Sally Carrera from the Disney /Pixar movie Cars! Of course, there are signed movie memorabilia on the walls for everyone to enjoy. The food is also delicious and is attributed to their grill named Betsy which dates back before the fire in 2008 which destroyed the cafe before being rebuilt and back in business. As a side note, the front of the cafe did not appear to be wheelchair accessible but we found the side entrance to work nicely. There is also seating outside for those pretty days. Heading West out of Stroud we also saw the Skyliner Motel a definite throwback to the older Motels of the day.
In Chandler, Ok. we stopped at the Route 66 Interpretive Center which had a really nice handicapped ramp up to the front door and an especially sweet lady working who helped assist my husband pick me up off of the ground when I accidentally fell out of my wheelchair into the parking lot much to my husband’s horror and my embarrassment. At least nothing was broken and we were able to continue our trip. We really enjoyed all of the exhibits and thought they did a really nice job putting it all together. Also in this area, we visited the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum which was once an old 1920’s gas station and now houses an array of motorcycles and memorabilia.
In Arcadia is where you will see the large red Round Barn which has been restored and turned into a gift shop and museum. Unfortunately, it was closed the day we stopped by to see it but we did manage to grab a few pictures from the outside. We had better luck stopping at Pop’s an ultra modern-looking gas station /convenience store with over 500 varieties of soft drinks along with a grill serving fast food. The outside of Pop’s is striking at night due to the giant neon soda pop in front of the store. We bought several different flavors of soda pop as souvenirs.
As you approach the outer bands of Oklahoma City be prepared for lots of traffic even on old Route 66. If traffic isn’t an issue for you, I highly recommend driving downtown to tour the OKC National Memorial and Museum. It is the site where the federal building was bombed in 1995 by a domestic terrorist and killed 168 people. The whole area consisting of several blocks has been rebuilt into a memorial museum honoring the innocent lives lost. We spent half a day at the Memorial and could have stayed longer. It felt very somber on the sacred ground and touring the exhibits of the museum but it was well worth our time.
Heading West out of OKC we found an old bridge and some pretty neat building murals in El Reno. Continuing on to Hydro we came across Lucille’s Service Station a historic building on the National Registry of historical places. Unfortunately, Lucille’s closed down in August of 2000. The outside is still kept up and pictures are welcome.
We stopped for the night in Weatherford. We just had to try out Lucille’s Roadhouse for dinner. Inspired by the little service station back in Hydro. It is a Route 66 inspired diner with great tasting food for the weary traveler. We stayed the night at the Comfort Inn and Suites because I have always had good luck finding a handicapped accessible room with the Hotel chain. The room was perfect for what we needed. The next morning before hitting the road we had breakfast back at Lucille’s and then headed over to the Heartland of America Museum. This museum features static displays and artifacts from the late 1800s through the 1950s including a historic diner on Route 66 frequented by Elvis as well as many more buildings.
We traveled on down the road to Clinton, Oklahoma where we stopped and toured the Route 66 Museum. This is a really modern museum with a really retro feel. It has multiple time period displays as well as a fully restored Diner. The Museum was fully handicapped accessible.
Elk City, Ok was our next stop. We traveled through downtown passed the Flamingo Inn a once-popular motor lodge during the heyday of Route 66 and across a small two-lane bridge obviously built in a slower time when traffic was less dense. We stopped to tour the National Route 66 Museum which not only displays artifacts from the Oklahoma portion of the Mother Road but also includes stories and memorabilia from the other 7 states that Route 66 travels through. They have a very nice gift shop as well.
There are so many things to stop and reflect on along the way. Museums, Diners, old Motels, (some still in business) that your days traveling are full of anticipation with what is to be discovered around the next bend in the road or community that you travel through. Our last two communities that we visited were Erick, Oklahoma home to Country Music legend Roger Miller who sang, “King of the Road”. Remnants of an old motor lodge are still present although it is no longer in business. Stop by the Old City Meat Market also known as the Sandhills Curiosity Shop for a taste of Southern Hospitality, good music, and lots to look at.
We finished this portion of our Route 66 road trip in Texola, a small desolate-looking town with several old falling down buildings. You can spend some time getting out of your vehicle and looking at these buildings if you like that sort of thing but just know that the community still has a few residents as well as an operational open bar and Church so please pay attention and obey any no trespassing signs. This is the Wild West after all!
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I-40 (Bus), Texola, Oklahoma, United States -
Well, that pretty much summed up our spur of the moment trip on the Oklahoma portion of Route 66. We did travel down the New Mexico and Arizona portions on another road trip and I plan to tell you all about that trip soon. For those of you itching to hit the road and tour Route 66 for yourself, I highly recommend you purchase beforehand a really good guide such as the one we used because the GPS isn’t really reliable with keeping you on the authentic route and it always helps to have a supply of road music to sing along too. We enjoyed singing to the soundtrack of Cars but there is a ton of other music you can download from Amazon music to get your groove on. Hope you enjoyed the ride! See you next time!
Thank you