TGART Day 6; Edmond, Oklahoma to Tucumcari, New Mexico; Past Half-Way

Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, Texas

www.dennismook.com

Today was a mixed bag of good and disappointment.  We arose just before 6 a.m., ate a hotel breakfast, then departed through Oklahoma City to the west.  According to our route guidebooks, there was supposed to be some restored buildings of interest in downtown Oklahoma City.  Nope.  Not there.  Everything else was closed tighter than a shark's jaws on chum.  We proceeded west.

In El Reno, we wanted to see an historic Elks Club building, but it just wasn't anywhere the guidebooks said it was.  In fact, the streets and traffic signals weren't where the guidebooks said they would be.  Yes, we were in the right town and we triple checked.  We were starting to really wonder about those guidebooks.  Another bust.  But we pressed on.

In between El Reno and our next destination, we traveled over a 4000 ft. truss bridge on the original Route 66 roadway.  The bridge had 38 trusses.  The reason for so many was that the size of these trusses was as big and heavy as they could hoist.  Of course, today there would have been only a few trusses.  This was a very interesting bridge which was painted a maize yellow.

Proceeding on the original roadway, we photographed some large fields of yellow blooming plants.  We are not sure what they are and I can't seem to find them on Google.  Any ideas?  Parts of the old pavement from the original Route 66 show curbs on each side.  Yes, when they made the road, they included angled curbs on each side.  It looks really nice, but it caused a couple of problems.  First, the curbs kept the water on the roadway. When there was a bottom, all the water accumulated there and did not drain off the roadway.  Also, the roadway became a shallow river with sheets of water running down.  Second, if one of the old, narrow, tall cars hit the curb at just the right angle, the car would be sent in the opposite direction and, in some cases, would turn over.  Not good.  Interesting that they would include curbs.  It looks good but it doesn't seem practical for a road for high speed driving.

The next stop we made was in Clinton, Oklahoma.  We wanted to see the National Route 66 Museum.  Ah, but it was 10:15 a.m. and the museum didn't open until 1 p.m.  We walked around, made some interesting photographs of the area and drove on.  Another disappointment.  Should have known.  Almost nothing is open in western Oklahoma on Sundays.  Go figure.

Proceeding west, we then drove to Elk City, Oklahoma to see another Route 66 Museum.  You guessed it--closed.  Only this one opened at 2 p.m.  Disappointed again, we walked around and behind the museum we found a display of very interesting windmills and other farm equipment.  The variations on veins and structure was interesting.  We had lunch at a local establishment and, to say the least, it was just okay.  However, we had what you might call a variation on a Dairy Queen Blizzard at this establishment.  Now you're talking!  Excellent!  as ice cream always is.

Conoco Station, Shamrock, TX

After that, we moseyed on over to Shamrock, Texas.  There we found a marvelous art deco gas station complex.  It was originally a Conoco station. The building and surrounds had been completely restored in its original green tile and adobe facade.  It was unique and very photogenic.  We stayed for quite a while photographing this structure, along with the restored gas pumps and attached buildings.  Very cool.  There was no disappointment here.

Our next stop was Amarillo, Texas.  We found The Big Texan, a restaurant that will give you a 72 oz. steak if you can eat it, along with a baked potato, four shrimp, salad and a roll within 60 minutes.  Evidently, quite a few can get it down as we saw the list and #9005 was the last person to accomplish this feat.  This place reminded me of Wall Drug in South Dakota.  Neat.

Additionally, we stopped at the famous Cadillac Ranch.  See the photo at the top of the blog.  The Cadillac Ranch is a series of Cadillacs planted into the ground expressing symbolic excess of our culture.  The rancher who placed them there encourages individuals to paint the vehicles.  The interesting aspect was the painting and the hundreds of coats of paint.  The disturbing aspect was the individuals who did the painting just threw the spray cans on the ground and left them.  The place would have been so much nicer if they would have walked out with what they walked in.  This attraction was moved a few years ago by the man who owns the land.  It seems that he sold the original location to several commercial establishments and needed to move the Cadillacs west.

We were nearing the midpoint of our journey west so we decided to make a stop in Adrian, Texas, which is the geographical midpoint between Chicago and Los Angeles.  At Adrian, is the Midway Café, which, going along with most of the rest of the day, closed about 15 minutes before we arrived!  Disappointment.  But we made some photographs of the café and the sign signifying the midpoint which was across the street.

Nearing New Mexico, we stopped at the first exit, at which was Russell's Truck Stop.  This is no ordinary truck stop.  They have a 50s period soda fountain, a full grocery and general store and an antique car museum.  Really a very nice place to stop and take a break from driving.  We met two very nice staff members who went out of their way to tell us about the museum and how the Russell family came back from losing everything in a fire to build this very successful establishment.  If you are driving I-40 near the NM/TX border, you should stop.  You will enjoy it.  You can't miss it as there is nothing, and I mean nothing, else in sight except for the roadway.

Tucumcari Towing

We decided to spent the night in Tucumcari, New Mexico.  This used to be a quaint little town, but it is in such decline that it is really sad.  We were told a lot of the old buildings were restored and they were, but the businesses had since closed.  Most of the hotels were closed also.  There were a few historic places, such as the Blue Swallow Motel, that are still flourishing, but most of the town is abandoned.

I was told that the town was competing for a racetrack (and casino?) so a lot of effort went in to fixing the buildings, etc.  However, they weren't the successful winner of the economic development and the town lapsed into more disrepair.

We had dinner in Tucumcari at the Pow Wow Motel at it's Lizard Lounge.  It was pretty good.  There was only one other restaurant open in the whole town and we were sent to the Lounge by our hotel staff.  The food was tasty, plentiful and the wait staff was very nice.  I ate light as the ice cream I ate earlier seemed to have kept my hunger to a minimum.

Today we drove through Oklahoma, across Texas and into New Mexico.  Tomorrow morning we will photograph some interesting signs in Tucumcari, then proceed west to Santa Fe.  Enjoy!

Thanks for looking.
Dennis Mook