Kirk Woodward's Diary of Route 66 - Joplin, MO to Amarillo, TX
Baxter Springs, KS
The spare 13 miles of
State Route 166 in Kansas
approximates the original
Route 66. Once across
the Missouri State Line
you can get on I-44 which
is not a toll road in Missouri. There was no special mention of Historic
Route 66 around the
Joplin, MO exit . . . Springfield, MO was where I saw the first mention
of it.
Pilcher, OK
Chat, also known as gravel
or "overburden," is what makes up
the towering, wind sculpted piles on
the west
side of the highway at
Pilcher
(last/first town in
Oklahoma).
It was piled up in the mining
process that
is no longer in operation here. Certainly the most dramatic example of
environmental rape I saw on my trip. The mining companies are long
gone and unavailable to clean up the mess so the area is a Superfund
Project. I would be surprised if it doesn't take them years to put things
right. Truck load by truck load by truck load by truck load by truck
load by truck load. . .. etc.
Coleman Theater
Miami, OK
You
can, technically
speaking, get on the
"ribbon road" in two
places
between Miami,
OK
and Afton, OK.
But,
as you can see, the
road
is in a terrible state
of
repair and very
narrow. I took this
picture at a turn off
roughly 5 miles south of Miami. It is unmarked. On the west side of the
highway there is E 140 at the ribbon road intersection. Just take the road
on the east.
Beautifully restored and
fully
operational, the
Coleman Theater is
alive
and well in Miami,
OK.
Built in 1919, every
major attraction of
the
20's & 30's played
the
Coleman. The
huge
theater organ is a
joy to
see and a marvel to
hear. The "Keepers of the Coleman" invite you to tour their beautifully restored theater. As a matter of fact, John (49/64ths Arapaho
Indian), came out to my bike to invite me inside.
Afton, OK
Local girl makes good.
Linda McCloud returns to
her roots and turns a long
vacant building right on the
highway (west side) into the
Route 66 cafe. They are
open 7 days a week. I had a
two hour "rain delay" in
Afton. After I came out of
Linda's cafe there was a
really big, really dark (street
lights came on at nine in
the morning) cloud sweeping down from the northwest. I parked under an
abandoned service
station canopy and was super
glad I was there
when the ferocious wind and
rain finally hit.
Over the two hours I was
joined by a half
dozen highway construction
vehicles needing to
keep their hot mixed asphalt
out of the rain and
a garrulous, skinny guy en
route - on foot - to
Bartlesville to pick up his
social security
check..
Largest Totem Pole in the World
Foyil, OK
The totem pole was only
"plugged" for southbound
traffic. It said it was four
miles east of the highway
and I wasn't that interested.
I did stop for the Payne
memorial (east side of the
highway, at the flag poles)
because it was such an incredible 20's type of thing
. . . never before and never
since. A foot race across
the United States . . . 2,400
miles of the total of
3,423.5 on Route 66 in
1928. Foyil has erected a
granite marker to honor its
favorite son's accomplishment.
Andy Payne of Foyil wins it
in 573 hours, 4 minutes
and 34 seconds (71+ days if
they
ran 8 hours a day). Payne,
who was able to run a 4:45
mile in the 20's, practiced by
running to school - 5 miles from the family farm.
Thomas' book reports that school children were
excused from class to cheer Andy.
Kellyville, OK
I ate
a late lunch in the
shade
of a tree overlooking
this neat little lake
south
of Tulsa. The lake
is
part of a state park
with
camp sites available.
I've nothing against
"commercial" camp
grounds but I have found
that
the State and National
Parks - by virtue of
being there first - have the choicest real estate and the lowest prices.
UFO Landing Area.
Original Route 66
Stroud, OK
I saw
the "original" pavement
of Route 66
blocked off, informally
like
this, in many
places. One could certainly
get by them on a
motorcycle but I can't
advise
it. In many cases
the
pavement was returned
to the adjoining
property owners, so it
is private property. Remember too that all the signs have been removed
so you will have no warning at all about sharp curves, dips, etc. My
sense is that the segments are very likely to dead-end at the next new
route crossing point. You
will have to back track.
You'll need to look closely at the eye catching "UFO" sign east of Stroud (north side of the road) to see what the owner's had in mind. Tongue in cheek . . . but to their credit there is no upturned palm to greet you.
The Rock Cafe - on the east side of town,
Chandler, OK
The impressive stone
building on the
west side of the highway
houses the Lincoln
County Historical Society Museum (717-719 Manvel St). Some
interesting pictures
of early Route 66 in addition to other displays can be seen from
9:30AM-4:00PM,
Monday through Friday.
I bought an
Oklahoma specific Route
66 pin for my collection. Chandler was the
first town formed
after Lincoln County was
opened to homesteaders in 1891. Two
blocks away the
H&S Theater, opened in
1926, is still showing movies. A real rarity
for downtown anywhere.
Wellston, OK
About a mile east of Luther, you'll see a
genuine early American
Dacron teepee.
You can actually camp in
the teepee if you
choose. Frank spent 20
years in the Navy
(enlisted at 15 years of
age) before he and
Fay bought the property.
It is a modest place
but the Wards pride
themselves on their
pure, cool, sweet, water
drawn from 180
feet below ground and fed to the sites and the bathhouse. They live on
the property. A wag suggested that, after 20 years at sea, Frank selected
the property by putting an oar over his shoulder and walking inland.
The first time someone asked him what that thing
on his shoulder was, he stopped walking.
Wellston, OK
Washington Irving's Camp
Arcadia, OK
The round barn is on
the north side of
the highway, towards
the west edge of
this very small town.
Interesting displays
in the barn. Worth a
stop.
Washington Irving's camp marker is on the south side of SR 66 at the east edge of town and is not marked if you are westbound. In 1832 Washington Irving participated in a wild horse round up described in his Oklahoma Tour writings as "Ringing the Wild Horse."
Edmond, OK
A delightful little oasis
on the
south side of SR
66
(2ND Street & Darwin
Godfrey Road)
through Edmond. No
restroom facilities but
comfortable shelter
from
traffic, sun and
rain.
G. H. Fink, a pioneer
and Mayor of
Edmond, is the Fink thus
honored (by his wife).
A few blocks east of the park, on the north side of 2nd street, there is a "showplace" building for the Edmond Chamber of Commerce. Stop in for more information about Edmond. There is a state park at the east edge of Edmond . . . includes the Arcadia Lake.
The 39th Street Expressway approximates Route 66 but it is six lanes each way. I-235 will take one downtown. Exiting Western Ave or Lincoln Ave would also accomplish that.
I was riding one up, so I regarded Route 77 between Edmund and Bethany as SR 66. The basic decision for one to make is whether they are going to go to downtown Oklahoma City. The 'burbs are hard to identify moving at highway speeds. Personally, I'm not too keen about riding "surface" (non Interstate) streets in major metropolitan areas. The path of least resistance would be to use I-40 & I-35 to move around Oklahoma City.
That approach takes you east and south of downtown while the original Route 66 went north and west. (And, of course, right through the center of town in earlier alignment).
(General Info)
The Historic Route 66 signs are very much in evidence here. Between Oklahoma City and the border with Missouri the Interstate 44 is a toll road. That makes State Route 66 the "free road" and the approximate route of original Route 66. It also means that SR 66 is in generally excellent repair and the really interesting way to go. If you plan to "go and come" by the same route, I would suggest you travel SR 66 in one direction, use the toll road the other way. The speed limit on the toll road is 75 mph so you can chew up a lot of miles very quickly.
Oklahoma City, OK
Is bounded
by North
Harvey Ave
on the west,
a one way
street, north
bound. On
the east,
Robinson
Avenue, one
way south
bound. On
the north it
is NW 5th
Street where
the chain
link fence
has been
erected and
people have
been leaving mementos. Exit I-40 at Robinson Avenue and go north.
In May, 1997 buildings more than a block away still looked like a war
zone . . . windowless, seemingly abandoned. The outdoor chapel and
the "survivor tree" are to the east, across Robinson
Ave. There is no parking on 5th street but because so
many buildings are vacant there is ample parking on
the streets within a block of the memorial.
Business Route I-40 takes
you through Astronaut
Thomas P. Stafford's home
town. At the western
end of the city route, at the
City Hall, there is an
impressive statue of Mr.
Stafford. The street
between the Stafford memorial and the City Hall is
billed as "original" Route
66. However, here, as
it many other places the
fairly rough riding
Route 66 just parallels the
Interstate. The only
difference between it an a
plain old access road is
that it was built with Portland concrete and over
the years the expansion
joints between the sections have "worked" enough
that they are more
bump than joint.
Clinton, OK
Over $1 million was invested
in the museum, $200,000 of which
came directly from the citizens of
Clinton.
Exit #65 from I-40, or just
take the
Business Route I-40 and
you'll find
the Museum on the western
edge of the
city, just across the street
from the
Tradewinds Motel. The Tradewinds says you can "sleep where Elvis
slept."
Elk City, OK
Erick, OK
U-Drop-Inn
Shamrock, TX
A Texas Historic Landmark, the Tower
Building was built in 1936 and is an
excellent example of a gas station/diner of
the era. An interesting Art-Deco building
where you can see a genuinely historical
structure and have something to eat - but
don't plan on the evening meal there. They were closed when I rolled
by a little before 7PM. Brian Barthel of Aurora, IL told me they weren't
open earlier in the day when
he visited in June,
1997 and there was a faded
"For Rent" sign in
the window. Seemingly the
U-Drop-Inn's historical significance and corner location at the
intersection of two highways
has not been able
to stave off economic reality.
I tent camped for
$9 (which seemed high considering I didn't
need/use any hookups) at the
West 40 Campground west of Shamrock
proper. They are
very close to the Interstate so
there is a good bit
of highway noise but they
have really nicely
appointed showers, etc., and
a well supplied
store. They don't take credit
cards and Forest
Primeval it is not. One RV'er I shared the campground with was
traveling with two (2) huge German Shepherd dogs. It would have been
a mistake to prowl his space.
1st Phillips 66 Service Station
McLean, TX
Business Route 66
eastbound will take
you along Railroad
Avenue and you
can easily miss that
neat little restored
Phillip's 66 station.
It faces on the westbound route, 1st
Street @ Gray
Street and is not well
marked. The Museum is well marked
east or west bound.
Alanreed, TX
There is a whole lot more
than gas at the Crockett's place. Exit
#135 from
I-40. A tidy motel and a
store with
a delightful - and reasonably
priced -
assortment of Route 66 and
Texas merchandise. Ask them to
show you
the last resident of the
Alanreed
Jail. (The Crockett's have the only key.) A postcard - from the Post
Office handily located next the post cards in the Crockett's emporium -
says that Allanreed's population is 52 people, 104 dogs, 88 cats, 2
skunks and a few snakes. The city stands as the only city on Route 66
to inventory their skunks. David Crockett told me his father's service
station business in McLean folded when the Interstate bypassed his
location.
Groom, TX
Take the Business Route
I-40 to see a
genuine relic of Route 66.
The Route
66 Court, on the west side
of the road,
sported stucco "court
type" accommodation . . . even a
garage for
one of the units. It is defunct now,
but still intact. An
equally distressed Edsel is parked at
the foot of
the sign.
Groom, TX
Erected July 20, 1995, by Cross Ministries of
Pampa, TX. You'll have no trouble at all seeing
this structure from the Interstate. Take exit #112
from I-40 to work your way to the base of the
cross. There is impressive statuary at the base
along with a small visitor's center. My snapshot
really doesn't capture the enormous scale of the
structure. The tiny statutes seen at the base are
life size, my bike is about 40 yards from the
base. No admission charge, although there is a
"donation" box and a small visitor's center that
was locked up when I stopped.