TOTA, WE ARE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE!

I finally completed organizing more than 1,000 photos from our Route 66 Adventure in October. It took a lot of time to review the photos, write down the images based on locations (Oklahoma, Kansas or Missouri) and themes (gas stations, bridges, cafes etc.) or funny signs along the road for appropriate postings.


It was a wonderful trip as it was my first time to Oklahoma, seeing, learning and enjoying America along memory lane on Route 66. We left St. Louis on Thursday, October 22nd and took West I-44 all the way to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We stayed one night in Bricktown. The next day, Friday, October 23rd, we spent the early morning visiting the Oklahoma City National Memorial honoring the 168 Americans who died from the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. I was sad and angry at such senseless destructions.

After a few turns around as we were not sure exactly where the Route was, we began the first of many stops on Route 66 visiting the restored 1898 Round Barn in Arcadia. The next stop was the 66 foot tall Pop Bottle at POPS (see photos in December 5th post). After Luther and Wellston, we stopped at Country Kitchen in Chandler for lunch. We spent a few minutes at Seaba Station, a former 1924 machine shop in Warwick. We saw many cast-off remnants of US66 in Depew, Bristow, Kellyville, Stroud, Sapulpa, but we did not see much of Route 66 in Tulsa. We probably missed a turn and did not have time to back-track - perhaps next time! We saw the Blue Whale in Catoosa, stopped by The Nut House near Verdigris for pecan fudge, encountered terrible slow traffic due to construction in Claremore and completely missed the World's Largest Totem Pole in Foyil. We did spent time taking many photos of the T-bird at the 1926 iron bridge over Pryor Creek in Chelsea. After White Oak, Vinita, and Afton, we decided to spend the night in Miami (pronounced My-am-uh), Oklahoma. The next morning, Saturday, October 24th, after breakfast, our first stop was Mickey Mantle boyhood home in Commerce. Waving goodbye to Quapaw, Oklahoma, we crossed the state line into Kansas. We spent the entire morning exploring the 13.2 miles of Route 66 in this charming corner of the Sunflower State. We took plenty of photos of the T-bird at the Rainbow Bridge, at a 1930s-era Phillips 66 Station now serves as Visitors Center and 4 Women on the Route cafe. Galena Museum was full of historical artifacts and a real nice person took the time to show us around the museum. We only wish we had more time!

The above sign welcomed us back into Missouri on Saturday afternoon. We drove into Joplin, then stopped for lunch in Webb City and took photos of the Praying Hands off Macarthur Highway 171. Our next stop was the 66 Drive In, a restored roadside theatre in Carthage. Of course, my husband took many photos of the T-bird at this Drive In. Precious Moments Park and the Chapel were closed when we finally got there early evening. After a drive around the Historic Square, saw the murals of The Battle of Carthage, the classic 1939 Boots Motel (where Clark Gable stayed in Room #6), we decided to take a room at Best Western Precious Moments Hotel. The next morning, Sunday, October 25th, we attended Mass at St. Ann Catholic Church, then took a scenic drive along the Spring River thru Kellogg Lake Park, passed the Gay Parita Sinclair Station at Paris Springs, spent a lot of time there and finally got back to Springfield, just in time for a big lunch. After that we took I-44 East all the way home since we were so overwhelmed with all the wonderful experience on Route 66, yet exhausted after four days of constant getting in and out of the T-bird, taking photos, meeting and sharing Route 66 memories with so many friendly and helpful people. We already planned our next Route 66 during Spring-Summer 2010 and will try to get as far to Arizona.