As you may have noticed the postings from the road have been a bit sporadic. My intentions were to provide daily updates but we know what the road to hell is paved with.
Today’s notes from the road are being written at the wonderful Monterey Non-Smokers Motel in Albuquerque, about eighteen hours after hitting the road in Oklahoma City. It was another day of grand adventure on the legendary double six.
After a simple in room breakfast of Irish breakfast tea and oatmeal, and a discussion with Michael Wallis, we took to the road with the first scheduled stop being the Lake Overholser Bridge and the parks that surround the reservoir near War Acres, Oklahoma. It was a blustery day with ominous clouds dominating the horizon and as a result our photographs were tinged with a sense of drama.
We continued our westward journey on Route 66 through El Reno and Yukon into the pastoral beauty of the Canadian River Valley, a segment of the old road that is a veritable time capsule of highway engineering from the early 1930s. I will have photos of this delightful segment of the old road, as well as from the rest of the adventure, posted here as well as on our photo site www.jimhinckleystudio.zenfolio.com) in the next few days.
After working up an appetite chasing scenes that captured the essence of the old road, we had a wonderful lunch with Ken Turmel and his wife at Lucille’s in Weatherford (chicken breast, rice pilaf, sweet potato, and corn). Then it was off to the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton to sign books (they are also available at the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City).
From Clinton we decided to forgo the luxury of continuing the Route 66 cruise and took to I-40, at least as far as Hext. As we had promised a copy of The Route 66 Encyclopedia to Harley and Annabelle in Erick, we had an excuse to resume our Route 66 adventure from that point.
The rest of the day we flirted between the past and present by driving a few miles on the interstate and then a few on Route 66. Along the way we met with Dale Butel and his tour group from Australia, signed books at the Blue Swallow Motel, and had dinner and great conversation with Joseph at Joseph’s in Santa Rosa.
I promise more details in the next few days as we have discovered some great restaurants, met some fascinating people, and have a few great detours to share. Now, however, it is time to hit the rack as 5:00 comes early.
