Day7 Tulas, OK - Weatherford, OK 199.4 miles

  Up and had breakfast after a chat with Julie calling us names. haha Then we went back to the 5 & Diner for coffee and some pictures. The diner is built on to the Route 66 Harley Davidson building.

  Not too far down the road Susie got confused about an old saying. I tried to tell her the saying was "Take the bull by the horns, NOT take the bison by the...........

  So down Route 66 we went. We haven't had too bad of a time keeping on Route 66 since we got out of Missouri. It is well marked but still cut up and you have to pay attention or you will miss a turn. We rode many interesting parts of 66 and met some very interesting people along the way. We just keep adding to the people. 

  There is this place called Pops that has a spiral bottle outside that is 60 foot tall and lights up at night. Also they have over 400 kinds/flavors. I had a Route 66 Beer and Susie had a Route 66 Cream Soda.  It is quite the tourist attraction.  We see a round barn, tons of murals and just interesting stuff. Well at least it is interesting to us.

   We had lunch at this real nice diner called Mae's that was a nice little Route 66 diner. The place does more business than you can imagine and it isn't that big.

  After we left there we pulled up to a stop sign in El Reno, OK and a guy on a Harley pulled up and asked us where we were going. We told him and he said "follow me and I will show you a nice mural you might like." It was a nice one and the guy helped get the mural painted. He is a Route 66 fan and has ridden it from El Reno  both ways and loves Route 66. We talked for quite a while and then his son and daughter-in-law pulled up and we visited with them all for a while. Then Larry said he would show us the way to a good section of 66 and he escorted us to it. We said our good byes, and went our own ways. Thanks Larry, it was a good ride though we got a few sprinkles but dried out fast in the heat. Here is a link to his website. Check it out. http://larrynancephotography.com/index.html

  Well we got to Weatherford, OK and check in around 2:45 and were surprised that the Manger remembered us. We stayed here a year ago on the way back from our trip to Sturgis and San Diego. She thought is was only 3 months or so ago though. How time flies. The thing is last year we didn't know this motel and the restaurant next door are historical Route 66 buildings. They were built in the 50's and are now The Best Western Mark Motor Inn and Restaurant. The good thing is you get a coupon for a free breakfast at the restaurant. After we checked in around 20 Harleys pulled in. They are from Norway and are riding from Chicago - Santa Monica just like us, but we are riding back. They will fly home from California.
 It was 104* when we checked in and we just got a thunder storm and the temp has dropped to 77* in about a half hour. Of course it would rain, I just washed the Harley for the first time since we left.

  That is it for tonight. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.
Albert and Susie

Day 6 Carthage, MO - Tulsa, OK 185 miles

  Left Carthage around 6:50 this morning with the threat of rain in the sky and 74*. Never did rain but HOT!!!

It was 101* at one point. Stayed on Route 66 except one area around Joplin, MO where the road was closed and we had to detour on I-44 until almost to the Kansas line.
  We crossed into Kansas and into Galena. Galena is home to 4 Women on the Route, which is the home of Tow Tater the wrecker, which Tow Mater in the movie Cars is modeled after.

The place is a wealth of information on Route 66 and one of the coolest places you could visit. Free coffee and lots of conversation. Rob, two of the women's brother was tending the place when we got there. Then the "nice" sister stopped in and we got more info and good conversation with her. Travis, a nephew, stopped in and visited a bit and a couple more locals. One that rides Harleys told us where he lived, and offered his land with water behind the barn to us. Said we could camp, picnic, just sit in the shade or whatever. It is good to know there are still lots of good people out there and that was just the beginning of the nice people we would meet today. Oh by the way if you notice the bandages on Rob's arm, it is from motorcycle accident last Friday. He got something like 20 stitches and 10 staples after hitting some loose gravel just down the road a bit. They have a little diner in the back and Rob is the cook by the way, and he told us they where expecting 40 riders from Denmark between 10 and 2 today.

  From there we went to Eisler Bros. store in Riverton, KS. Again the people where fantastic. Wondering where we were from and where we were going. The place was full of Route 66 things. The best part was the Coca Cola cooler. It was the old water filled one and I just had to have one. I remember Fred Jones had one at his gas station in De Kalb and Mitt Hendricks had one at his station in Hermon. Just something about a Coke from one of them coolers. Best tasting Coke I have had in 30 years.

  Then we were headed on to Afton, OK and Afton Station. The owner Laruel Kane contacted Susie and unfortunately it wasn't going to be open today. Sorry we missed you Laurel but we spent some time there and took some pictures of others in front of your place and someone took our pictures too. You have a real nice place and you are known well along Route 66.

  For lunch we stopped at Praire Rose Grille in Chelsea, OK and had a fantastic lunch. The waitresses where a lot of fun and the owner was nice too. Also the other customers were very friendly and offered up some history, asked us some questions too. One women was 84 years old and said she always wonder why motorcycles usually backed into their parking spot. I told her they don't have reverse and for instance in front of the diner it was downhill into the parking spot so it was easier to back in downhill than back out uphill. She said she never knew that motorcycles didn't have reverse and that she learned something knew today. OH, I got a free hat from the owner......cool. :^)The girls were fun and the food was great.

  In Claremore, OK we visit the JM Davis Arms & Historical Museum. If you are into guns or even think you might like guns and related things this is the place to stop. We spent about an hour in there and you could honestly spend a whole day there. I have never seen such a collection of guns, swords, knives, hand cuffs, shackles, hangman nooses and even Pretty Boy Floyd's guns. It is an amazing collection of about anything you can imagine. Do a search for it and see for yourself. I don't mean just a couple hundred guns. This is a huge gun collection of thousands of guns.

   Along the way we see many more sites and Susie took many more pictures. She took 309 photos today and a lot of them were going down the road. After last year she is getting real good at taking pictures rolling down the highway.

  So tonight we are in Tulsa, Ok staying a the Best Western Inn & Suites. We went to the Route 66 Harley Davidson up the street for a couple of shirts and went to the 5 & Diner next door to it for supper. We forgot and left our camera in the room so we have to go back for coffee in the morning. It is a 50's diner and even has the Jukebox selectors in the booths and of course only 50's and 60's music on it. Maybe we will post some pics of it tomorrow night. Who would have thought you would need a camera to buy a couple of shirts?? Well have a good night everyone and take care.

Albert and Susie

Day 5 Cuba, MO - Carthage, MO 225 miles

Left the motel around 6:45 this morning and stopped down the road at Walmart to pick up a few things. Then off to the historic section and the murals.

Got sprayed by a sprinkler system that was spraying into the road at an intersection just past the first mural. They have automatic sprinklers to water the grass in a little railroad park.
  We had a great visit with a guy at a full service gas station. Oh and by the way it is a "gas station" not a convenience store. He pumps gas........period right on a corner of Route 66.

  We got pics of all the murals plus one that isn't recorded in any advertising yet, that the gas station guy told us about. Hmmmmmm......gas station guy, I didn't even get his name even though I do remember it said Manager on his name tag.
  Then we headed down the road and see the worlds largest rocking chair and man is it BIG. It's 42' tall and 20' wide. They won't let you sit in it though. Probably because it would be such a climb up into the seat of it.

  We see lots of nice old buildings, old cars, motels, restaurants and even run I-44 for stretch and got off again for lunch. After lunch when we were getting gas we felt some sprinkles. Sooooooo.....we hit I-44 again and outrun it with only a few sprinkles on us.

  Decided to get a room in Carthage, MO for the night and not push our luck. It has guest laundry so we did the clothes up too.

  So here we are in Carthage, MO at the Best Western Precious Moments. What a nice place it is and I would recommend it to anyone passing through looking for a room. It is probably the nicest Best Western we have stayed in and only $69 dollars for the night.

Does anyone know what this is?

Have a nice night everyone.

 

Go here to see ALL the photos: 

Day 4 Sprinfield, IL - Cuba, MO 216 miles

  Left the motel in Springfield, IL around 6:30 this morning and the temperature was 75*. It was a good day and it never rained. We went 216 miles.
  We got a lot of good pictures today also and Susie is going to try to post all the pics we take to her website before we get home if she can. She will put the web address in when she does so you will know where to go.
  We rode some stretches of Route 66 today that were paved with  brick. It wasn't nearly as bumpy as I thought it would be. There were some bricks that were busted up on the side of the road so we got a piece for Drew and a piece for Mason to go with the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater rocks we got for them last year.

  We see more today than we can write about and more than we could take pictures of. So much cool stuff on Route 66 to see. Old motels, souvenir places, old taverns, cafes, etc.

You could spend months just traveling 66 and still not see it all. There are also different alignments through out the years. It reminds me of Route 11 back home. A good example is how it bypassed Richville and how I-81 made a difference in the small towns and business along Route 11. Maybe someday Route 11 will have a historical society fix up the old business along 11 and turn it into a scenic byway like 66.

  The biggest highlight of the day was the Chain of Rocks Bridge that crossed the Mississippi River in Route 66's heyday. It was built with a 22 degree bend in the middle so it didn't affect the water intakes that were in the river already. When semi's came along the bridge was abandoned because they were too long to make the bend in the bridge. Now it is a bicycle and pedestrian bridge between Madison, IL and the north side of St. Louis, MO.

  So we walked across the Mississippi from Illinois to Missouri and beat our Harley across the Mississippi. It is 1 mile across so we walked over and back for a total of two miles. It is a real nice walkway and some people use it to walk for exercise.      

                                  

Hum, Tyrade written in the dirt in Missouri. :)

  We met a real nice women named Ruby.......I mean Ellen while walking. haha. She took our pictures and told us some things about the river and the bridge. She was very nice to talk to. When we got back on the Illinois side to get on the Harley she came back in her car after she had already gone home to see if we wanted to cool of in her car air conditioning for a while. It was around 94* by then and we thanked her and said we were going to the Cafe just down the road, as we had heard it was a good place to eat. She confirmed that it was and now we can confirm that it was. I don't think it had a name just.......Cafe. Thank you Ellen for taking time to take our pictures and coming back to offer your air conditioning. That was very nice of you and most people don't have time for others. From visiting with you while walking we understand why. The only way I can describe it would be reaping and sowing, do unto others and I bet I am right.

  The other highlight was the Jesse James Museum. It was quite a place with a video and a lot of things that were owned or signed by Jesse James or J. Frank Dalton as he was known later. LOTS of guns too and other things from that time. Even a boot jack collection.

   So tonight we are in Cuba, MO and will continue down 66 tomorrow. We are at Best Western again and as of tonight we have earned two free night stays. They have a promotion until the 15th of August. Stay 2 nights any place and get 1 night free any place. The only thing is the coupons are mailed home so we won't get them until we get home. Who knows.......maybe a week in New Hampshire when we get back.
By the way!!!!! We have crossed the Mississippi, so now we are in the WEST!!!!!!!! Hope everyone is having as much fun as we are.