Monday, October 11, 2010

Texas, Here We Come!

Friday, Oct. 1,  Clinton, Okla. -- 

Just think: We left two Fridays ago. It seems like ancient history, and in checking the odometer we see that we've driven 3,451 miles since Sept. 17. Guess it was time for another mechanical incident -- Bill's power steering hose failed; he decided to continue on and get it repaired in Seattle.

Today was a big day, Texas style! While the rest of the group returned to the great Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, we ventured west on the Mother Road, soon seeing another example of the weird and wonderful on Route 66: a Volkswagen Beetle on huge tractor tires. It was perched in the middle of a field by the road, just for folks like us to see.

Here Route 66 is a frontage road that parallels I-40 as it does for more than a third of the entire route. When the interstate was built, it paralleled much of 66 but because it bypassed many of the towns, it led to their demise. (The next time you're on a freeway outside of a city, watch for a frontage road to the right or left. This two-lane roadway will give you an idea of what Route 66 was like in many areas.) As the trucks and cars speed past on the interstate, sometimes at 75 or 80 mph, we're leisurely driving at 45 to 55 mph on the 66 frontage road on the north of the freeway, then crossing over or under, and picking up the south frontage road. Back and forth we go, following the road as it passes through towns that either have no business or very little. Maybe a cafe, maybe a bar, maybe a car repair shop. But certainly nothing that would sustain a real economy. Most are hanging on by their fingernails.   

At Elk City we toured the National Route 66 Museum (all the others are state 66 museums). It was an interesting display, but in our opinion, the great Oklahoma museum in Clinton had it beat. In Sayre, Okla., we discovered an old Diamond Shamrock station, frozen in time with gas at $1.49 for both unleaded and diesel. Unleaded? Yes. How many years has it been since we saw that price? 

And from there we found a portion of the long-abandoned original roadway. This is what's called the "original alignment" (there were several alignments -- or paved routes -- between the 1920s and 1950s). Although posted "Road Closed," this alignment nevertheless was accessible to a 1957 T-Bird, at least for a photo. It would be impossible to drive this section because the trees overhang the roadway and in many areas touch the pavement. It was an excellent example of the various alignments. As we faced west on the present Route 66, the I-40 freeway was on our left, and the 1920s closed roadbed was on our right, all parallel to one another.

Next, at Erick, hometown of Roger "King of the Road" Miller and singer/actor Sheb "Purple People Eater" Wooley, we were disappointed that one of the Route 66 icons we most wanted to see was closed. This is the site of the former City Meat Market, now called the Sand Hills Curiosity Shop and self-described as "the redneck capitol" where "insanity rules." It boasts all sorts of  really far-out memorabilia outside, and one can only guess what treasures lie inside. The owners of this establishment are Harley and Annabelle, aka the Mediocre Music Makers, and if given a little notice, they will perform for customers.  

The rest of Erick is still alive but struggling -- dusty pickup trucks parked outside the few businesses that remain, two abandoned gas stations on adjacent corners, and an abandoned motel with a few trucks parked between the units and weeds sprouting in the pavement. Do you remember the movie, The Last Picture Show?

But then we got to Texola and a four-lane stretch of Route 66 was ours; no competition from other cars and certainly no businesses operating. It was so silent we could hear only white noise. And the town had an air of despair -- abandoned houses as well as businesses. How it must have bustled when 66 was the only way west.

At last: The Texas state line. And all of a sudden the Route 66 roadbed changed from a yellow hue to pinkish beige. In McLean (pop. 880) we found the remnants of tourist courts, some operating so recently that they were for sale instead of abandoned. Someone is thinking positively!

McLean also is the home of the Texas Route 66 Museum, which shares quarters with the Devil's Rope Museum in a former brassiere factory that led the town to be called the "Uplift City" in bygone days. We visited both and found barbed wire exhibits to be incredibly boring and the Route 66 vignettes charmingly low-tech. Gordon decided to whisper sweet nothings in the ear of the "waitress."


























We encountered the very first Phillips 66 station outside of Oklahoma in McLean. Built in the 1920s, this tiny restored brick station operated for 50 years.When it closed, the gas was priced at 19.9 cents a gallon. As a side note: For several days we've been wondering whether the presence of so many Phillips 66 stations on Route 66 is a coincidence. Finally, we learned the story. It seems some Phillips executives were looking for a name for their new series of stations, which originated in Oklahoma. They were driving on Route 66 and one of them mentioned that they were going 66 mph on 66. They decided to name it after the highway and it stuck.

Our view of McLean? There's no "there" there. OK --  a wide, dusty street, a barber shop mural, a roofless building, and standing in the middle of the road to take a photo poses no danger because no one is going anywhere. An almost ghost town in the middle of nowhere, with just the wind to keep us company. A quasi-Burma Shave sign led us out of town:

Go East
Or go West
Route 66
Does it Best
--McLean, Texas

In Shamrock we visited the U Drop In, a 1936 restored art deco masterpiece Conoco gas station with a cafe. The building now houses the Chamber of Commerce, and unfortunately there are no plans to turn the cafe into a viable business. Nevertheless, it is a spectacular piece of architecture.

Now that we're in Texas, the land is flat and brown with eroded gullies on either side. It's stark and spacious from horizon to horizon with riverbeds and shallow canyons. As we move west, we see what is called the largest cross in the world--it's 19 stories high. Why there? Why not?  It's at Groom (pop. 587), and is visible for miles. Also in Groom, an old gas station has been commandeered by a Justice of the Peace. Maybe there's a chapel inside! Just one more Route 66 oddity.

At last we are at the Big Texan Motel in Amarillo, another Route 66 icon and surely a parody of all that once was, or once would be, the spirit of Texas. Actually these are the most interesting lodgings we've had so far; outside they look like a collection of separate buildings in an old western town. Walking into our ground-floor motel unit, we smell pure cedar. Our room is paneled, comfy and very much western, even to a saloon-type swinging door into the dressing room/bathroom area. We have "wanted" posters on the wall, Texas-motif woven coverlets, and it's just plain fun! Quite the change from the standard motels of the past nights.

Across the parking lot is the Big Texan restaurant, a huge facility that attracts tour buses unloading 44 hungry gray-haired tourists at a time nonstop for dinner up until 8 p.m.-- the huge dining room is crammed with people eating Texas fare, while dozens of people wait for their electronic beepers to tell them a table is ready; most pass the time wandering the gift shop or admiring the huge neon cowboy sign.  


The Challenge Meal
The Texan is the home of the famous 72-ounce steak challenge; if a person can eat that huge steak and all the side dishes in one hour, the meal is free. We watched one man finish the challenge in business-like fashion and walk off grimly, perhaps to go to   Upchuck City. Another man began with a chat-em-up attitude; it turns out he has done it before, and was mighty casual about his attack on four-and-a-half pounds of steak, a huge baked potato, rolls, tossed green salad and a side of butterflied shrimp. If a person fails, the dinner bill is $72 -- actually not too bad for all that meat. 


For us, our 16-ounce prime rib shared by two was delicious! We sat up in the balcony that ringed the main dining room with a direct view of the raised table on the stage where the brave eaters tried their luck, and watched as Mr. Chat-em-up won and got the meal for free. We learned that only 10 percent of those who try actually win this gorge-a-thon.

In the early evening, Duane, whose right window was stuck in the up position, was met by Gary Fields, a member of the High Plains Thunderbird Club who lives in Amarillo. Duane had called the club and Gary volunteered to help him install a new motor (shipped to Duane at the Texan) for the window. Off they went to Gary's home, and by 11 p.m., Duane was back with a window that works. Gary's generosity and helpfulness is an example of what we continue to see as we meet T-Birders along the route. We have a network of good-hearted, skilled and talented individuals who are ready to help others who love these iconic cars. Thank you, Gary!!

At last, it was time to slumber in our sweet-smelling room. The only negative here was that they were "working on the Internet service," and despite trying to get online throughout the motel and restaurant, we were unable to do so. But you know, sometimes it's good to be out of touch!

More to come soon.

Judy and Gordon

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