Day 9 Route 66 - Weatherford to Amarillo 199.6 miles

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This morning we had coupons for a complimentary breakfast that required us to make a choice from five set breakfast options. Other complimentary breakfasts have been buffet-style which is preferable - being able to pick and choose what you would like. I opted for the bagel with cream cheese, fruit, juice and tea. Bernie went for the wheat toast, fruit and juice. When our breakfasts arrived the fruit was ... BANANA. Ugh! The bagel was good though - I do like a toasted bagel with jam and cream cheese.

After breakfast we headed off towards Clinton on the north side of the I-40. At Clinton we visited the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum on Gary Boulevard. Admission to the museum was US$5.00!! We have become so accustomed to being able to visit most places of interest FOR FREE that it was a surprise to have to pay. Still, US$5.00 was a very modest entry fee. When I signed the visitor's book I noticed that someone from Drouin had signed in about eight lines before us. What are the chances that someone from Bernie's home town would be just ahead of us?? Bernie didn't recognise the name though. When we mentioned it to the lady on the desk she said that she thought that he left just before we arrived.

The museum was arranged by decade and provided a good chronology of the Mother Road from inception, through its heyday and decline and on to the present efforts to preserve and reinvigorate it. I particularly liked the 'scrapbooks' for each decade that provided commentary on fashion, politics, economics (unemployment, inflation rate, the price of a house/gallon of fuel) and popular culture (the movies and music of the day). It really helped to set the context. The movie at the end was excellent, but it was really long. I don't think there would be many people who would sit through all of it??!

West of Clinton we zigzagged back and forth over the interstate many times BUT it was worth it because we were driving on pristine sections of original portland concrete for the authentic kerthumpety-thump feel of old Route 66!! So we went south to Neptune, north to Foss, south to Canute and then north again to Elk City where we visited the other Route 66 museum - the National Route 66 Museum and the Old Town Museum. The combined museums here in Elk City cost us another US$5.00. These museums were completely different from the earlier one, but also very interesting. And the guy from Drouin eluded us again!

After the museum we thought about having lunch at the Sonic drive-in. These modern drive-in diners have been everywhere since we arrived in Oklahoma. The only problem is that you need to have a Sonic Card with credit on it to be able to order from the parking bays. Pfft, no point if we have to get out of the car!! The only reason we even drove in was because we wanted to have a go at ordering from one of the parking bays. Instead we drove to the western end of Clinton and ate really bad cold beef and cheese hoagies from a servo.

After our gourmet lunch we continued our crabwise progress along Route 66 - south for the Timber Creek Bridge crossing, north to Sayre and then south again to Erick and Texola after which we crossed the State line into Texas. Yee-haw!

Over the border we had a good run along the south of I-40 through Shamrock and Lela before heading to the north of the interstate again at McLean - home to the Devil's Rope/Old Route 66 Museum. Who knew barbed wire is collectible? After perusing this extensive collection of barbed wire (which includes samples from Australia), brands and cowboy tools it was back to the south of I-40 to drive through Alanreed. I'm sure there must be plenty of Route 66ers that give up and opt for a smoother, 75 mph run on the interstate?? We set out though, determined to drive as much of the original road as we could.

Even we had to join the I-40 westbound occasionally, for example the stretch from west of Alanreed to Jericho. At Jericho we were able to resume our journey on the Mother Road with a good long stretch through Groom and Conway on the south of the interstate. As we were driving the sky started to darken and we could see forks of lightening ahead of us. We were reasonably confident that it was only a storm front - not a tornado - but we were pretty keen to reach our hotel in Amarillo just the same!!

We were so close by this stage that there didn't seem any point switching to the I-40 so we continued on into the eye of the storm!! We arrived on the outskirts of Amarillo before it started to rain on us and headed off Route 66 down Loop 335 to find the Big Texan Hotel on the interstate.

I saw a sign for Highway 287 and freaked out a bit because I thought it headed north. I suggested that we pull over and programme Edna to get us to our hotel as quickly as possible. We pulled over, but the SatNav wouldn't let Bernie put a street number in with the interstate entered as the street/road. Bugger!! We decided to continue up the service road that we were on and, what do you know, we were only 200 yards (if that) from where we wanted to be!!

Yay, we beat the storm into Amarillo!! Bernie checked in and we parked in front of our room - in the company of sports cars tonight - and unloaded the car in very high winds. With our eyes and sandals full of grit we closed ourselves into our room to await the onslaught of the storm but ... nothing happened. Bernie checked the weather satellite and it showed that the storm front had split to the north and south of Amarillo. It showed heavy rain and lightning to the north and the south, but Amarillo was all clear!! At least we don't have to worry about contacting Dollar Car Rentals about hail damage. Phew.

For dinner we walked across the parking lot to the Big Texan Steak House - famous for its FREE 72oz steak offer ... if you can eat all of it and the accompaniments in one hour! You have to sit on a stage in front of the kitchen to undertake the challenge. When we were seated at our table upstairs overlooking the stage there was a young woman attempting to eat a 72oz steak!!!! This young lady was smaller than me - I don't know what would possess her to think that she could eat that much steak in a week, let alone an hour.

We chose the smallest steaks on the menu at a mere 8oz with two sides each. Bernie had the garden salad and steak fries, I opted for the coleslaw and steak fries. Yes, fries AGAIN! While we were waiting for our meals Bernie did the metric conversion for 72oz. That is a two kilogram piece of meat. Bernie and I buy a one kilogram girello and get two meals out of it!!! Unsurprisingly, at the one hour mark, the girl on the stage had not completed the challenge. Apparently, if you don't finish within the hour, the steak costs US$72.00.

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Comments

[Wade and Val]

What the!!
We are finding your blogs really descriptive, hope you are enjoying your travels and not having too many hassels. You have to stop eating out at the steak houses or you will have excess baggage. Good luck for the rest of your trip.