USA Road Trip - Day 25 (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Amarillo, Texas)


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North America » United States » Texas » Amarillo
April 9th 2016
Published: April 12th 2016
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Total Distance: 0 miles / 0 kmMouse: 0,0

Oklahoma City, OK to Amarilo, TX.


Ordered breakfast in room and we shared scrambled eggs on toast and a muffin with jam. Thought it was $13.00 but when we checked out there was $3.00 extra for room service fee, $3.20 delivery fee and tax added so not as good a deal as I first thought. Decided not to eat the last 3 pieces of Pizza that we have had in the room for the last two nights (probably a god idea since we have no fridge here !). We left around 9.30am and headed west on I40. First stop was one of the iconic Route 66 diners called Lucille’s at Weatherford where Kerry ordered a coffee for starters and I had a classic strawberry milkshake which was delicious however I need to learn to take my time as brain freeze is not all that much fun ! After drinks, I ordered one pancake for brunch and Kerry ordered a biscuit which came with gravy. I think the waitress was a bit surprised as no-one ever orders a biscuit for a meal, it’s usually just one of many sides available. There was a group of bikies here when we arrived who were out on some sort of weekend road trip and looked like a friendly bunch. Next we took an exit off the Interstate and went through an old Route 66 town called Clinton which has been bypassed like all towns on this route. So many empty old buildings which would have been thriving 40 year ago. Took a photo outside the massive Route 66 sign at the museum. Next stop was at a place called Erick which was still in Oklahoma. I stopped here as Louie the guitarist a mate from golf told me his cousin lived here and I should pop in. He owns a shop here although it’s not really a shop more like a shrine of memorabilia for Route 66 stuff. I did not tell Kerry anything about Harley, but I kind of knew what to expect. The town of Erick is like a ghost town, nothing much open anymore. When we came up to Harley’s shop Kerry took a nice photo and then I tried to open the door but it was locked. Soon I could see someone coming to unlock the door. An old man with a huge beard opened the door and said you are welcome to come in and take some pictures. I went in and asked “are you Harley” to which he replied “yeah”. I said “well I play golf with your cousin Louie Shelton and he told me to come see you”. He was very surprised and invited us in to his place and offered a drink. He had about 5-6 chairs in the middle of his shop in a circle and all sorts of memorabilia hanging everywhere including a whole bunch of guitars. We sat and chatted for a while. He cracked a few jokes which were not that funny but you’ve got to laugh anyway if you know what I mean. It turns out Harley is one of the biggest rednecks in Oklahoma and he is proud to be a redneck ! He told me how he was proud of his cousin Louie and that Louie is one of the best guitar players on the planet and he could not believe we had not seen him play in Australia. I have realised that Louie is quite humble on the golf course. Harley would tell us that before Louie emigrated to Australia 30 years ago he was the “go to session guitarist” for all artists in the 1960’sand 1970’s from The Monkees to Frank Sinatra. He pulled out a couple of his favourite Route 66 items from out the back of his shop and would not let us leave until he played his Redneck version of Route 66 on his guitar. Chck out this video on youtube -
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Kerry was hardly impressed by a visit to a redneck shop but I’m sure in time she will reflect fondly on this quite unusual experience (or if not I’ll have to blame Louie !). Having said that I think we were both glad to get the hell out of Erick, and be back on the mother road ! We soon crossed the border into Texas (again). This I40 road is so damn busy. Within every 60 seconds you see between 10-20 trucks going the other way. I have never seen so many trucks in all my life. About 2 more hours and we arrived in Amarillo, and yes I had a couple of songs on the iPhone to play to (namely Amarillo by Morning and Is this the way to Amarillo). What classics ! It was another day of very flat and unscenic (I think I’ve just invented
Miles and Miles of these massive windfarmsMiles and Miles of these massive windfarmsMiles and Miles of these massive windfarms
a new word !) Interstate Highway. One thing that was different today was the number of wind farms we saw. They went for miles and miles and you guessed it miles. We arrived in Amarillo around 3.30pm and after checking in I watched about 45 minutes of the Masters Golf 3rd round where Jordan Spieth looks like he is going to walk away with it again and Rory McIlroy was self-destructing and no Aussie looks like making a charge this year. We then went for a drive for about 30 minutes south to Palo Duro Canyon. This place was pretty impressive and is the 2nd largest canyon in USA. I can’t remember the name of the bigger one, but whilst this one is not as deep it is actually wider in parts that are up to 20 miles across. After taking a few pictures we headed back to Amarillo as we had to drop off the Camry at the Airport. We are not flying anywhere it was just that by renting a hire car in Houston Texas and dropping off in Amarillo Texas I avoided paying a one way drop fee. A least that was what was supposed to happen
Palo Duro Canyon # 1Palo Duro Canyon # 1Palo Duro Canyon # 1
but they charged me $250-00 plus Airport recovery Fees so not I’m happy Jan ! The lady at the counter tried to help but because it is Saturday the phone line for account queries help desk was not open and I’ll have to lodge complaint on Monday. Anyway we picked up the new car which is a Chrysler and we have this car for the next 2 days. As we will be dropping this car off in the neighbouring state of New Mexico there will be a small drop fee but a lot less than had we used one car for the entire road trip. Then off we went to dinner at the famous Big Texan Steak Ranch famous for steaks and ribs and where they give you the opportunity of a serious Texan eating challenge. We had to wait 40 minutes for a table again(this is happening far too often for my liking !). Now back to the challenge. You get a 72 oz steak (that is 2.04kg) and you have 1 hour to eat it and it’s free. There was 4 guys sitting on a big table with countdown clocks visible to everyone and no-one got even close.
Palo Duro Canyon # 2Palo Duro Canyon # 2Palo Duro Canyon # 2
Kerry had some baby backed ribs and I had a steak which was so juicy and delicious. Just had to finish Texas on this note. We are staying at Fairfield Inn & Suites near the Airport tonight and got a final load of washing done before hitting the sack. Looked out our window where there is a gas station in view and there was over 40 trucks parked there, some filling up and others grabbing a meal. You can imagine the size of the parking lot. The weather started out cool and a bit cloudy today. After about an hour we had a light shower and temperature fell to around 12 degrees but soon it became sunny and eventually reached 26 degrees, however it was blowing a gale all day long. Tomorrow we head further West along Route 66 (aka I40) into New Mexico.


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Big Texas Ranch in AmarilloBig Texas Ranch in Amarillo
Big Texas Ranch in Amarillo
Lucille's Diner in WeatherfordLucille's Diner in Weatherford
Lucille's Diner in Weatherford
Inside Harley's Sandhills Curiosity ShopInside Harley's Sandhills Curiosity Shop
Inside Harley's Sandhills Curiosity Shop
Home of the free 72 ounce steak !Home of the free 72 ounce steak !
Home of the free 72 ounce steak !


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