One Last Look at Route 66

Today was going to be another of several long days crossing the country to allow us to be around Knoxville TN on Tuesday to meet another friend Scott coming to join us.  Today would involve a lot of interstate.

Since we stopped short yesterday, we would also need to catch up some lost time.   So we were up, packed and rolling out of the Friona motel parking lot by 8:15.

The route to Cadillac Ranch would take us through more farm country, including Hereford, TX, the self-proclaimed beef capital of the world.

Love the sign.  They might also be going for the
fromage capital of the world with this one.

Beef is big business in this town.  Look at the size of these silos!

These aren't farms - they're factories!

This road led us out of farm country to the interstate.

When we arrived at Cadillac Ranch, it couldn't be more basic.  It's literally 10 Cadillacs buried nose down in a field.  That's it.  No admission, no "sidewalk" or proper signs, plaques or any sort of finishing.  Just Cadillacs in a very muddy field.  The common sport seems to be to spray paint them with your name or whatever despite a sign strictly forbidding it.  There must be an inch of paint on everything.

Nice sign.

"Somebody" painted Super Dave on this car.

We met this couple, who came for a return visit.
I would have thought once in a lifetime would be more
than enough, but apparently not.  She came
prepared this time with her own spray can.

After leaving HD we headed to Amarillo in hopes of finding a Cadillac Ranch patch for the vest but unfortunately Tripp's HD was closed on Sunday.

At Tripp's HD in Amarillo

After breakfast at McDonalds :-( we got back on the bikes prepared for some interstate droning.  However we were hopeful to find some Route 66 options some remaining parts run parallel to the I-40 between Amarillo and Oklahoma City.

You gotta love the Texas 75 mph speed limit.
The only redeeming quality of an interstate highway on a motorcycle.

We did indeed find one or two Route 66 options and decided to explore a bit.

Another trip down a different portion of Route 66.

The town of McLean that clearly suffered badly when Interstate 40 was built.

This would have been a cool theatre in its day.

We arrived in the town of Clinton that has a pretty fancy Route 66 museum, and we had planned to take a visit.

Clearly drinking and driving has been a problem
since the inception of the automobile.

On this trip I had ridden about 30 miles of Route 66 in California (between Victorville and Barstow) and perhaps 10 miles in Arizona (around Winslow).  Today we rode something like 10 miles in Oklahoma.  After this visit to the museum, it would be the last bit of Route 66 I would see, and while droning on the interstate I began to reflect on it.

I think Route 66 is worth visiting a section or two if you have the opportunity.  This may be for nostalgic reasons, or perhaps to see how the introduction of the Interstate system affected many of these once-thriving small towns.  Call it a "bucket-list" thing.

But honestly, I don't really get the attraction to want to follow the old Route 66 from beginning to end.  Don't get me wrong, as a motorcyclist, I definitely get the concept of travelling off-interstate, and off the beaten path.  It's just that Route 66, as it once existed, doesn't really exist anymore.  Most sections have either morphed into something else and many of the towns are shadows of their former selves or complete ghost towns.

The thing is, if you really want to experience a real modern day "Route 66" trip, then go on a trip somewhere on secondary highways.  Take the roads that bring you through the small towns, eat at family run diners and talk to local people.  Until the last day or two I have ridden on very little interstate and experienced what I guess I would consider a 'real' Route 66 trip in 2012.  The only difference is the number on the road sign.

I guess I think that many people are fascinated by Route 66 and are caught up in the new commercialism for the road, rather than just trying to simply have that same type of real experience.  So I suppose for me, Route 66 travel is about this kind of a road trip with personality, not really finding lost roads.

Anyway...

We continued into Oklahoma City for a stop at Harley Davidson World, but unfortunately they're closed Sundays too.  We did however, visit Best Buy so Mike could buy a new iPod.

Somewhere on I-40 between Clinton and Oklahoma City lies the shattered remains of Mike's old iPod.  I was riding behind him at the time and I can assure you that an iPod falling on the road at 85 mph does not do very well.

Harley Davidson World - Oklahoma City

We then rode downtown to visit the memorial honouring the heroes and lives lost in the Oklahoma City Bombing of the Federal Building carried out by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. The terrorist bombing occurred on April 19, 1995 at 9:02am.  The memorial is quite impressive and the museum is very informative and quite emotional and sobering.  I would suggest it is a site worth visiting should you be in the city.

The Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing memorial.
You can see the inscription 9:01 at this end.

The inscription at the other end is 9:03.
These ends are known as the gates of time.

The building that was adjacent to the Federal Building.
It has been converted to a museum now.  Many features
on this side of the building were purposely not repaired,
 as a reminder of what happened.

After the visit and fuelling the bikes and ourselves in Oklahoma City, we rode on for another hour to stay in the little town of Henryetta, OK.

725 km today and over 7,600 km on the trip so far.

Off to Memphis, TN tomorrow!