Day 16 - Amarillo, TX to Oklahoma City, OK

Although Texas is the largest of the lower 48 states, the panhandle is only a small part - 178 miles from east to west - so it was an easy trip today to get through it and on to Oklahoma City. We found a great (really great) coffee shop before we left - the Palace Coffee Company - that served up the best cappuccinos of the trip so far. 

Stimulated but not wired, we took Route 66 through old downtown Amarillo and on into the great wide open. My worries about flat, boring country were for naught. East of Amarillo, the grass was lush and green on the rolling hills and groves of trees (oaks?) further gentled an already gentle scenery. There was lots of hay - the first crop was mowed, rolled and being loaded out - some grazing cattle, some grain, some cotton, and some windmills. For the Canadian reader, the country looks a lot like the Red Deer, Alberta area in the summer. For the American reader, it looks a lot like, um, western Oklahoma. 

One of the poignant sides of driving Route 66 instead of the interstates is going through the little towns. Few are thriving. Before the interstate highways, all the traffic came through the towns and kept alive the coffee shops, gas stations, bars and motels. Now, many of these are run down and dying. In some cases, the whole town is dying. All the hopes and dreams that must have disappeared with the progress. But, you can buy a house in Erick,TX, for $95k. 

One business in the little towns that seems to be booming is Route 66 museums - each one is trying to lure in visitors to look at old cars, old trucks, old gas stations, old cafes, old road signs and most any other old stuff. 

McLean, TX, has the Devil's Rope Museum which is supported by the Antique Barbed Wire Society (I am not making this up). Fencing was a big part of settling the west, and it seems that everyone had their own idea about what would work best. One common, theme, though, setting posts and stretching wire was backbreaking work, especially when there was no wood and the posts were cut from stone. The museum is in an old bra factory. Apparently, a California company moved their manufacturing to Texas in the 20s looking for cheap labor. Not long after, they moved the plant to Mexico for even cheaper labor. Globalization is not new. Besides the barbed wire (they had a barbed wire bra - yikes!), there was heart-breaking section on the dust bowl and some Route 66 historiana. But we were getting about done with museums and gas stations for the day so we scooted along into Oklahoma.

This trip has been nothing if not educational. Just after leaving Texas, we passed the Roger Miller Museum in Erick, OK. Dang me! And who knew that Garth Brooks was from Yukon (Oklahoma, not northern Canada)?

Oklahoma City has about the same population as Tucson, but as we rolled into town in the middle of rush hour, it seemed bigger and busier. We reached our goal with only a couple of sudden lane changes and no evidence of armed or irate drivers. The Bradford House is a gracious old (1912) house that has been nicely upgraded to provide modern hotel rooms and a fine restaurant without losing the easy style of the time. The nicest stay so far.

Today's mileage: 270.9.

License plate count - Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Chocktaw Nation, Oklahoma Osage Nation, Oklahoma Peoria Nation, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. And from Mexico - Ciudad de Mexico, Sonora.

For those of you who know I worked for the Allen family, Faye and I prepared a booklist we called 'Faye's Best Books for Paul'. As we were driving into Oklahoma City we passed Cimarron Road - and I thought, that was one of Faye's favorite books, and of course, on the Paul list. So here it is, a story about the Oklahoma land rush that was made into a film in 1931 and then a remake in 1960. That is right, 63 years ago! Cimarron by Edna Ferber, published in 1930.

Today, driving into Oklahoma, a new state for both of us, we listened to Woody Guthrie and Roger Miller. We couldn't decide which to pick, and so you get both. Woody Guthrie, who wrote This Land is Your Land, is a singer storyteller. Born in 1912 he became one of the most significant figures in American folk music. 

Turns out that Roger Miller, who is from Oklahoma, had girls screaming for him like he was one of the Beatles. At some point we had to include King of the Road on this trip. Enjoy them both!

Woody Guthrie singing Dust Bowl Blues - Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Blues - Bing video

Roger Miller - King of the Road - Roger Miller - King Of The Road - YouTube