Tuesday, August 03, 1999
Day 4: Cuba, MO - Claremore, OK
It was another beautiful day weather-wise along Route 66 today. We've really been lucky in that its been sunny every day. We may be getting some rain tomorrow.
We were planning on going just under 200 miles today, but because of the lack of stops today, we got to our reserved motel at 3 in the afternoon, so we decided to go on to make tomorrow less of a long drive. Instead of staying at Boot's Motel in Carthage, Missouri, we're at Motel Claremore in Claremore, OK, birthplace of Will Rogers. When Cindy set up my reservations along the way (what a sweet, sweet woman and loving wife she is, too, by the way) the old guy at Boot's Motel said we were "lucky" to get a room there because there were going to be fifty to sixty thousand "Vietnamese" in town that day. Well, I don't know where he got his information, but when we drove through, I sure didn't see groups of Vietnamese there....maybe I wasn't in the right part of Carthage, but as small as the town was, I think it would be pretty hard to hide that many orientals in southwestern Missouri.
Anyway, it's just as well we didn't stay at the old Boot's Motel, because it looked as though it had better days.
Earlier in the day, we stopped at Route 66 Motors in Rolla, Missouri. It is a shop with lots of old metal signs, gasoline station memorabilia, and some old cars for sale to boot. Chris fell in love with a 1971 black Mercury Cougar convertible for a mere $ 5950.00. It appeared to be in almost mint condition, and he couldn't understand WHY we couldn't buy it!!!! I did get him some black fuzzy dice, however.
We took a wrong turn going out of Rolla and ended going about 15 miles down the wrong road. When I finally figured out things didn't look right, we turned around and got back on track. I didn't even lose my temper......amazing.....this road must have magical soothing powers.
Some of the old road had curbs on it poured in the 30's. the purpose of the 45 degree angled curbs was to push the car back on the road should it start to go off the road. Unfortunately, with the cars of the day, most of the time it just served to tip the cars over. It was like going back in time driving down some of the old road through arches of trees covering the road. In many stretches, we were the only car around. We saw many abandoned gas stations, motels, and shops......we even explored on foot one set of old abandoned and deteriorating cabins.
Just past Waynesville, Missouri, we passed an abandoned old store called "Hough's Market". Needless to say, we stopped to take some pictures of the place. Chris & I thought it was weird.........Waynesville then Hough Market........get it? (For those of you who don't know, my dad's name is Wayne)
We drove on two sections of old old Route 66 that were only paved 9 feet across. The government didn't have enough money to pave a full two lane road in this part of Oklahoma, so it paved the narrow portion. It was really amazing finding that old unmarked portion of the route.
We also saw the LARGEST TOTEM POLE IN THE WORLD tonight in Foyil, Oklahoma. It is 90 feet tall. It was made in 1948 by a native American, Ed Galloway who was trying to preserve his native American ancestry in this way. I tried taking a picture from the base and Chris said I should get down on the ground for a better picture. So here I am, lying flat on my back at the base of the totem pole looking like an idiot.....got the picture, but then Chris just burst out laughing saying he was only putting me on about getting on the ground....the jerk!
The battle of the CD's in the car between Chris and I continues to heat up....me wanting to listen to things like Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones, versus his desire to hear Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Stained, and the like. I'll tell you, some of the bands he listens to really need to chill out a little.......they really seem a little too excitable!
So far we've been really happy with our rented Grand Am. It's run flawlessly, and seems to be getting pretty good mileage. It's comfortable, quiet, and the A/C continues to work great.
Tomorrow it's off to explore more of Oklahoma....we'll be going through Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and ending up in Clinton, Oklahoma.
Til then....
We were planning on going just under 200 miles today, but because of the lack of stops today, we got to our reserved motel at 3 in the afternoon, so we decided to go on to make tomorrow less of a long drive. Instead of staying at Boot's Motel in Carthage, Missouri, we're at Motel Claremore in Claremore, OK, birthplace of Will Rogers. When Cindy set up my reservations along the way (what a sweet, sweet woman and loving wife she is, too, by the way) the old guy at Boot's Motel said we were "lucky" to get a room there because there were going to be fifty to sixty thousand "Vietnamese" in town that day. Well, I don't know where he got his information, but when we drove through, I sure didn't see groups of Vietnamese there....maybe I wasn't in the right part of Carthage, but as small as the town was, I think it would be pretty hard to hide that many orientals in southwestern Missouri.
Anyway, it's just as well we didn't stay at the old Boot's Motel, because it looked as though it had better days.
Earlier in the day, we stopped at Route 66 Motors in Rolla, Missouri. It is a shop with lots of old metal signs, gasoline station memorabilia, and some old cars for sale to boot. Chris fell in love with a 1971 black Mercury Cougar convertible for a mere $ 5950.00. It appeared to be in almost mint condition, and he couldn't understand WHY we couldn't buy it!!!! I did get him some black fuzzy dice, however.
We took a wrong turn going out of Rolla and ended going about 15 miles down the wrong road. When I finally figured out things didn't look right, we turned around and got back on track. I didn't even lose my temper......amazing.....this road must have magical soothing powers.
Some of the old road had curbs on it poured in the 30's. the purpose of the 45 degree angled curbs was to push the car back on the road should it start to go off the road. Unfortunately, with the cars of the day, most of the time it just served to tip the cars over. It was like going back in time driving down some of the old road through arches of trees covering the road. In many stretches, we were the only car around. We saw many abandoned gas stations, motels, and shops......we even explored on foot one set of old abandoned and deteriorating cabins.
Just past Waynesville, Missouri, we passed an abandoned old store called "Hough's Market". Needless to say, we stopped to take some pictures of the place. Chris & I thought it was weird.........Waynesville then Hough Market........get it? (For those of you who don't know, my dad's name is Wayne)
We drove on two sections of old old Route 66 that were only paved 9 feet across. The government didn't have enough money to pave a full two lane road in this part of Oklahoma, so it paved the narrow portion. It was really amazing finding that old unmarked portion of the route.
We also saw the LARGEST TOTEM POLE IN THE WORLD tonight in Foyil, Oklahoma. It is 90 feet tall. It was made in 1948 by a native American, Ed Galloway who was trying to preserve his native American ancestry in this way. I tried taking a picture from the base and Chris said I should get down on the ground for a better picture. So here I am, lying flat on my back at the base of the totem pole looking like an idiot.....got the picture, but then Chris just burst out laughing saying he was only putting me on about getting on the ground....the jerk!
The battle of the CD's in the car between Chris and I continues to heat up....me wanting to listen to things like Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones, versus his desire to hear Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Stained, and the like. I'll tell you, some of the bands he listens to really need to chill out a little.......they really seem a little too excitable!
So far we've been really happy with our rented Grand Am. It's run flawlessly, and seems to be getting pretty good mileage. It's comfortable, quiet, and the A/C continues to work great.
Tomorrow it's off to explore more of Oklahoma....we'll be going through Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and ending up in Clinton, Oklahoma.
Til then....
