Day 3 - Ok. Lahoma.

Today was the first real day of our trip. It felt different than the other days. We knew that finally something would happen, there would be things to see - something other than the bleak blacktop of the interstate. My dad certainly felt the excitement; I woke up at 5:15AM to bright lights, a blaring  TV, and the sound of him rattling dishes in the "kitchen," about 1/2 inch from the bed.

After a short (and very frigid) morning drive, we got on Route 66 in Vinita, Oklahoma. It has been a lifelong dream of my dad to travel this nostalgic thoroughfare. Unfortunately, there isn't much left of the old road. Most of it has been taken over by the usual chains and repetitive landmarks of any American town.  In fact, we went though several towns determined to find some quaint breakfast diner, but by about 9:30, my dad pulled into a McDonald's, and I settled, unhappily, with a yogurt I had packed for the trip. Even in the bigger towns, there was nothing.

The road got better, though. We found a classic Route 66 stop: Totem Pole Park in Foyil, Oklahoma. Ed Galloway built this collection of totem poles in his side yard (along with handcrafted fiddles and a "fiddle house") after his retirement in 1937 and kept constructing until his death in 1962. Records say that he got up every morning at 5AM and worked til sunset. He and my dad would have gotten along very well... The largest totem pole is a 90' structure that took him 11 years to complete, utilizing 28 tons of cement, 6 tons of steel, and 100 tons of sand and rock. Needless to say, it's the largest concrete totem pole in the world. 

We saw a few other Route 66 points of interest as we made our way to Tulsa and then to Oklahoma City: a bridge over a fragment of the old road, an original Philip's 66 gas station, and an old auto repair shop.

History of Route 66: In 1924, Oklahoma Highway Commissioner Cyrus Avery was recruited to develop a new system of interstate highways. His design connected hundred of existing roads from Chicago to Los Angeles, making sure that the route cut through his home state. US 60 was his first choice for naming this thoroughfare, and when another state wanted the same number for their roadway, a great debate ensued. Avery was offered US 62 as an alternative name, but he finally settled with the double digits, a suggestion that came from his chief engineer, John Page. Route 66 was officially designated in 1926.

Route 66 did become the frequented road it was meant to be, travelled by everyone from families moving westward during the Great Depression and the Dustbowl of the 1930s, to convoys of men and munition during World War II, to post-war soldiers and their families who were itching to travel. 

But by the mid 1950s, the interstates were expanding past what Route 66 could offer, and the military use of the route during the war had taken its toll on the roads. Over the next 15 years, most of the road was ripped up and moved aside, and all the towns that depended on its traffic suffered. Now, in some places, there isn't even a trace of the original Route 66, and in other places, a lot of what's there is new road, laid in slightly different places. But some of the small towns still maintain what they can of the character of the old road and the quirky stops along the way. 

We stopped in Claremore, Oklahoma, the home of Will Rogers, to see the museum dedicated to his life and work. I am what some would say is "too young to know who Will Rogers is." And those people would be right. He was an actor in silent films during the 1920s and 30s, a cowboy humorist of sorts. I don't know... But the museum was pretty interesting, even if I didn't know a thing about him.

We finally did make it to Tulsa. Unfortunately, the website was better than the town, and we pretty much just drove on through and got back on Route 66.

Dinner was a stop along 66 in Arcadia, Oklahoma at Pops, a new-retro diner/gas station featuring over 400 different kids of soda pop! I made my own 6-pack. You know how I like my mixed 6-packs. :)

Now, here we are in Oklahoma City, finishing off the night in a campground, doing what I'm sure we'll be doing most nights to follow... my dad, watching something on his precious TV (in only 3 days, I think the customer service representatives at Direct TV have become his new best friends); me, with earphones in to block out the noise, blogging.

So, good night friends, and thanks for reading!

(Oh, and maybe tomorrow I'll figure out to spread these pictures out. If anyone knows, please tell me!)