Half way to the end of Route 66

August 20^th, 2026

Tucumcari, New Mexico

Woke at normal time and got going as I was hoping to get out early today.

Had bike loaded and ready to go by a little after 9:00am.

Hit the road and followed the route out of town.

Not much to see along this section of the route, even the route is mostly just running alongside the freeway.

Stopped for fuel so I could be ready for the higher speed sections today since some of the route is the interstate.

It was at least cooler today, was only in mid 80s and sky was mostly overcast, so cut down on the direct sunlight.

Crossed over into Texas, and road became even more dull, just running along the interstate and not much around, even the trees had thinned out.

First stop of interest was the old U Drop Inn and Conoco station in Shamrock Texas.  Walked around the old building a bit and then went inside to check out some of the interior displays.  I checked out the café and bought a brownie as I was hungry.

Ate out by the bike and then just as I was getting ready to leave, the skies opened up with a medium rain.  I had seen several small showers on the horizon and even a few sprinkles along the way, but this was a good rain.

Drove out of town and rain was done in just a few minutes, then sun started to come out more and clouds thinned out.  Was only about 80 at this point, but I could tell it was going to warm up now.

Bit farther down the road and we stopped in McLean Texas at another old gas station which had been restored some.  This one was just external, nothing inside, but took a few photos.

We then started to reach the interstate sections where all the road alignments throughout the 100 years are now under the freeway, not even the access roads are part of the original route, or only for a few 100 feet.   

While some of the roads in the area are original and off the freeway, they are the first segments in the mid 20s, and never had pavement, so are rough gravel at best, some are even beat up enough to make driving them difficult if not impossible depending on vehicle.

Many sections are just gone, no longer existing, or now on private property and no longer accessible.

The only way to drive many of the alignments here is to get off and drive out to the dead ends and then back track.  Just not something I want to do at this time, so will stay on the freeway, which technically was Route 66 prior to the Interstate system using the same route and laying on top of the original route.

In the areas that the access road served at least in sections as the original route, I would ride some of them just to avoid being on the interstate as loaded up the bike really does not want to go above 65mph, and freeway is 75mph, and most drive beyond that.

I did several sections where some of the access road was original, other parts were not.

At one point I had to back track though as an accident had occurred on the frontage road that I was on (and it was original route).  Thankfully it was only 1 mile back to the interstate access ramp, and then I was able to get off and back on the frontage road after 4 miles.

A few older bridges still on some sections, but mostly just plan road and much of it has been freshly surfaced (at least in Texas, the Oklahoma sections were very old concrete).

At one point the Google Maps did its usual thing of changing my route midway, and even though I had set it up to avoid the interstates this time, it had me on the wrong side of the freeway, so I was riding just a normal frontage road, and not the original route which was the other side.

It did make it easier for me to stop at the leaning water tower at Britten though as I was now on the correct side of the interstate and did not have to cross over.

Stopped there for a few quick photos, then had to adjust my map as it was still trying to route me to a spot back down the other road, but once I deleted that stop point it found the road I needed to use.

Not long after and we reached the section where all the routes were under the interstate.

I thought about riding the frontage roads anyway, but since I was trying to make a longer distance today, I had planned the route using the freeways to save time.

I did pull off going through the small towns on the original route, but then back on the freeways.

We finally reached Amarillo and was able to follow the old route into town on the north side and then it drops down into the center of town before heading back out to the west.

Was not a bad route, only the routing was a bit confusing as the original roadway in use back in the day was now a one way road heading north.  So, I had to use one of the southbound roads a block to either side.

I had decided to use the road to the east as the overpass to get over the rail yard was bigger and would give a larger view of the city.  This ended up being a bad choice.

Due to some work on the north bound road I could not reach, they had EVERY SINGLE east west road closed for 9 blocks, over a half mile.

So instead of crossing on 6^th street, I had to go all they way to 10^th street to get over, and then go back north on another road farther west to reach the Route 66 alignment on 6^th.

This was also right in downtown, traffic was busy, and like always, I got stopped at EVERY SINGLE traffic light, and they take forever here just like in Oklahoma (seriously, lights can stay red up to 2 full minutes, traffic or not).

Once I was back on the route, I started to look for a place to eat.

Not a huge number of places, and most were very run down looking and had little to now parking and not a place I was going to leave the fully loaded bike to walk inside a windowless building to eat.

When rode though another historic district, they had lots of nice places, but almost zero parking other than the street, and it was of course full up.

Ended up getting to edge of town and never finding any place that looked like it was worth stopping at that had sufficient parking that I could keep an eye on the bike while I ate.  Or in a few cases the place was good, but was not open for some reason.

Left Amarillo and headed along the freeway on the access roads.  I saw a billboard for a Pilot truck stop, so figured they would have something food wise and I needed to get fuel again as the freeway legs had definitely drunk it up faster.

Reached the place after 20 minutes and pulled off the route to go south of the freeway to reach it.

Pulled up to the pump and damn thing would not read my card, or something.  It just hangs up on Please Wait….

Finally cancelled it and moved to a new pump.  It’s also over 100 degrees again, so melting in the heat and humidity (though that has come down some).

Fueled the bike, and then moved it over to the front of the building.

Inside they did not have a restaurant, but had hot foods in a deli case, so bought a hamburger and a few cold drinks to eat while sitting in the seating area to stay cool and keep eye on the bike outside.

Once done, we were back on the road, went back over to other side of freeway and found the route again.

At one point, it routed me an odd way again, taking me off the Route 66 onto a different road, still not sure why, but then the routes ended again and back on the interstate.

At this point it would stay Interstate the entire way except for the small down business routes.  I had planned to take a 1.5 mile gravel road on the 1926 alignment to reach a long paved section of that route, but decided I was not in the mood to be on loose gravel in this heat.

I deleted that routing point when it came up and stayed on the Interstate.

We pulled off Adrian along the route going through town and stopped at the Mid Point marker.

This is the exact middle of the Chicago to Los Angeles Route, though I did not see what alignment they were using as the distance changed over the years.

I pulled up and waited on the side of the road as three other riders were doing photos with their bikes and the markings on the road and sign behind.

Once they were done, I pulled up and did the same.

While I was trying to do the sign selfie, a guy asked if I wanted him to take the photo and since I could not get me, the bike, and the sign on my own, I let him take the photo.

Then we got to talking, and a few others in his group came and went.  They all had accents, I am thinking British, but could have been another one of the commonwealth countries, I never had been good and detecting the differences.

At one point the guy asked if he could sit on my bike and take a photo and let him do that, then one of the girls wanted to do the same.

I then moved my bike over in front of the gift shop with the group of Harley riders that had been there before me.  They were all from Mexico and had ridden up.

The group of people were now setting up a photo in front of the sign and asked if I could take the photo so they could all be in it, which I was happy to do for them.

They left about then and I went inside the MidPoint Café to buy a cold drink.

Sadly, the can of Coke was not really that cold, but was still better than nothing.

I went outside to drink it and then got on the bike to continue on my way.

Short way down the road we crossed into New Mexico, and then reached Tucumcari which has a nice long section of the route going into the center of town.

Rode through town, and lots of old motels and hotels are still here.  Some are in better shape than others.  A few do look abandoned, or might be apartments now.

Lots of older buildings still to look at.

I found my motel on the west edge of town, but as I was still 10 minutes too early, I back tracked to find the Circle K I had passed so I could buy some cold drinks.

Once done, I returned to the motel and was good to check in.

There was one other car in the lot, otherwise place was empty, which is odd since it is an older property and in decent condition.

But also, not as much around here, definitely not walking distance.

I unloaded the bike and then sat inside for an hour to cool off.

Then decided I was ready for dinner as it was about 5pm, and might be nice to eat before things get busy, if they do.

I had asked motel guy about good places to eat and he recommended two.  Both were Mexican, though the one had lots of other stuff as well.

I rode down the road to the one I had seen on the way in as it has a very bright yellow building with cool hat structure on the top, called La Cita.

Ordered a thing of Nachos and 3 tacos, not realizing how large the tacos would be.  Way too much food, was quite stuffed when I left.

Rode back to the motel and then worked on a few online things, but was really tired, so did not get much done, even though I was up till quite late still, mostly just reading stuff or scrolling through other people’s stuff.

I will try to get some work done tomorrow, but now I am going to bed.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

66 History plus going out of this world

August 19^th, 2026

Elk City, Oklahoma

Woke early, but still very tired, so sat in chair hoping I would nod off, but not go into deep sleep or when alarm goes off in 45 minutes.

That seems to have worked.  I dozed off, but when alarm did go off, I felt a bit more awake and body did not hurt as much.

Showered and geared up, then packed and started to load the bike.

Once loaded, rode over to the office to drop off the key, which was really easy as one of the employees was just about to go in and asked if I was checking out and took key from me so I did not have to walk inside.

Rode next door to fuel up the bike, and then decided to go buy a breakfast item from the deli, settled on the breakfast burrito as they looked better than the sandwiches.

Stood by the bike and ate, thankfully early enough that the building blocked some of the sun.

Got on the road and headed out of town.

We soon were riding the frontage road along the interstate.  This will be a common thing for the next few states as I-40 pretty much took over and, in many cases, there is no original road left, so will be doing more interstate riding as well.

Not too far out of town we took a more northernly route and found ourselves at the Bridgeport Bridge.

This 3,944 foot bridge, completed in 1933 and part of Route 66 since 1934 (bridge was built for this re-alignment), it is made with 38 steel pony trusses which remain on the bridge today, even though it was given a new, wider road surface in 2023.

Took a few photos from the end, and then rode across it.

Not long after, we stopped at the restored Lucille’s Highway Gas Station.  In a building originally built in 1929 to serve as a fuel stop with living space above, it was eventually acquired by Lucille and her husband in 1941 and run as a gas station, restaurant, store and even motel till her death in 2000.

A local businessman bought and restored the place so travelers can still stop and see it, and the Lucille’s name and tradition was moved to a hotel and restaurant in nearby Weatherford (I did not stop at those).

But while in Weatherford, I spent a few hours at the Stafford Air & Space Museum.

Named for Thomas P. Stafford, who was born and raised in town, later graduated from the US Naval Academy and became and Air Force test pilot.  This lead to him becoming part of NASA in the early days where it later flew on Gemini 4, Gemini 9, Apollo 10, and the Apollo-Soyuz docking mission in 1975.

Rising to the rank of General, he was instrumental in the creation of the Stealth aircraft programs within the US forces (though that information was not publicly known for 20+ years after the fact)

The museum has a large building next to a small runway for the civilian airport.

Inside are sections on early aircraft with many recreations of early planes like the Wright Brothers Flyer and Spirit of St. Louis. 

Then you move into the space related stuff which is a large collection, having several rocket engines and components from various systems throughout the history of the US space program.

They even have the actual Gemini 6 capsule that flew in space.

A large room holding the body and an inert version of a Titian Nuclear missile, components from Saturn V rockets, including some of the recently recovered launch stage components from the early Apollo missions (the piece on display was an engine turbine from Apollo 11!)

A really cool full size mock up of the Apollo moon lander setup.  A training model for the Space shuttle as well as a full set of Space Shuttle tires (after use).

You then get a small hall with a few fighter jets in there, one being a replica and the others actual planes, including a F117A Stealth Fighter that saw lots of deployments before its retirement.

Outside the building, there are additional fighter aircraft displayed where you can walk up and under the aircraft and really get a feel for the size.

The grounds also contain a really cool playground for the kids with rocket shaped equipment to climb on.  If I was only much younger.  A UFO in the sandbox, and several models of rockets and shuttles next to a small tower.

There were other spaces for outdoor events, picnic ramadas, a water fountain and a reflection garden with mirrors, rocks, bells to allow one to focus or reflect on themselves.

Once I had seen it all, I returned to the bike, uncovered it and got back on the road.

I though about stopping at another local museum that had some cars and a helicopter, but was mostly just a local history of life on the prairie museum.

As I had spent much longer at the Air & Space Museum, I decided to skip the other one and continue toward my destination.

I had thought about stopping for food, but the one place I saw that I might want to stop at was packed, and everything else was Mexican food, which I have eaten too often last several days, so wanted something different.

I stopped on edge of town to see the large painted mural on a wind turbine blade and see the smaller version of the Vietnam Memorial created here locally, but serving the same function as the bigger one in Washington DC.

From here it was mostly smaller towns and not much to see or stop for food wise.

I finally had to stop and use the restroom, so picked a local convenience store chain that I know serves deli type foods.

Bought a slice of pizza and chicken sandwich and a few cold drinks.

Sat in the AC and had lunch, then back on the bike for the final half hour into my destination town of Elk City.

As I had not taken the long lunch I had hoped, I was running a bit early to check in to the motel, so decided to go ahead and do the National Route 66 Museum tonight instead of in the morning, which will let me get out of town faster as well tomorrow.

I passed by my motel a short distance to reach the museum, pulled in and parked.

The place is a large complex of several museums that are all connected and your access to one gets you access to all of them, not bad for $5.

I stared with the Transport museum I had parked by and entered.

They had a few bikes on display, an airplane, some car related stuff and a little bit of Route 66 stuff, including an art project a guy did back in 2019 travelling the route and taking photos of people with a Kodak Instant camera, then having them sign the photos after it printed out.

They also had an old firetruck and a large display in memory of the emergency personal that responded to the Oklahoma City Federal building bombing in 1995.

Next was the Route 66 specific museum.  It has several old cars, some other related items, and several large displays along with audio stories about life on 66.  Also had a huge map on a curved wall showing the route.

After this they have a small town mocked up with buildings built to appear like they would have in the earlier days of the state, guessing late 1880s to 1920s.  A few of the buildings were actual buildings moved to the site that had been used back in the early days of the state.

They had a large house holding more stuff about the city, but I skipped that one.

Visited the old stable building with lots of buggies and the railroad setup with an old caboose.

I stopped inside the mockup pharmacy which was also a soda fountain mockup, but they did sell candy, ice cream and bottled soda, so bought a bottle to drink and one for later in the room.

I spent some time talking with the lady running that area, and then decided I was ready to go check in, it was nearing 4:00 now.  I skipped the farm building and blacksmith shop, seen enough of that stuff over my life.

Rode back down the road to the motel, and the owner was actually just putting some stuff inside when I arrived, so was able to quickly get checked in, though was a bit of a challenge as the guy spoke very bad English.  Seems like he knows the words, just cannot pronounce them in a way that makes sense.

Got into the room and turned on the AC to start cooling and unpacked the bike.

Once done, I closed the door, but noticed the room was still quite warm, but thought it was just me.

I used the sink to splash cold water on my head and face, and arms, and stupid watch clasp fell apart when I tried to take it off.  Parts falling in the sink with the running water.

I managed to find them all I think, so will try to put it back together later.

I pulled off several layers, and moved the desk chair in front of the AC unit in the wall and sat there for about an hour, think I might have dozed off even.

 I noticed though that the AC unit would run for a minute or two, then stop and just blow humid air for a few minutes, then repeat the cycle.

I turned it down to the lowest setting and then took a cold shower and got dressed.

Still hot in the room.

I decided to first go buy some cold drinks, so got on the bike and rode about ½ mile down the road to the Love’s station in town and bought some cold stuff, then came back to the room.

As I walked in, it was definitely still very hot.  The unit has a mode to show the room temp and it was saying 87 degrees, even though the AC had been running at 61 degrees for at least 30 minutes, and 67 degrees for over an hour before that.

I decided to go complain at the office, but first went to put my drinks in the fridge, and it was warm.  Starting to get annoyed now.

Looked around and the surge strip it and the microwave were plugged into was shut off.

Turned it back on, and could hear it start up, so put stuff in the fridge and shut it, should stay cold enough till it cools down.

I stopped in the office to see what they could do about the AC, thinking either a fix they might have, or moved to a different room, but only option they gave me was a fan to blow the cool air farther into the room.

I figured that might work some, and easier than moving rooms, if there is anything open as this is one of the older Route 66 motels that many people will stay at.

Put the fan on a table I moved in front of the unit and started it, and then decided I would let it run while I went to have dinner.

While I had thought about going to the steak house recommended by the lady at the local museum, I did not want to ride the 4 miles there, so opted to just eat at the Braum’s which was 2 buildings over.

A burger and some chicken strips were enough food and much cheaper too.

Came back to the room, and did notice a small difference.  The overall temperature was bit less, and I could feel the cooler air now in the back of the room, but still too warm, but hopefully as the night cools off the internal air will as well.

I sat down to try fixing the watch.  I realized I was missing a piece, and found it in the trash can in the bathroom where it had bounced off the counter and landed.

Spent about 30 minutes trying to get the damn think to go back together, but it just kept shooting one end of the pin out and onto the floor, after the 3^rd time, I said fuck it and tossed all the parts in the trash. 

Put the watch in a bag and will just worry about it when back in AZ.  I liked having it to count my steps and it also takes my blood pressure (though I do not use it as much), but can live without it for now.

I then sat down to upload the footage to the laptop, and then plotted the route for tomorrow.

A large part of the route tomorrow is on the interstate, there is no original road, even a frontage road, to drive, and even when the frontage road is the original road, in many cases there is no access without back tracking for a mile or more, so skipped those parts.

Will be about 1/3 freeway tomorrow, but will make a bit better time and distance, so decided to push through Texas completely and end the day in New Mexico, where I will stay for 2 nights again to rest from the long day and also get some work done again.

Other than the midpoint of the route, not much to stop at tomorrow, a few old gas stations and buildings I might do a quick photo of. 

I will have a small 1 mile section of gravel tomorrow, I thought about skipping it, but the frontage road there is the old route, and only way to get on it without a large back track was that section of gravel which is also mostly original route as well (just never paved, was moved before that happened).

Hopefully it will cool off a little tomorrow as we head into higher elevations in New Mexico, but probably not enough to make a difference.

Now I think I will get a few small things done and go to bed, try to get an earlier start tomorrow to still arrive early enough to avoid being in the late afternoon heat as long.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Another day to rest and get some editing done

 August 18^th, 2026

El Reno, Oklahoma

Alarm went off at 8:00am, went back to bed, woke finally around 10:00am

Sat around the dark room in zombie mode for at least an hour or so, then got showered and dressed.

Did some online checks and then decided to walk over to the Wendy’s on the other side of the gas station for lunch.

When I got closer, I noticed another place just beyond Wendy’s called Braum’s.

Looked like they did burgers and such along with ice cream.  Decided that would be something new and went there instead.

Had a big burger with fries and a drink.  Food was pretty good, and reasonably priced.

I was going to have some ice cream, but was not hungry anymore and decided to just go over to the gas station and buy a few drinks and some chips to snack on later.

Once back at the room, I started to work on editing a video while snacking on chips.

Completed the video after a few hours and ran the export while I went for food.

Just walked over to station again as they have hot food in a deli type setup, so bought a sandwich and some cheese sticks and ate them at the tables in the station.

Then came back to the room to upload video to YouTube and get the blogs caught up.

Now I just need to plan tomorrow’s route and then pack up a few things and go to bed.

Catch ya down the road.

Short day, but lots to see

August 17^th, 2026

El Reno, Oklahoma

Woke at 8:00am today, but no hurry to leave, so went back to bed.  Woke again just after 9:00 am got the morning stuff done.

Packed and started to load the bike.

The lady that had helped me with check in last night was there cleaning the other rooms.

She sat and talked while I loaded the bike and even for a bit after.

Once I was done, I let her have the room to clean and got on the bike to depart.

Rode out of town and started to make my way done the route toward Oklahoma City.

Not many detours this day, much of the route is a single alignment over all the decades.  I a few small adjustments here and there, some I followed, others I did not.

Stopped a at a few of the older gas stations for the first part of the ride, but then just rode past the remaining ones I saw.  Most are not open for any kind of business, and one was actually just a ruin.  Got enough photos of similar places.

I stopped at the Seaba Motorcycle Museum which is right on the route.

The place is another old service station.  The one part is a gift shop with things to buy, and possibly some storage or work space at the back.  The other half of the building is where several dozen old motorcycles are packed into the small space.

Lots of older bikes, mainly 60s era from various makers, though I did see quite a few British makes.  They are packed in a bit tight, so hard to really see some of them, and only about half are marked with a sign with any details.

A few bikes up on shelves or tables, a some hanging from the ceiling.

Lots of motorbike gear laying around as well, helmets, riding suits and jackets, shirts, and tons of spare parts.

A few newer bikes in the mix, one bike still in original shipping crate, and even a few bicycles.

I did not talk much with the guy up front, but I did see some bikes had what might be prices on them, others had sold signs on them, and others had old auction cards with them, so not sure if they sold signs were from when the museum acquired it, or if they actively sell bikes as well. 

Some of the stuff had others names on it, so possible they are just on loan.

Looks like they hold motorcycle part swap meets at the site as well.

Cool place that would not take that long to see if you were in the area.

Just down the road, where the route crosses the Interstate, there is a giant push pin art installation that marks the midpoint of the route in Oklahoma. (There is also a midpoint of the full route I will reach the next time I ride.)

Once I finished up there, I got on the bike and just a short way down the road was an old routing I followed.  This one has 2 different types of concrete that were used in road building at the time and both ended up on this short route.

Oddly this short route also has a sign where a local resident found themselves talking with Paul McCartney, who drove the route in 2008 with his then girlfriend in an old Bronco and had stopped to ask if the road was part of Route 66.

Once back on the main road I stopped again shortly after at the Round Red Barn in Arcadia.

This old round barn is one a few that have survived in the region.

I took a photo from the road, but then saw a sign for parking at the barn and decided to check it out.

The barn was open to visit.  Outside it has lots of old farm implements laying around.

Inside the main level has been turned into a gift shop, but selling donated items like a thrift shop.  The funds help to maintain the building.  They of course ask for donations at the door as well, though not required. (I left the recommended $2).

I walked around a bit and then went outside to walk up the metal stairs to the 2^nd level.  Not sure if the metal replaced older wood stairs, or if the original access would have been ladders, but once up there the room was just a big empty space that can be rented for events, but under the huge dome of the roof.

Makes me wonder if this was always a second level, or if the floor was added later?

Back down the steps and back on the bike to keep going.

Barely a mile down the road and we stopped for lunch at Pops.

This gas station is also a large gift shop, restaurant, and store selling 100s of different kinds of soft drinks from around the world (though mostly small makers here in the US from what I saw).

Parked the bike and covered it, then went in and sat at the counter and ordered food and drink.

While eating I eventually ended up talking with one of the girls working the counter and spent quite a bit of time relating some of my travel stories to her and a few of the others as they had time to linger between tables and such.

When done, I wandered the store a bit, but since I cannot carry anything else on the bike, and carbonated beverages do not like being shaken all day either, I did not plan to buy anything.

I had mainly stopped to eat as I needed food, and I had actually been here before 15 years ago, so had already shopped through all the sodas and even bought some back then.

Back out to the bike and got ready to ride.  Rode over to do a photo with the bike soda bottle sculpture, then hit the road.

Not long after and we came into the Oklahoma City metro area.

Here the road cuts across the north through what at the time would have been small towns, but are now part of the greater city space.

Then it heads directly south.  The original road follows what is a main road in town today, the later 4 lane section became the interstate, which I was not going to follow.

There are some bypasses as well that were part of the original routes, but I ignored them, taking the original 20s route all the way into the center of town near the capitol building, and then the road crosses the south edge of town before going back north a bit to start heading west again.

This was another long, and mostly boring ride through a busy city.  There were not many old buildings or other sites to see, so really not that impressive.

The downtown area does have the government buildings, and the next sections are some much older architectures, but roads were being worked on as well, which made riding a bit more of a challenge.

Finally reached the route that takes you out of town to the west, which was again the main route for nearly all the decades.

This is also running through mostly modern construction in the suburb of Bethany.

I reached the top edge of a big lake on the edge of town and here there is an old bridge that is on the route.  Last time I was here 15 years ago, you could not drive on it, but seems they have updated the road way or something as now they are letting cars across.

I pulled off to take a few photos and then rode across the bridge.

Then a bit of congestion to get back on the 4 lane section as it now takes over the alignment completely.

This runs you through Yukon and eventually out of town till you reach the next town of El Reno.

Here is where I will stay the next 2 nights.

I need another break, and also want to launder the riding jacket and pants.  They are starting to smell quite badly from all the heat and humidity last week.

I had already found a laundromat in town, so made sense to stay here and give myself the extra day to take care of other things.

I found the motel, got checked in and then as I was crazy hot again, I had to sit in the room and cool off for about an hour.

I then got ready, loaded the gear on the bike and only having the helmet for protection, slowly rode the bike over to the laundromat, which is about 5 minutes away.  A bit risky riding without the other gear on, but sometimes you have to do things you prefer not doing.

Reached the place and it was not busy at all, which was nice.

Found a machine big enough to handle the load, and then bought some laundry soap at the vending machine.

Washing took about 25 minutes, and cost me $7 with the soap cost included.

Once done, I loaded the damp clothes on the bike for the ride home. (Cannot dry them in dryer.)

Once back at the motel, I hung them to dry, then secured and covered the bike.

I sat around looking up stuff online and then walked over to the fuel station and store next door.

Bought a hot sandwich and some drinks.  Ate the sandwich there in the station at some tables, and then came back to the room.

I spent some more time online taking care of some business related to my next travel project, and then wrote up this blog.

I am going to wait to put it online though as I am now very tired and ready to sleep.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Good Times and Bad Times

August 16^th, 2026

Stroud, Oklahoma

Woke at 8:00am and did the usual tasks to get ready.

Packed and loaded the bike, already getting very warm out.

Once room was empty, locked it up, geared up and rode up to front office to return the key card and get my $25 deposit back.

Headed out of the lot and down the highway that will take me the last few miles of Missouri to the Kansas border.

I turned off the newer alignment onto the original alignment that brings me in to Galena Kansas from the north.

This town has several things going on.

The producers behind the animated film Cars used this town, and the old tow truck they found there, as inspiration for the locale and characters in the film.

The town has embraced that.

They have opened up a visitor center/gift shop/restaurant with a Cars theme, and moved that old tow truck over to this location.  They put it all in a restored 1930s gas station that had been sitting empty for a long time.

Several cars around town are parked with eyes painted onto the windows, and they have a small pavilion of Cars imagery at the border entry area where the drive through Route 66 shield is located.

After spending some time taking photos at both stops, I also stopped at the Gearhead Curios location (they were closed sadly) and took photos of the old gas station and some of the art work setup around there.

On the way out of town there was a few things setup around the local fire department that I stopped to photograph.  An old train, tank, gun emplacement, and helicopter.

Then I left town and rode the short distance to a turn to take an older alignment next to the current one that has the last of 3 March Arch bridges that were built on Route 66 (the other two having been destroyed and replaced by modern bridges.)

Once done there we approached Baxter Springs where we stopped at the old gas station visitor center for a photo (they were closed).

We were going to stop at the pharmacy where they also have a soda fountain, but they were closed.

So, we headed down the road and stopped at a gas station to use restroom and get some food as my stomach was starting to complain.

After eating a couple of breakfast burritos from the deli and a few drinks, I talked a bit with a local and then headed south and across the border into Oklahoma.

At one point we turned off onto a much older alignment, one of the original paths on some very old roads.  We soon reached a section where the 9 foot wide road built in the early 20s and incorporated into Route 66 in 1926 was still in existence.  It had never been replaced, mainly because the route was moved shortly after to a new alignment a few miles over.

This section is one of the only places you can still drive on original pavement from the first years of Route 66.  It is ROUGH.  Lots of loose gravel as well which seems to be left over from the edges of the road and likely the only maintenance it has seen since being built.

Not far from the end of this section, we reached one of the many markers placed for the Will Rogers Highway markers that talks about the various sections of the route through Oklahoma.  This one discussed the old paved route I was just one and had some of it still in front of the marker as well.

We then entered the town of Afton.  The restaurant I was thinking about here was also closed (so far nearly every stop I had considered was closed).

We did stop at the Crostar Flag & Tag.  It’s a museum of sorts, all kinds of Route 66 and other items on display.  Lots can be seen from the outside, and if the place is open, more inside.  This was one place which was open, though no one is actually there (think they live in the house behind, so probably just keep an eye on people via the security cameras in place).

Were some pretty interesting things to see there, spent a few minutes, left a donation, and then got back on the bike.

Now it was just making distance, checking out the older alignments when possible, and trying to decide if I was hungry enough to stop for food.

We stopped for another old bridge on one alignment just outside Catoosa, then we backtracked a few blocks to the site of the Catoosa Whale.

This giant blue whale sitting in a pond was created by a local man as a gift to his wife and for use by his grandchildren.

The whale idea started in the 1960s and was built in the early 1970s in the pond where he had kept alligators in a former attraction he and his wife had run in the earlier years of the route.

Once built, it was intended as a private thing, but as Route 66 ran right past the property, it soon attracted attention and eventually they opened it up to anyone to use for picnics, swimming or fishing in the pond.

By the late 80s, age had forced the owners to close the attraction as they could not maintain it, and the builder passed shortly after, and his wife a decade later.

For much of the 90s the site sat in an overgrown swamp.  But in the late 90s, several groups in the local area started the process of restoring the Whale.  Its construction was such that it survived the years of use and years of neglect without too much damage.

In 2020 the city purchased the property and formed the Blue Whale park.  You can no longer swim, but still makes a cool stop on the old route today.

I left the park after taking some photos and cooling off in the visitor center a bit.

Now on the outskirts of Tulsa, the route dropped into the edge of town and I started the long haul across the city towards the downtown area.  I took one small detour along the late 20s alignment to see a modern Route 66 art installation, then came back to the 30s route I had planned to follow as it was less turns, and had more stuff on it.

We stopped for food at a gas station and had a few taquitos and some drinks.

Then we moved through Tulsa.  Some neat old buildings and things to see.

The downtown was, like most cities, a bit run down, and being a Sunday was mostly empty.  Few people driving around, some others sleeping on sidewalks, but easy going.

Until we hit a stupid light that would not turn green.

Sat there few about 5 minutes and 3 of the 4 directions worked, but not the one I needed.  Some cars turned around, some cut into the parking lot, and many just treated it like a stop sign and went, but the moron in front of me just sat there when his turn came, then turned right, flipped a U-turn to turn right again.  Thankfully I was able to quickly zip across while they were being stupid.

Reached the downtown area, and accidently blew a red light.  Did not even see the lights on the poles on the side of the road until I was halfway through the intersection.  Good thing it was dead traffic wise today.

We then turned south on the newer bridge, as the old bridge next to it is closed to traffic of any kind.

The Neon Park at the end of the bridge had 3 old signs, but there is no place to park anywhere within sight of the park?  Seems pointless to create a park that the closest place to park is ½ mile away.

We then decided to skip the restaurant here I had thought about stopping at, and not even sure it was open, only 2 cars parked in the huge lot.

A bit later I pulled over for another park at a visitor center with several rail cars and a locomotive, along with a huge oil derrick built on the site (which if I read the sign right, is very close to the original drill site where they found oil here).

After that we headed down the old highway toward the next town where I would stop for lunch at a restaurant which has a large Pepsi collection.  Figure I would get some photos of that for my mother who collects Pepsi stuff.  

Nope, closed.  WTF is wrong with this state?

Next stop was another Route 66 car museum.

They were open.  Part of the site was under construction, and the parking lot in front had all of 4 spaces, all full.

I saw a sign for more parking on the side, started to turn into that road which was a steep angled descent, and saw the lot was empty, and kind of out of view, so had 2^nd thoughts of stopping here. 

I slowed down and put my foot down to stop, but loose gravel slipped my foot and with the incline the bike tipped.

I should have gunned the engine and that might have pulled me out, but was too far gone.  I just stepped off the bike as it fell over and stumbled down the hill to the side and stopped my self at a large telephone pole.

Walked back over to bike, and like last time the engine killed itself since the bike was somewhat upside down, the top of it pointing down the hill.

I tried to get in to a spot to life it, but could not get a good grip with all the bags and knew I would never get it lifted loaded.

I started to unload the bags, while watching several cars just drive by, even though I am sitting 2 feet off the main road, on my side in the middle of the drive way, clearly needing some help.

Took me about 10 minutes to get most the bags off the bike and stacked off to the side.  In that time, 20 cars drove by.  One even drove past me, turned around in the parking lot, drove past again, and then parked in front of the museum and went inside. 

Not even a question to see if I needed help.

So much for the vaunted midwestern friendly reputation we are supposed to believe.  So far most of the people I have met in Oklahoma were not really that friendly, some downright rude.  I tried to lift the mostly empty bike, but with the down hill angle, and the lose surface, I could not get a good grip still.

I was about to remove the remaining bags with a big SUV pulled up and a big guy got out of the passenger side and helped me right the bike and walk it down the steep hill so we could put the stand down.

I thanked him for the help and for stopping when one else had.

I then loaded the bags back on the bike, and then decided I was too tired, hot, and frustrated to bother with the museum.

In reality, I was over everything at that point.

I almost thought about finding the interstate and heading home.  Only reason I did not was that in Oklahoma, you have to pay to drive the interstate (at least east of Oklahoma City). 

As I was not going to be extorted to drive a road, I kept to the Route 66 path, but canceled most of the detours onto older alignments going forward.

I also decided I was not stopping anymore either, so passed by the other museum (which was open) that I had thought about visiting.

I reached the hotel not long after that and went to check in.

Another one of these places with no staff!

So, I checked my hotels.com messages and there was a message with my room number and door code.

As I was walking outside, a car pulled up, it was the hotel manager and she asked if I needed assistance.  I said I should be good, had just found the message, and was in room 10, which I then noticed already had a car in front of it.

She they said that is not right, and got out of the car.  I checked the message again and then saw a second message.  This one said I was being moved to a new room as that old one had someone in it and they had extended their stay.

Finally with correct room, she walked me over to verify the code worked and we were good to go.

Unloaded the bike, splashed my head and face with water (which I had to wait over 5 minutes to not be hot water out of the cold tap) and then sat in the dark in the AC and zoned out.

Today was not a very good day in many ways.

I finally changed clothes, and walked across the road to the convenience store to get some cold drinks and more water as I had drunk much of my hydration pack today.

I then sat again and checked stuff online while I decided if I wanted food.

Not much choice here, and as I had already covered the bike, and it had already started to rain, I really only had 1 choice.  There was a Mexican place just around the corner, so could walk there once the rain stopped.

That happened a few minutes later, so walked over and had a meal there.  Too much food as usual for Mexican places, but it was really good.

Back in the room we started the nightly tasks.

Moving footage to the laptop, only hard drive is almost full, so had to copy a large chuck of video to external thumb drives I had brought.  Really need to get some video edited so I can delete the raw footage I will never use.

Also had to create route maps, and write the blog, and now I need to figure out the route for tomorrow.

Thinking I will make is a short day and do another 2 or even 3 days stop just the other side of Oklahoma City.  I desperately need to wash my riding gear, starting to stink!

And I could get some work done on videos, or at least plan out the next few days routes so I can save that time.  (It can take up to 2 hours to figure out the alignments and build a custom routing in Google Maps to follow it, along with stops.  Wonder if I should just go back to writing it on paper and putting in in the tank bag).

So, guess I better get going as it is already 10:00pm.

 Todays Route:

Day off, catch up on work

August 15^th, 2026

Joplin, Missouri

Slept in today, and combined with going to be very early last night, made me feel quite a bit better today.  I was still up early enough to get a shower and dressed before 10am though.

Worked on getting Blogs caught up first, uploaded and photos included on them.

I then went to lunch across the street at a local Coney Dog place.  I just had a Frito Pie though, and some fries.

Back at the hotel I did a load of laundry next as I was out of clean clothing.

While that was going on, I finished uploading the blogs.

I then did all the financial tasks as mentioned before.  Balancing accounts, validating credit card charges, paying off cards and moving funds as needed between accounts.

Then I also update the cost tracking sheets I have created for this trip (something I will not do going forward, too much effort and really not sure it is worth the time).

I then did some online updates and checks, and then went to dinner next door at a local Mexican place where the portions were HUGE.  I had way too much food, but it was really good.

We then worked on plotting the route for tomorrow.  Really getting annoyed at Google Maps, it really does not work well for complex routing due to limitations on points you can have, the programs insistence on sending you to Interstate highways, and its constant need to just fuck things up in general, making me have to start over again.

I think I have planned a route that is a bit too long for the stops, as I again did the routing before thinking about where I was stopping, but hard to know where I need to stop till I know what towns the route goes through. 

Piece of advice, if you want to do a similar trip, do all your routing and stop plans in the weeks before you leave.  Then you can just pull up the maps and go when the time arrives and you can even change course and it will adjust as needed. 

Then you can just book hotels as needed last minute, or if you are smart enough to NOT ride a motorcycle, just pull over and sleep in the car if need.

Now I am just going to pack things a bit, and work on some photo edits to clean up some stuff.  Not going to get a video again, just too tired and too late, need to go to bed earlier than 1:00am for a change, and want to try starting earlier tomorrow to make the day work better.

Catch ya down the road!