August 16th, 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 2nd 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell me what you think?