Oh the things we learn

Traveling brings such new perspectives to your life. Day in and day out we rush about trying to get from one thing to the next or one place to the other. When we take our time to travel, see the sights around us, talk to the people who are local and just enjoy ourselves we get a whole new view of the world.



Today we spent time at the Devils Rope Museum, I was reluctant at first to take this side trip, I was in a hurry to get somewhere else, I remembered, it is a vacation and I have the time. I am glad that we did. I learned that barbed wire played a major role in settleing this country and there are Barbed Wire associations across the country. We think of it as something used for fences only, but it was used as a way to automate crop planting for the farmers too. I learned there is an association of everything. This had to be one of the best displays of the history of farming and ranching that I have seen. The inginuity of man is amazing.

Off we go on Route 66 again. It is easy to follow now because it goes along the path of US 40, it is long and straight, no traffic and the speed limit is 70 in the daytime and 65 at night. Yes they have a night speed limit.

We got to Groom Texas where we stopped to see the giant cross. This is the second largest cross in the western hemisphere. It use to the be tallest, but the builders, being good christians let the good people of Effingham Illinois use their blue prints to build one of their own. OOPS they forgot to put any stipulations on the height of the cross on the blue prints so the Effingham cross was built 8 feet taller. I have been to both now, and can say with complete confidence, the one in TEXAS is stunningly displayed. There are beautiful life size statues displaying Christ carring the cross, the crucifiction and the empty tomb with angels on it and in it. There is also a lovely gift shop that supports the cross ministries. Here is a link to their website. It really is worth taking the detour for. http://crossministries.net/




Finally we are in Amarillo. A city divided by US 40, once you figure that out it is easy to get around. But, I have to say here, if there are two people who are more like Lucy and Ethel in the world it would be Me (lucy) and Penny (ethel). If there is a bad side of town, we end up there, if there is a wrong way to go and a right way to go, we always end us the wrong way. Even when we think we are right we are wrong..........and then we start laughing so hard it hurts. Oh well, that is just the way it is. There are 3 Comfort Inns in this town, 2 are beautiful, newer and in a very nice part of town, near the mall. There are New Holiday Inns, Farifield, Residence Inns, Marriotts, and so on. They are about 8 miles EAST of where we are, because we kept getting off on the wrong area, we ended up at a Comfort Inn in a less favorable part of town. The rooms were old, the beds sucked, and so forth and so on. BUT hell we stayed anyway. I parked baby by the window so I could keep an eye on her.....all night.

We did find this great Car Wash, and a Giant Duck. Baby got a wash and we got a picture of the duck.



Now we are off to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We will be staying with Gayle Williams, a very dear friend and BNI Director. Gayle has had me to her home for the Balloon Fiesta in years past. I love Albuquerque, so we are going to stay there an extra day and visit Old Town and do some sight seeing. We will let you know what we find!


Getting our kick on Route 66
Hazel M. Walker
Queen of the Road

Day 10 out of Oklahoma

We are now in Texas. Well we really did not plan on being in Texas, we were going to stay in Oklahoma but we couldn't find a hotel in the small towns we were in. So we crossed the Texas boarder to Shamrock. We were getting nervous since there are no billboards on the road in Texas but we finally found a Sleep Inn, only 2 months old so it is very very nice. Flat screen TV's and very lovely rooms. So we lucked out. Maybe we should look for a room earlier in the future, or.........not.

We had a lot of distractions today. We went to El Reno where we saw some lovely old buildings and interesting antiques, like this stove. NOTE the name on the stove is HAZEL....go figure! Then Penny and I saw this collection of "Irons" hundreds of them, we are not sure what you do with them but they were kind of cool.

We found this interesting place to eat, if you go through El Reno's try it out! The name says it all!!!

We spent a lot of time on the original Route 66 today. It was great we discovered so many things. Can you guess how fast Baby could go on this long straight stretch of road? There was LOTS of it. The best parts of Route 66 are on this part of the trip so far......very straight, lots of hills, bridges and scenery. Notice how red the the pond is or how steep the bank of this river is. As I said, we are so easily distracted along this stretch of highway.

We found more GIANTS today! Giant Kachinas and Giant Indians.

And here is one of my favorite photos, it is a collection of windmills.

Tomorrow we start across Texas! I am very excited about Texas and look forward to some BIG adventures as we cross the pan handle.

Getting our Kicks on Route 66

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Day 7 and no catchy title!

It's been a week already! It is hard to believe that it has been one week, and we are on the Kansas Missouri boarder. There is so much to see on Route 66 if you like history and beautiful country side but if you are going to try to take photos of everything you like, it is going to take a long time to make the trip. We met a guy yesterday, screen name, wombat, who left New York on July 1 and will return on October 1. He is an avid member of the Route 66 Association and wants to get as many photos and sites as he can. You can join the Route 66 Newsgroup at groups.yahoo.com/group/rouge66/







I love taking the photos of the Old Buildings, some are still in use, many others are not. A great many of them are simple shells of old buildings that where abandoned shortly after Highway 66 was abandoned. They tell a story of life and prosperity in days gone by. Progress and lifestyle have caused a great many changes, but these buildings have great stories to be told. Here is a Photo of an old general store. When I look at it I can imagine the activities and lives that were lived during the heyday of it's time. What I wouldn't give to spend a day snooping around this old building. Oh the things we might find!

Or the old motels and gas stations that are either abandoned or have fallen to ill repair. While it makes me sad to see so much of our history disappearing, I also know that the Route 66 Association and people like Greg, Scott, and Ramona work hard to keep the history alive and documented. They have such great stories to tell and pictures of how it use to be. They are all so passionate about the Road, the buildings and the history.

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they take this trip is they try to hurry, not stopping to talk to people on the Route. The simple act of getting lost and asking for directions have led us to some great conversations with people. Each person tells us about a new site, or another person that we have to stop and see. They network all along the route, I have seen more word of mouth business take place along this trip than I have ever witnessed.











We got photos of a couple more Giants. It is like a scavenger hunt, always looking for the next Giant....we missed the Giant Praying Hands! But here is the Giant Bowling Pin, yes in front of a Giant Adult Superstore Sign, and a Giant Bull. I think there are 2 giants on the list to see as we go thru Oklahoma.






By the way, for those keeping track, I have ZERO tickets to date. Hey there is no highway patrol or Route 66.

Hey leave us some comments so we know you love us.

More tomorrow,


Hazel M. Walker

Second Day in Missouri

What a beautiful stretch of road. This is part of the Original Route 66 and it certainly was a stunning section. It was a portion done for the purpose of moving military equipment to fort Leonard wood. The beauty of this road is you never know what is around the next bend or over the hill. Sights that the people on the interstate never ever get to see because they are in a hurry to get where they need to be. Never seeing the beautiful flowers growing around a pond, the horses at the edge of the fence, the murals painted with great care on the sides of old buildings, in small towns that where busy and happening in days gone by.

A beautiful pond, looks cool and calm, but the temperature was 101 degrees. Too hot to walk around but nice enough to enjoy the scene.

Cuba Missouri has wonderfully detailed Murals on many of their old buildings The gave painted their History on the buildings. If you ever get the chance you must go to this town to see some of these works of art.

Besides the beautiful murals, we are always on a Giant Alert. I did not realize there are GIANTS all over the US. There are people who are always seeking out the next GIANT. Penny and I have missed one, here is a photo of the one we got today. There are also GIANTS in Indiana, now I have to go get a photo of them.

Two Giants, the cowboy and the hillbilly.

Gee the sites we see. Penny and I noted that in Illinois much of what we saw was very well restored authentic buildings and art. But here in Missouri we have seen more tourist types of things. We can't wait to get to Oklahoma. Penny has maps now!! We are excited!

Hazel M Walker