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 11: Texas is very flat!

It's a good thing the Texas Panhandle is one of the shortest stretches of Route 66 because it is really pretty boring. We left Shamrock this morning (couldn't get out of there fast enough), and hit the road towards Amarillo. We stopped in this really cute filling station/gift shop/convenience store/post office. It's a tiny place, but chock full of fun stuff...and local wines! Who knew! Just as we walked out of the post office/etc./etc. we saw our genuine COWBOY! Goal complete...Boots, hat, pickup, etc. Good looking guy, with silver hair and moustache! Hoping to spend a minute of two in conversation so she could drool, Hazel asked if his dog always got to drive the pickup (herding dog was behind the wheel). Cowboy just looked at her and said "yup." He then got in the truck and drove away into the sunrise. She was so disappointed.


We are really getting good at the Frontage Road thing, and can pretty much recognize Route 66 by sight now. Our travel book (EZ66) warned us that a lot of Route 66 is gone or just dirt in Texas, so we stayed mostly on BL (this stands for Business Loop) 40 or the frontage road associated with it.


We got to McLean and read that there was another Route 66 museum and decided to pass it up. They are all starting to look the same at this point, so we were just going to let it go. Besides, McLean is really old, tiny, and mostly abandoned along the Mother Road. Then we saw these two really big spheres on pedestals that caused us to drive around the block to get the picture! The building housing the Devil's Rope/Old Route 66 Museum is not an impressive building, but these pillars that stand at the entrance were intriguing. The spheres are made out of Barbed Wire! Devil's Rope is the Indian name for Barbed Wire.




OK, our curiosity was aroused and we decided to go see a museum devoted to barbed wire. We were amazed. The building is really pretty big, and although a small portion is dedicated to Route 66, 90% is actually all about barbed wire. There is a Barbed Wire Association that began back in the 1800's and is still very active today. There is a pictorial history of barbed wire used for ranching, planting, during several wars....how it's made, how many kinds there are and why/how they were invented...it's truly amazing! We were awe struck!




We made a brief stop at the Donley county Texas Route 66 Safety Rest Area to take a picture of Flat Mikey in front of the Texas Star. The pic in front of the large star isn't the best, but I know he'll appreciate the fact that I drug his flat but up a very steep hill to get it!


The last leg of the trip today was into Amarillo. We decided to stop really early so we could check e-mail, do some shopping for personal items, eat, and catch up on some rest. So much for good intentions. Knowing that Route 66 is a defunct highway, and that it generally takes you into depressed, or "challenged" areas of most towns, we drove all over the place (or so we thought) looking for a mall and a nice place to rest our weary bones. HA! The more we drove around, the more we began to think Amarillo was just not the great place we had imagined. Sorry Amarillo. It wasn't until after we had registered and unpacked in an older Comfort Inn, and gone to dinner that we discovered that we just needed to go a little further west. We did indeed find a the Westfield Mall, Starbucks, and all the comforts that we have become accustomed to. OK, I'm a snob, but ... well, no buts, I'm just a snob.

Dinner was at the Big Texan! What a party! We played slot machines. There's a great shooting gallery in the place, a gift shop, and some wild pictures that we really want. However, we didn't remember to take the camera so you don't get to see.

I would like to pay tribute to Lady Bird Johnson. It was her desire to get rid of billboards on the highways. I can honestly say, there just aren't any. The highway is free of advertisements, which, on the one hand makes the landscape a lot easier to appreciate. However, this is the flattest stretch of road with absolutely nothing to see but cows, horses, grass, grass, dirt, and grass. It's really pretty, but sparse. Not a lot of buildings, signs, homes...just a lot of Texas.


Tomorrow we will get into Albuquerque and spend some time with a good friend of Hazel's. We'll relax and recoup and probably get on the road again on Tuesday. If I don't post, don't worry. We're still doing the road warrior thing, just taking a break.

~Penny

Day 10: We have entered the Twilight Zone

Yesterday, we met Jack. This picture is kind of small, but I wanted to get the Longhorn Steer in for Mike!

Jack runs the train station museum at the Canadian County Historical Museum and Heritage Park right outside El Reno, OK. Jack is a treasure. He would have just let us wander around his museum without bothering us, but I was curious why there was a display of Eskimo baskets and ivory carvings. I was working hard to make the connection between the Canadian County Railroad and the Eskimos. Jack got a kick out of my suppositions. The real reason they have this collection is that it belonged to a long-time resident of El Reno and when the wife passed away, the collection was donated to the museum.

That got the conversations going. Jack told us about the buffalo head on the opposite wall. It seemed this big guy lived in El Reno for a long time and was a cantankerous sort. Well, he got crossways with the new guy on the local police force, and earned a bad name for himself. It wasn't until he got out and decided to take a stroll on Route 66 that really did him in. It seems that the bison decided to take on a VW and won. Shortly after that, they had to kill him....then they ate him....Which led to the conversation of where to get the best Buffalo Burgers, a POW camp at Ft. Reno where a few hundred German prisoners (captured in Africa) were housed for the duration of the war, and how to make these elaborate hair wreaths. We learned a lot in El Reno, and we didn't have to stay in school to do it....har, har....I crack me up (that was a segue for this great picture of Flat Dad in the restored one-room school house).

We made a wrong turn right outside Weatherford and discovered a wind farm. Mike and I saw this somewhere around Bloomington and Stewart, Illinois, and I was fascinated then. This time Hazel and I had the time to drive right up to the turbines! They are spooky when you come up to them. These turbines sit atop and behind the rolling hills, and depending on where you are on the road, you might only be able to see the tips of the blades as they rise and fall behind the hill.

Once we got into Weathford, we found a small park with some information:

1: Each blade is 122 feet long.

2. The towers are 252 feet tall.

3. Computers turn the blades so they are always facing the wind.

4. They look like alien beings and are almost silent.

5. They are so cool!

Found Lucille's Roadhouse (the new one) in Bridgeport and taught the girls, Melissa and Whitney to make chocolate sodas. They were thrilled and so was I. They have a smoking section in the diner! For the first time, I got to smoke a whole cigarette in air conditioning!

Found some giant Kachina Dolls in Elk City. Mom, this one was named Myrtle! Dad and I had to have our picture taken for you.

Just a few, final words about the tail end of Oklahoma and entering Texas...CRICKETS! Huge, giant, aggressive, crickets! They are in the parking lots, under store signs (yes! the ones on the walls), and they jump and leap out at you. They are everywhere and I don't just mean one or two. They travel in herds, or flocks, or gaggles, or whatever you call a group of crickets! We didn't get any pictures of them as they fling themselves at you if you stand still!

Westward Ho!

~Penny

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 9: OOOOOOO-Oklahoma!

The girls are burning up the road...literally! Although it is only 72 degrees out there right now, it is going to be over 100 very soon! Hot Grannies burning up the asphalt!

Thanks for the posts from Thain (Wombat), Durelle, and all our friends/family in Indy! You all have made this trip even more fun. Mike sent us a message yesterday telling us that our blog is top of the list on page 4 if you Google Search Route 66 blogs. We now have a new goal to be on page 1! Between the heat and the tire adventure yesterday, we were running out of steam. This particular Fairfield just appeared to us as we were making our way into Oklahoma City. It's a wonderful facility (see Hazel's post), and just what we needed to re-charge.

It has been interesting to see how the Mother Road changes from state to state. Illinois, by far, has embraced it's Route 66 heritage more than any other state. More restored, or at least functioning diners, drive-ins, attractions, than any other state. The farther west we go, the less there is to see. Including the brown/white "Historic Route 66" road signs. If anybody from the various Route 66 Associations is reading this, I can't tell you how important those signs are to us. Especially when 66 runs through your downtown areas! We have gotten turned around more in cities and towns than anywhere else!

There's a little town named Depew in OK that is just a few blocks long, but they have painted some cute murals on the buildings. We decided to stop and get a picture of the boys since they haven't been out of the car much lately. Not the best picture of Flat Dad, but it was about 104 in the shade! Then on to Stroud where we stopped at the Rock Cafe for a bite to eat. Hazel was delighted to see fried okra on the menu (explains a lot about her, doesn't it), and I got some kind of schnitzel and spaetzel. Truly didn't expect to see this traditional German meal on a menu in this tiny, little town, but it was very good! We were asked to sign the guest book, and those crazy Italians (the Milano ones, not the Roma ones we ran into at Ruby Tuesday's) are still ahead of us.

If the different tourism bureaus would look at these guest books, I'm sure they would be surprised to see who is traveling through their states! Perhaps it would encourage them to throw some money at this wonderful road. The Italians, Spanish, Japanese, etc., etc. seem to love our little slice of history. It just needs some sprucing up in some places. There are sections that are in such disrepair that Baby just looks at us and says "if you want to see that part, you can just get out and walk!"

Shortly after dinner, we found Pop's! This place is fun, and packed! Row after row from floor to ceiling nothing but bottles of (mostly) soda. There are soda's that I have never heard of....or want to again. It is a combination convenience store, gas station, gift shop, restaurant. In asking, we found out that they just opened on Monday, 8/6!

Like I said, our energy level was getting low and we needed some rest! We happened upon Arcadia Lake. It is a beautiful place; birds, bees, boats, water, and quiet! I knew Dad would appreciate this spot more than the others so took the opportunity to get a picture with him.

Well, blogger is having problems uploading pictures right now, and we want to get out on the road before the heat catches up with us. We just might be able to put the top down for a time. Our one goal today is to get into Oklahoma City to see the Oklahoma City National Memorial...and maybe some cowboys! Hazel REALLY wants to see cowboys. She drools when she talks about cowboys. It's kind of Pavlovian actually.

Love you all, old and new friends.

~Penny

Back on the Road Again

We are back on the Road again thanks to Cecil & Sons Discount Tires. Not only did they get a Michelin Pilot PS2 tire and get it on my car in a timely manner, they called Michelin, explained the problem, new tire with only 1200 miles on it and a nasty nail ripping it up. He thought they might give me a goodwill discount......they did......100%. They got my $225 tire for free!!!! If you ever need help in Tulsa they are great. Here is their website http://www.cecilandsons.com/ . Here is a picture of Ken and Rick. They were great!

After all of the hard work and problems we decided that Baby needed a car wash. She was dusty and hot! Here is me hand washing her with tender loving care.

We did not leave Tulsa until 2pm, we had hoped to find a hotel in Oklahoma City, go to somewhere to do our laundry. We found a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Edmondson. It is new, they have not been open long, imagine our surprise to find our they are equipped with a washer and dryer. Life is good, tomorrow we will have clean clothes again!! YEA!

We found a brand new GIANT today. It is a giant Soda Bottle, not listed in our Route 66 guide book. It is at this place called POPS. They have hundreds of different kinds of sodas. Flavors and brands never heard of before.

Of course, just as we were getting to the end of our Route for the day we found this beautiful lake to take a few moments to pause and reflect on how blessed we have been on this trip and to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Oklahoma.

Getting our Kicks on Route 66,

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Day 8: Women Road Warriors from Indy Do Battle in Tulsa

Well, by now you know about the flat tire, but let me tell you about the adventure that goes with it...and continues. To preface:
1. Our maps and EZ 66 Travel Guide are in the car...which is at the tire place. All my great little notes are on the guide.
2. Somewhere in the back of Baby was some fudge. I'm sure by now we have fudge sludge in the back of Baby. Dwayne, you are going to have your work cut out for you when we get home.
3. We were hoping to make up some time yesterday, so didn't get the Flat Boys out of the car for photo opps. Didn't plan on stopping much.

So now, on with the story.

When we noticed that the tire was flat, we pulled into a QuickTrip convenience store/gas station. Once we discovered that air wouldn't stay in the tire, I whipped out my trusty AAA card and asked Officer Leddbetter if he wanted to be our Knight in Shining Armor. Fortunately, he was up for it, and made the call to AAA himself.

Now, things get jiggy, and I'm going to do a bit of venting. You may want to just skip on down to the next paragraph or two.

Once the car situation was under control, I pulled out our Fairfield Travel Directory to get us a room. Officer Leddbetter told us we might have a problem as the PGA was in Tulsa, and the town was pretty full. We have been staying in Fairfields for the majority of the trip and have been very pleased with the accommodations and staff at each one. So, no problem, right? WRONG!
1. The room rates here are triple to what we have been paying....PGA
2. They would not give us the AAA discount...PGA
3. Our car probably won't be finished by the 12:00 check-out time and we can't stay another evening...PGA.
4. The address in the guide for this specific facility says 3214 SW. 79th St., but after going to the Fairfield on 79th (thanks James. I've never had such a party riding in a tow truck before!) we found out that this facility isn't really there. We, of course went to 2 other Fairfields to find this out.
5. Needless to say, I ran out of good humor by the time we found the correct place and let the desk clerk that raising room rates for stupid golfers was nothing more than price gouging, and I'd let somebody's Attorney General know how unhappy I was. Well, it sounded good at the time.

On our way out to dinner, I sincerely apologized to Denise, and thanked her for letting me act like a raving mad woman. She was great, but I still think this whole "sucks to be you" attitude just...well...SUCKS!

I gotta tell you though, "it's an ill wind that blows no good" and we did have a great time. Here's a mental image for you...James, Hazel, Penny, luggage and laptop in the cab of an AAA flat bed tow truck! James turned a bad situation into a really great memory. He's about the funniest guy I've met and truly represented the folks in Tulsa at their best.

Then we met Garret at Ruby Tuesdays and discovered that he paid more for his room at Comfort Inn that we did here. AND, he doesn't have a desk or even a chair! Just a bed. Garrett is the Field Service Manager for APC Global (hope I got that right), and after listening to Hazel and I chatter for awhile, he introduced himself and we had a lovely time solving the problems of the world over Mojitos and Buds! Mrs. Nunemaker, your husband is a great guy, and has certainly made this rough spot in the road much more pleasant. Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your new little boy!

During the whole "so, what do you do" conversation, Hazel explained BNI. The Road Warrior networking techniques are in full swing! Garret is looking for HVAC and ACE Power People in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Baton Rouge (Tim Paulin, you will be getting a call), so we'll make some calls for him, and help him out.

Woo Hoo!!! We caught the Italians!!!! sort of. As we were entertaining the bar patrons, a group stepped up to order drinks, and I noticed the accent. Trying to be a gracious representative of the US (OK, I was on my 2nd Mojito), I smiled my best Indiana smile and asked the really hot young man, "Are you the Italians?" I love that look you get when your listener doesn't really understand what the heck you are talking about. In his wonderful accent, he replied that yes, he was Italian and did I know him?

Why yes, sort of, I replied. You could tell he was searching his mental database to try to remember me, so I had to explain that we have seen their names in the guest books at several of the stops we have made. It was also our goal yesterday to "catch the Italians." Poor guy, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have clue what I was talking about, but he was very polite and gave me a hug anyway.

Well, it's getting close to check-out time so I need to put things together and go hang out in the lobby until the car is ready.

~Penny
Woman Road Warrior

A Flat What?

What a DAY!! We completed 3 states, MO, Kansas, and now we are in OK......We got started and we kinda had a plan, we were going to get to our hotel early today and then leave early next morning.

As we are headed down highway 66 in Oklahoma we were detoured. We kept going in circles, finally we stopped and asked the construction guys what was the best way to get where we wanted to go. He was laughing since he had detoured us already and we were back, but here is what he ask Penny........."How do you feel about going down a dirt road?" Penny's response....."Well how dirt is it?" He broke into laughter and said, "Dirt dirt!" Anyway we took the "Dirt" road, only to be trapped by a train, that decided to STOP and park on the track, for one hour, while other trains zoomed pass the other direction. Penny go out of our car to talk to the "Cowboy" in the Pick up tuck in front of us. She ask him if there was an alternate root. He stated that once the train decided to move we were exactly where we needed to be. In fact that Dirt road that we drove on was the "Original" one lane Route 66. We sat in the car waiting, all of a sudden we saw a guy under the train car on the track. It was a young guy coming to our side to ask us questions. Someone actually crawled under the train. How crazy is that.

What we did find out was that this town had CLOSED all of its bridges due to the collapse of the one in Minnesota so we had no other alternative but to wait. The train was finally gone. Off we go....the biggest McDonald's in the World, the giant totem pole, and we talked to some great people on a bridge....penny met a stray cat and a stray dog, no they are not coming home with us.

Finally we get to Tulsa, we are going to call it a night here, do laundry, and start early next day. NOT.......BABY decides to throw a shoe, FLAT TIRE! A wonderful police officer called Triple A for us and waited until they showed up. His name was Officer Ledbetter....one of the nicest police officers I have ever met, well except for Officer Eric K in Greenwood. We are going to send a note to the Tulsa police regarding Officer Ledbetter....he was wonderful.

Our AAA guy showed up, his name is James, what a hoot.....James is 23 loves cars and was so completely helpful. Loaded up Baby on a Flat Bed, took us to the car place then took us to our hotel.....only after we gave him the WRONG hotel.

OH, did I mention that the PGA Championships are happening here in TULSA....no hotel rooms to be found. We found one, the rooms we have been paying $79 for was not $225. But it is our room.

Once we got to our room we went Ruby Tuesdays, did I tell you that the PGA Championships are here? So you can imagin how crowded it was....so we went to the BAR where we had a great time drinking Mojitos. Lots of them....good thing we were walking. We met Garret there, he was a blast, NOT there for the PGA.

Over all, it was a great day. NOW I have to find out when BABY will be back and we can start on the road again.

STAY TUNED................

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Route 66

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

Day 7: Oh, the people we have met!

This trip just keeps getting better and better! If you have ever stood silent in an elevator avoiding eye contact with your fellow passengers, shame on you! You will never hear a really great story if you don't ask. AND, if you can share a great story of your own, you will be rewarded with an even better one in return.

Our EZ 66 Guide for Travelers, written by Jerry McClanahan by the way, highly recommended a visit to the Munger Moss Motel. We did just that. I can't begin to tell you what a delight Ramona Lehman is. She and her husband, Bob own and operate this great motel. Ramona was making up the Pink Room when we found her, but stopped her work to give us the tour. Jerry, we were unable to visit your room, but thank you for sending us there.

Ramona sent us down the road to Wrinks Market. I didn't get the names of the ladies that work there, and I'm sorry as they were just wonderful. They loved the story of the Flat Boys, and took time away from their work (bless their hearts, it was the lunch rush) to post with my guys. Thanks ladies!

We got turned around in Phillipsburg. We missed the "quick" right turn off of HWY C onto HWY CC (we new we were in trouble when we crossed over PP), so we doubled back....again....and asked directions at the Phillipsburg Post Office. This little PO sits in the middle of practically no where, and I'll bet Bonita Jones has met more people from more countries than anyone you have ever met! Bonita took one look at me standing in front of her counter and just knew I was lost. She explained that A LOT of people get lost out there...the Italians are still in front of us, but that's another story. She had compassionately, and cheerfully directed Australians, Japanese, English, and all the other foreign travelers on Route 66. Thanks Bonita, we missed Pam though.

Then we arrived in Spencer where we met Gary Turner. Gary is the friendliest man alive! He has recreated the Gay Parita Sinclair filling station. We almost drove past it, but the little building just called out to us. Walking out the door, just I was walking in was Scott the Route 66 Root Beer guy! He was delivering his root beer to Gary, and treated Hazel and I to his newest offering, Rout 66 Cream Soda. YUM! Thanks Scott.

Gary is just a hoot! He had so much to tell us and so much to give us. We were just having party when "Wombat" stopped to visit. Wombat is traveling from Albany, NY and our paths crossed. The party was on now. Lots of picture taking, posing, and story sharing! Thanks guys for the best time we had today!

Arrived in Carthage and one of us blinked, sneezed, farted....who knows, but we weren't where we should have been. So, into McDonalds for a potty break and perhaps directions. While Hazel made use of the facilities, I asked Wayne Walter and Don Moorehouse "Mr. 66" to help me out. These guys were very patient with me, and then Hazel told them that I just pretend to need directions so I can flirt with strange men in McDonalds. She's such a great friend. The guys didn't hold it against me, and directed us to the Courthouse in Carthage and the Route 66 Dive-In. Guys, we loved the courthouse, but didn't stop for a picture in front of the drive-in....no we didn't get lost AGAIN...it was just too darn hot after walking around the town square.

By the way, the pictures I intended to post with this morning's post are finally where they are supposed to be.

Having a great time...wish you were here!

~ Penny