sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
One needs that edge prayers gives one. At least I hope they can buy more food along the way.
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Story Aunt Gus and Little Bear's Adventure Book 3 (Complete)
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
Jan 4th: Kingman, AZ >> Flagstaff, AZ (Part 1)
Weather in Flagstaff: 54/15
Driving Route:
Much better day today than yesterday. The hamster isn’t comatose, but it is willing to stay in its cage for now. We are in a hotel room tonight at a historic place. Seems the Monte Vista had some cancellations due to everything going on and Lev was able to snag one. We were going to boondock, but this is better. Gonna get down to 15F tonight and it already reminds me of Alaska as it is though.
This morning while I cooked breakfast – they both inhaled the omelets – Benny was allowed to watch the old Disney movie Cars. I don’t usually like to do things like that but there was a reason. We were going to spend some time in Seligman, AZ and it is the town that “Radiator Springs” was based on. If you’ve never seen the movie, it is too ridiculous to try and explain. Basically … forget it. Anyone wants to know they can look it up online. As screwy as my brain is, not even I am capable of explaining how a car can seem as human as the ones in Cars do, and get away with it.
Lev offered to drive first but I asked him to wait to make sure his stomach wasn’t still sore and if he didn’t mind, to play navigator and tour guide for a while first. The fact that he didn’t object told me he was a little worried about his stomach as well. We weren’t driving far today, only about 160 miles, but we planned on a lot of stops.
First thing we did was tour Kingman since we’d gotten in after dark last night. We started the day with a visit to the Kingman Powerhouse Museum. This is one of the more extensive Route 66 museums, and I found it worth checking out. It is also where Lev decided to get each of us a Route 66 passport. As an added treat, there was also a couple of “adult-style” coloring books for Benny and post cards for me and I decided not to feel guilty (or not much) for spending money on them. The museum was excellent with lots of exhibits and we enjoyed it despite my cringe at the price.
“Thanks,” Lev said.
“For?” I asked.
“For not letting the hamster rule. I know it is tough for you to let me do things like this …”
“Whoa Admiral. I’m not your momma. You want? You get.”
He snorted. “Then why do you do my laundry?” I gave him a look and he chuckled. “Seriously Gus, I know you are all about the lists and budgets and things like that. I am too. But this isn’t going to break the bank. We didn’t do much for Benny’s birthday or Christmas. All three of us have been stressed but keeping it under control. This is just another method of control, a way to make the crazy a little easier to ignore, or at least cope with, and bring some fun into the day. You said Benny really got off on the National Park passports and you even did something like that for him in Florida and then dragged the passports out for when you went on our other assignments. This is just a continuation of that … sort of … and I hope helps him to transition to a more stationary itinerary for a while. Or at least until I … um, we … get the whole traveling as a family figured out.”
“We’ve been traveling as a family,” I told him and when he grinned I realized getting married didn’t suddenly make all of our previous issues go away. I need to be careful not to inadvertently trigger Lev’s self-confidence issues. “I get what you are saying, I’m just a little worried. I do not want a repeat of our first day back on the road.”
“I don’t either. And I hear you about needing to plan for stops to stock up to beat any potential rationing. Just try not to …”
“Let the hamster reign?”
He snorted. “You’d never do that. But I don’t want you to make yourself worry too much about things you can’t control. Those we can control we’ll work on together. You aren’t alone, you aren’t going to be alone. We’re in this together.”
Wow. Talk about hitting all the high notes. There are days where I just need him to say things so I can hear them and today I’ve repeated that several times, especially when the news got stressful, traffic got stressful, or news from the road got stressful. More on that later.
Across the street from the Powerhouse Museum is one of those crazy tourist stops … a Route 66 Diner called Mr. D’s. We didn’t eat there, but we walked around and took photos. Lots of good reviews for the food online but it wasn’t even lunch and Lev said he had that planned for later.
Another tourist spot in Kingman is the El Trovatore Motel. Looks like something out of an old movie. It claims to have the world’s longest Route 66 map, which goes basically along the entire hotel, and I wouldn’t fight that claim. It also had some old cars basically used as outdoor decoration and both Benny and Lev enjoyed looking at them.
We left Kingman after that, and it was about 30 minutes to the next stop; a barely there dot on the map called Hackberry. But, before we got there we were startled by a roadside display called Giganticus Headicus. I am not kidding. We had weird down in Key West and I’ve seen weird in all my travels since then, but this took weird to an entirely new level.
"Giganticus Headicus" is a half-buried, 14-foot-tall pseudo-tiki sculpted of metal, wood, chicken wire, styrofoam and cement, created in 2004 by Gregg Arnold, an artist from New Jersey. It stands outside what was once the Kozy Corner Trailer Court. There is an A-frame building on the same lot that has giant robotic ants crawling up its outside wall. Other “artworks” on the property include a windmill that uses 1950s furniture for blades, a painting of an astronaut with a cut-out hole for your face, and a pit with a sign that it is filled with "baby rattlers." It was … sort of. Try rattles for babies. I finally gave in and laughed at that one after having carefully looked over the edge. The A-frame building doubles as a souvenir shop that sells miniatures of Giganticus Headicus and post cards of some of the artwork that can be found on Route 66. And yes, there is now a small replica of Giganticus in the galley. Lev had thought about putting the head in the head, but I nixed that explaining, “I’d like a little privacy when I’m in there.” That cracked both of them up and I have a feeling that bizarre little trophy is going to be found in various places just to see what I’ll have to say about it.
If you blink you’ll miss Hackberry, but it had an old general store that was worth the stop. No weird statues but plenty of oddities. The store is in an old stone building, and it has all sorts of Route 66 memorabilia. It is also covered in memorabilia as well. One of Lev’s travel brochures describes it this way:
Generously described as "ramshackle," Hackberry General Store has enthralled Route 66 pilgrims since Bob Waldmire reopened it in 1992 (Bob was a legendary Route 66er whose father invented the hot-dog-on-a-stick). The store, built in 1934, had been abandoned for 14 years, and Bob kept it looking that way. When Bob sold it to John Pritchard in 1998 it was with the understanding that John would maintain the store's dilapidated charm, and when John sold it to Amy Franklin in 2016, she agreed to do likewise. Apparently held together by the rusting signs nailed to its exterior, is the only outpost of civilization for miles. Its gas pumps have been dry for decades, but it still has a real, working outdoor pay phone because there's no mobile service in Hackberry.
We were the only ones in the place until a bus pulled in. Out poured a huge mish-mash of people, some of whom could have been Grandfather Barry’s elder siblings. After them came a group that looked like they were auditioning for the Hell’s Angels’ Methuselah Club. Sorry for the snark but I was glad that Lev decided he had enough chips and soda to last him for a while and that all the film he wanted was in the can.
I tried to get into the spirit of things and thought I was doing fairly well until those two groups showed up. Their false and desperate normalcy was getting to me. What the heck they were doing on the road by the bus load was also beyond my comprehension due to the travel restrictions, but Lev said he overheard them saying that they had already been on the road before Christmas and were a regular club sort of thing … as in an annual Route 66 fan club that did it and has been doing it every year for decades as their Christmas celebration. “Weird,” as Benny would say. But then again, who am I to judge.
We passed through a little town called Valentine, then one called Truxton where Lev wanted some photos and then we headed into Peach Springs. Mind you, we were getting our Route 66 passport stamped where possible which was a bit like finding a needle in a haystack, or some kind of treasure. Benny and Lev were definitely into it.
Peach Springs is a town on the Hualapai Indian Reservation and there wasn’t much to see when we drove through it. We did stop to get a stamp for our Arizona passport at the hotel however. The town is where the tribal headquarters for the Hualapai people is located. There was also a hike in the area called the Havasupai and Havasu Falls that I’d tried to work in with Benny but at ten miles one-way there was just no way. Pictures of it are amazing but it turns out it wouldn’t have worked this time either. Just like during the Pandemic of the 2020’s, the area was once again closed by the Reservation. However, where we did get to go was amazing in its own way.
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Jan 4th: Kingman, AZ >> Flagstaff, AZ (Part 2)
Our next stop was the Grand Caverns and was well worth the visit as they were one of the most unique caverns that Benny and I have seen in our travels, even including the lava tubes in Hawaii. The caverns are accessible via a tour, which takes you 200 feet down on an elevator to the start of the cave. Benny was already bouncing by the time we made it passed the giant dinosaur “statues.” The cave also has a restaurant and a hotel room where you can pay some ungodly amount of money to stay for the night if you can get a booking. The tour was about an hour and a little over a mile long. By the time we took our turn Benny wasn’t the only one bouncing. I think Lev will always be part kid. That’s not a bad thing even though some people could take it that way. Essentially, I’ll get to play Den Mother for as long as I want and as goofy as that might sound, I think I like it.
The cave has an interesting modern history dating back to 1927 and is a classic Route 66 attraction. I should have guessed that when they proudly displayed a mummified bobcat from around 1850.
Our next stop was in Seligman, AZ and we spent almost two hours there. As I mentioned before, this is the town Radiator Springs from the Cars Disney movie was based on. So much for my decree that I’d be cooking all meals henceforth. Lev’s way of dealing with it is a bit like “exposure therapy.” We didn’t have a fight about it, but I questioned everything. Everything. And he didn’t stop me. That was the unspoken compromise. If we were going to eat out, I was going to be dang sure they didn’t get sick from it. We had lunch at this place that has been around forever called Snow Cap Drive-In. It was real meat burgers and all-beef hot dogs. No buns. Crinkle fries. Our own condiments since I knew what was in them, and Benny and Lev preferred them anyway.
You know I can care less if anyone thinks I’m weird, but I was still feeling bad for being a stick in the mud until this woman stops me in the ladies’ room and says, “Don’t let it bother you.”
“’Scuse me?”
“Honey, I have Celiac and Hashimoto’s. I can’t even have the cheese you let them have. I would have loved to have had someone care that much when I was younger and it would have done more for me. We all do what we must. I don’t eat out often, but I don’t have a lot of options when we travel. Just do the best you can. It looks like they weren’t missing anything. Better to be safe than sorry, and trust me I’ve been plenty sorry over the years when I wasn’t playing it safe. But you still need to live Hon. And so do they.”
She and her sister laughed like it was a long running joke between them. I suppose their way of looking at things is worth a think or two. That’s why I didn’t say anything when Lev took us to Delgadillo’s ice cream shop next door. Ice cream when it is in the 50s was kinda crazy, but I’ve done stranger things … like eating pizza in the parking lot of a place called the Moose’s Tooth in Anchorage, Alaska.
There were a few other little things in the town. The Return of the 50s museum was, well bizarre. There were all these people that were getting off a bus that were dressed up like they were in some 1950s movie and I realized the bus was the same one whose passengers had looked like they were Hells Angel retirees. Who knew that grown ups liked to play dress up? Although comic con … and I’m not saying another word. Then there was the 1860 Arizona Territorial Jail which looked more like a log cabin. Then there was this place called The Roadkill Café. Uh yeah, right. I wasn’t sure what to believe and what not. They claimed to have buffalo burgers but I’m just as happy that we stopped where we did.
We could have toodled around town some more but we needed to hit the road. From Seligman it was about 45 minutes to the town of Williams. Williams is popular with tourists because it has a train station that takes visitors to the Grand Canyon. That’s not all though. There is an old historic hotel, a few big neon signs (like the blue teepee sign), and a store that has the world’s largest “steel” Route 66 sign. We didn’t hang around long, but it was still an interesting stop.
After leaving Williams, we drove along the highway and finally hit some trees at around the 6000-feet elevation, on our way into Flagstaff, our final destination of the day. Our first stops in Flagstaff was on the east side of the town at the Museum Club and the Route 66 Visitor Center where we got our passport stamp and Lev picked up a few more brochures for his “research collection.” We knew the museum wouldn’t be open when we left the next morning, so we decided to give it a try tonight. It is worth taking the time to see though we only took a quick look. It has a strange history in that it was a taxidermy shop in 1930s, and it still has many of the old animal heads inside. Now it serves as a bar and a small concert venue. So yeah, kinda weird.
We then headed into downtown and stopped to get dinner at the Lumberyard Brewing Company[1]. Yep, eating out again but it was kinda cool to be honest. This restaurant is situated right next to the railroad tracks, and the food was really good. You didn’t get plates but a tray with what Grandma Barry would have called brown butcher paper on it. Your food gets slapped right on that paper. There used to be a restaurant called 4 Rivers in Jacksonville that did the same thing.
I was relieved that Benny could get something from the kid’s menu that still filled him up. I swear he is like a bottomless pit some days. He had a grilled chicken breast sans BBQ sauce, fries, and a side salad with vinaigrette. Lev let him order a lemonade and he thought he was some kinda hot snot since it came in a frosted beer glass. Lev had a mile high burger minus the brioche it was normally served on. It was an all-beef patty stacked with cheddar cheese, pulled pork, cole slaw, and sautéed onions. He also had nearly a plateful of sweet potato fries.
There are days I can eat like a horse but today hasn’t been one of them. All I wanted was a cobb salad that had grilled chicken in it. Mixed greens, no bleu cheese thank you, egg, tomatoes, red onions, bacon, avocado, and gorgonzola vinaigrette on the side. By now Lev knows my eating habits and didn’t make an issue of it. He did surprise me by ordering me a sarsaparilla.
“Lev,” I laughed at him trying to act silly and guilty at the same time.
“There’s no caffeine in it. It’s similar to that root beer you used to drink when we could get it in Florida … Paige’s?”
“I can’t believe you noticed that, much less remember it,” I told him.
“Er … to be honest I just remembered it when I was reading about this stop I wanna make in Oklahoma. And just let it be a surprise. Please?”
“I don’t know if you are teaching that look to Benny or you’ve learned it from him,” I said giving him a fake stern look making both of them laugh like I was being funny. Not so much, but if they thought so I’d let it ride. So long as they don’t overuse it to get their way, I don’t mind them thinking they can schmooze me on occasion. A girl needs her secrets, especially when one of them is being able to know when she is being schmoozed for fun and when the schmoozing is for a different reason.
Just because all I ate was a salad didn’t mean that I didn’t feel like I could have been rolled out when we left. And I tell you the entire vibe changed as soon as we did get outside.
Lev gave me a look and then for Benny’s benefit he said, “You know, instead of going to the grocery store, how about we just go to the hotel.”
Surprised in a good way Benny asks, “Hotel?! We get to stay in a hotel?!”
“Yep. At least for tonight. Sound good?”
“Can … may I bring The Crew?”
“Don’t see why not so long as they mind their p’s and q’s.”
“I’ll keep them all packed and neat for just in case, just like in Alaska.”
Lev looked at me and I nodded like it was a good idea. Over Benny’s head Lev gave me the look that we’d talk about it when Big Ears was otherwise occupied.
Our last stop of the day was checking into our hotel, the Hotel Monte Vista. Very historic and looks it, very atmospheric. I didn’t say anything to Benny but the place was supposed to be haunted. Our room was called a “Signature Double Queen with a View.” La-te-da. Actually it wasn’t bad but it did remind me just a bit of the hotel experience we had in Williamsburg. The price wasn’t nearly as bad however which is a good thing.
Thankfully we had our own bathroom though we were on the fourth floor. The bar on the ground floor in the lobby was full though not what you would call bustling despite the darts and pool tables. We knew something must be going on, but it wasn’t until I told Benny he could play in the tub with some bubbles that we got enough privacy to find out.
There is talk of curfews and interstate passports, possibly even lock downs stricter than what we had to deal with around Vegas.
“Do they say when?” I asked while I got Benny’s PJs and bed warmed up. It had turned really cold, like freezing cold, when the sun started going down.
“They say it depends.”
“On what?” I asked more than a little irritated.
“They found another terror cell but it doesn’t appear to be the cell that is bothering them so much as who caught them. Seems a militia group – one of several that have reformed after all of them being forced to shut down a couple of decades back – caught them coming across the border around the Big Bend area of Texas.”
“They never shut down all of the militia groups, they just went underground.” When Lev looked at me and kinda blinked I cleared my throat and said, “Don’t repeat that.”
“Let’s save it for another conversation,”
“Fine by me,” I told him.
It took him a moment, and a couple of glances my way before he could get back on track. “The feds didn’t like looking bad I guess. This new administration is struggling to keep all the kite strings it is holding onto from getting tangled.” He looked troubled then surfed to a couple of websites that were dark with barely lighter printed forum posts. He didn’t stay long and surfed away and back to more innocuous news sites.
Benny was ready to get out and I made sure he dried off so he wouldn’t catch a chill and then he climbed in bed and just pulled the float bag up beside him. To me he said, “I don’t want to take a chance on anyone getting left behind. The Crew understands it is for their own good. May I color for a few minutes? Then I’ll go to sleep. I promise.”
I’ve put Lev in charge of the art stuff. Lev looked up and said, “How about you save that for tomorrow and you can wear my headphones and finish listening to that story from yesterday?”
“I can?!”
“Sure. Don’t want to strain your eyes anyway, I promised you could finish the story and you haven’t yet and … well …”
As we suspected he was asleep in less than ten minutes but Lev said leave the headphones on him so we could do some planning. We changed for bed … brrrrr … and then sat up talking.
“Babe, I wanted to sleep in, but I think we need to get out and to a grocery store in the morning before we get on the road.”
So with the plan made Lev hit the hay and now I’m ready to as well.
Resources:
Hackberry General Store, Hackberry, Arizona
[1] About Us - Lumberyard Brewing Co. | Flagstaff, AZ
beaglemama
Contributing Member
Thanks, Kathy!
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Again, thank you 
Jan 5th: Flagstaff >> Gallup, NM
Weather: 52F/12F
Driving route:
Rather than going to Ye Ol’ Wallyworld we found out that the Sams Club was open for business customers. I looked at Lev who was loving up on the drip coffee from the front desk and said, “My card is still good.”
“Your card is still …? Ohhhh, you mean your card is still good.” He blinked and I could also hear the coffee finally hitting his brain. “Fantastic.”
When we got there I got a promise from Benny to stay quiet and keep up and I wouldn’t put him in the buggy. There weren’t a lot of people shopping though there were some. Many of them looked like restauranteurs or similar so we didn’t stand out too much, especially when we stayed all business. Lev picked up some tablets and pens. He also spent a chunk of change on three large capacity, external memory devices. I didn’t question it. One, I know he needs to download some of his pictures and two I know he wants me to back up all my own photos which are currently on my cloud. I’ve already done that with most of them up to about the middle of the Alaska assignment, but after that I let it slide when I shouldn’t have. He was looking at a couple of digital photo frames but I told him, “I’ve got several of those in storage.”
From there we hit paper goods with Lev suggesting we get a bundle of paper plates, or at least the old-fashioned red and white checkered paper trays in case we ran into a water issue. We also got toilet paper and paper towels (not for van use but to store for when we settle) as well as a lot of cleaning products (for the same reason). From there we hit the food aisles. First thing I spotted was a case of eight gluten free mac n cheese. Benny and Lev both got excited, but we kept our behavior in check and just continued on as quickly as we could. Cheerios, Kind Bars, Nature Valley protein bars, creamy peanut butter, maple syrup, gluten free oatmeal, canned meatballs, apple sauce, GORP mix, Lara bars, popcorn, powdered peanut butter for smoothies, quinoa pasta, canned tuna, almonds, canned beef stew, broth, fruit bars, almond flour, bags of several different nuts, self-stable oat milk, shelf-stable almond milk, shelf-stable coconut milk, powdered Tang and powdered lemonade, mineral/fizzy waters (sans caffeine so I could drink them when I wanted to), we grabbed some meats, sandwich fixings, sliced cheese, eggs, and then some fresh veggies and fruit that cost an arm and a leg because they were out of season.
That was it because we were already running up on The Limits and we were also going to have space limits until we could pick up the trailer in Bumpus Mills. There was still a long list of things we needed but they were going to have to wait.
I found another way to make room but it made me sad at the same time. I donated the bike carrier and Benny’s small bike at the first charitable donation location we came to before leaving Flagstaff. I probably should have done it before now. That tells me there is likely a lot of stuff I am going to need to do the same thing to in Jacksonville. I’ll think about that later.
We stopped to neaten stuff up in a parking lot and Lev found a historical marker about the Flagstaff underground tunnels: A system of underground tunnels, rumored to have been built by Chinese immigrants, snake their way from Northern Arizona University up through downtown Flagstaff. Businesses including the Weatherford Hotel, Babbitt’s Backcountry, and the Monte Vista have access to these basement tunnels. In the early 1900’s a devastatingly large fire damaged many buildings in downtown Flagstaff. Chinese migrant workers were blamed for the fire because of their cooking and cleaning practices. After that, the Chinese began to use these systems to get around town without being harassed. Now used for storage and piping, it is said the larger alcoves of the tunnels have been home to more suspicious activity. Opium dens, moonshine distilleries, gambling machines and other relics have been discovered in depths of Flagstaff’s underworld.
After leaving Flagstaff, our first stop was at Twin Arrows. A literal name if there ever was one. Twin Arrows used to be a popular trading post on the route with two large wooden arrows that served as a roadside attraction for visitors. Like many other spots along the route though, it basically died with the creation of the highway. The arrows are still there but nothing else as the remains of the old trading post were taken down by an investor who had a dream that never bore fruit.
From Two Arrow we made a stop at Meteor Crater National Landmark. It was one of the places I’d been forced to skip on our original adventure, and it was cool to be able to do it with Lev. It is a protected area that encompasses the impact area of a 150-foot meteor. It is insane to see how massive the impact crater is, and while it can be expensive, the Gold Star Family discount covered the entrance fee. I wasn’t going to use it, but they saw the sticker on the van’s windshield so maybe it was just meant to be. I’m positive Lawrence wouldn’t disapprove, especially under the circumstances, but I still had to take a shovel to the hamster’s head for a moment. But I did it in the Lady’s Room so no one noticed, especially not Benny or Lev.
Not far away was the Meteor City Trading Post. This trading post was known for the fact that it had a circular structure, almost like a geodesic dome. It is no longer open however, and the exit off the freeway wasn’t even accessible for us, so Lev had to take his pictures from the freeway shoulder. This spot is well known though, because there is a building like it in Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure, a place I’m sure that I’m glad I’ve never been.
The stop that wasn’t didn’t bother me, I was getting just a little anxious from the news we heard. People were acting normal, or trying to portray they were, while at the same time freaking out just a bit. But it was also strange. They were acting like all their planning and doing could wait until they got home, wherever home was, because they were going to enjoy “today” just in case it was the last vacation they had. For whatever reason it made me want to plan and do even faster and sooner.
Traveling on, we made it to the town of Winslow, AZ, and made our first stop at the visitors center. It was a small location, but it had a few exhibits and another passport stamp. It is also where we we got the idea to stock up on drinking water as a couple of bus drivers were complaining that some towns were making it difficult on the tour buses to take care of their passengers. Weve done some of that already but added it to the top of our priority list and took care of it at the first grocery store we saw which wasn’t really a grocery so much as a truck stop. We also made sure to fill the van fuel tank and our spare ones as well. Water and fuel are being rationed so we are going to have to be very careful to keep both topped off.
First Street Pathway Park is right next to the visitors center, and it is worth the stop. It has a totem pole created by Peter Toth, which is impressive to see. It also has some old train cars and a few Burma Shave Signs. I had no clue was a Burma Shave sign was until Lev explained. Then I remembered some signs that Benny and I saw on our first adventure. Well duh. Now I get it. Well sort of. It is … was … and advertising schtick.
The main draw in Winslow is Standing on the Corner Park, which was spotlighted in the famous Eagles song “Take it Easy.” This park has statues of members of the band, a flatbed Ford from the song, and a couple of plaques. Grandma Barry had what Dad would call an eclectic taste in music … meaning she listened to any and every genre so long as it had a good beat and clean language. She would have gotten a kick out of the park and I don’t know whether I was sad or nostalgic. Hard to tell on some days.
There is also a museum right next to the park that has a lot of area history (not much Route 66 history) if you want to see it.
The next place we stopped was just silly. Jack Rabbit Trading Post is one of the most famous spots along the Arizona portion of Route 66. This trading post has a large plastic jackrabbit outside that you can sit on for photos, but the main reason it is well known is for the “here it is” signs that you can see advertising it all along the route. It was fun to finally stop at this spot after seeing all of the signs, and you don’t want to miss it. Or let’s put it this way, this Den Mother was glad that her two traveling companions got to see it since it was obvious they were enthralled.
We kept on keeping on down the road. In the town of Holbrook, we saw the Wigwam Motel. And yes, the rooms were literally shaped like wigwams. I’m not sure if it was an afront to Native American culture, but I’m certain it wasn’t meant that way. They looked neat but looked just like a regular motel room inside. And another tie in for that is the Navajo County Museum. It had an interesting old jail cell you can go in.
From there, we drove along the highway all the way to Petrified Forest National Park. This park is the only national park in the USA that Route 66 went through. Benny and I had been there before but had missed the part (or at least I don’t remember it) that had an old car and electrical poles and a sign-thingie pointing out the original route through the park.
On the way to the New Mexico border, we stopped at Fort Courage, which is a replica of the fort in the old TV show “F Troop.” It is abandoned now from what I could tell, but we walked around a little bit because Dad liked that show despite it being a serious antique.
On the actual state line between Arizona and New Mexico, there is a Native American trading post known as Yellowhorse. It was closing when we got there so we didn’t get to see much, but it was still a good stop. And from there we took a picture as we crossed over the state line into New Mexico.
About 25 minutes later, we were at our hotel, the El Rancho. It is a historic hotel along Route 66 and Lev kinda ignored my question of how did he get us a room there. I’m choosing not to worry about it. There’s enough going on.
We drove a total of 200 miles today. We stopped often enough that I had to add the numbers twice to make sure because it didn’t feel that way. I am glad that we filled up in Flagstaff – both fuel and food – because operating fuel stations have been few and far between. Fuel prices are up over a buck a gallon from when Benny and I started our road trip. That isn’t the kind of pricing I was hoping for. I expected that on the West Coast but not in this area. From what I found tonight on the ‘net it isn’t that fuel has gotten more expensive, it is that fuel is what is being taxed at a greater and greater percentage because it is one of those necessities in most of the country that doesn’t have mass transit or dependable EV stations. But even mass transit is going broke because fares can’t keep up with fuel price increases, repairs to aging fleets, and the demand for new types of mass transit such as the magnetized people movers.
Lev continues to surprise me. That isn’t a backhanded compliment. The man I thought he was in Florida is considerably different from the man he is now. I know he was emotionally beat up and having a hard time recovering when we first met but I never would have imagined how much he’s changed … or maybe that should be grown.
As for me I feel like I’ve grown quite a bit myself. I’ll probably have control issues on Judgment Day, trying to tell St. Peter how to organize all the souls standing in line for their turn so the process can be gotten over with faster. However, I think I am better than I used to be. I know I don’t have to do everything myself. I have found someone I can trust in an amazing way that I never even considered. And it isn’t just a matter of trust either. Leadership. Yeah, I finally found someone that I can accept as a leader, my leader, Benny’s leader. And he does it by not overshadowing me or taking control away from me. He doesn’t force me. He’s my leader, my admiral, but we are also partners each with our own talents and …
Geez, mushy much? I don’t know how to explain it exactly. My issues haven’t gone away but with Lev around they are easier to manage, and he isn’t the one that has to do the managing for that to be true. Cool. Very, very cool. Though I gotta admit there are moments when I still have to have a beat down with the hamster and I’m not always guaranteed of winning.
The news tonight is making me edgy. There are some people that make war sound eminent. The US-Chino War before I was born was the last declared war this country has been in and it only stopped because both countries made concessions and walked away, neither one the winner while both claimed victory based on the concessions of the other country. But then China imploded for an entire decade because they hadn’t taken care of business at home. The US almost did the same thing but survived because so many needed us to survive as a consumer nation to keep the world’s economy rocking along.
This isn’t like the last war, although I guess every generation says that. Both Liv and I are eligible for the draft. Neither of us is protected by the provision for last surviving parent though technically I might be able to pull that off if they ever approve the adoption papers which is something I must get on once we have a stable address. Lev is almost aged out of the draft but I’ve got a long way to go and I suspect they have a file on me that would make me a desirable candidate due to my early training. I don’t know. As much as I once wanted to be in the Navy some of my perception of that course has changed. Yes, in large part due to Benny and what that would do to him, but also because I have a more mature outlook and experience with the world in general.
I am still pro-military. I’m just more aware of the political machinery that determines its purpose and use. I sit here and wonder at times what Grandfather Barry thought of his generation’s leaders. I know Lawrence sometimes mentally questioned people, but not the Service itself. But, even he cautioned me. That and Benny is why he wanted me to hold off and go in an officer, especially as a female. So much to think about. The hamster is straining at the leash depending on the moment.
Lev has signaled that he is done tabulating the day and is ready to talk if I am inclined. I think we better, if for no other reason than to compare notes and concerns. We don’t need to be haring off in different directions and waste energy and assets.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
The moar has been just great lololol.
Jan 6th: Gallup, NM >> Santa Rosa, NM (Part 1)
Weather for the day: 52F/24F
Driving Route (part 1):
Since we got in late the previous night, we backtracked a little and went to Downtown Gallup. Lev grabbed a coffee from a place that opened earlier than people started work in offices. The coffee was good, according to him, but he likely wouldn’t be indulging in his vice of choice much if the prices continued to go up. Grandfather Barry preferred to perk his own from beans that Grandma Barry bought and ground herself. I’ve learned to make it so that it is drinkable so I suggested to him that I could do for him the same way.
“Grandma Barry was a waitress when she and Grandfather met. She taught me a lot as you’ve seen. Maybe I can add coffee to it.”
He gave me a grin and said, “Mebbe. But only if the price is right.”
I remember something Grandma Barry used to say and told Lev the same thing. “A kiss’ll do it.”
Lev’s grin became a complete smile and it zinged through my veins like fire water. Oh good grief, I’m turning into I don’t know what. My friends would never recognize me. But you know what? Maybe I wouldn’t recognize some of them either. I’ve plowed a lot of waves.
After taking pictures, including of the exterior of a really old theater, we headed on and came to the Continental Divide. There was a trading post there. It made for another stop because it was one of those really old-fashioned places with tchotchkes and memorabilia for sale. There were also signs talking about how the water flows in two directions from here.
From there, we drove on to the town of Grants, which had a neon sign that you could drive thru for a photo. I am sure it would be fun to see lit up at night. Across from the drive-thru sign was a mining museum. I didn’t know what to expect when we went there, but it was interesting with a lot of history on uranium mining. It even had a bottom floor where they had a couple of exhibits on how the mining process works. It was a great addition to Benny’s portfolio.
Lev had been looking at the map as I drove and he found a wallyworld not far from our planned route. We found out from the news that the feds were trying to put a stop to the “proof of local residence” stuff going on in some towns. Wallyworld was one of the first of the big chains to fall in line so we knew we were safe to try and continue stocking up.
We didn’t have a problem with getting in the store or paying for anything. We had to get a manager involved however because the register didn’t know how to accept regular cash, it didn’t even take digi-coins. The manager rang up our purchases herself at customer service, grumbling a bit, but not at us. More about how corporate had ordered all stores to accept old-style currency but they were having trouble finding cashiers that knew how.
The bigger problem was that the store was really depleted and The Limits were heavily enforced. I stuck to staples and gluten-free specialty items. Or the oversized containers of things like NIDO, rice, and beans. It kept us in line with The Limits and left the convenience items to those that needed to use them because they didn’t know any other way.
I was a little shaky from the prices I was seeing and Lev pulled a fast one and took us to El Malpais National Monument as a distraction. It was a good one and there was a Junior Ranger Program[1] for Benny. I needed him distracted and busy so he wouldn’t feed off me and so I could pull myself together. The prices look like they are going up by the day. Both Lev and I were a bit surprised at how quickly it was happening.
“Law of supply and demand,” he said, still troubled.
We were following Benny as he did activities to complete the badge before we had to leave. Given he was the only kid in sight and we were nearly the only people in sight not wearing a ranger uniform it wasn’t difficult. We didn’t have a reservation for the park but it was the Gold Star decal and one of the rangers recognizing the ark from the blog that got us in without one.
“Lev …”
“Yeah Babe?”
“We need to do more supply acquisitions but I’m not sure where we are going to store them. I’ve got things jammed everywhere as it is. Can I move your clothes into my stuff and have that deep drawer for storage?”
“I’ll try and condense my gear all the way around.”
“Not yet. Save your space for just in case.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. We’ll move things a little at a time. There is still the space in the rear bumper. And the floor compartments if we absolutely have to.” I glanced up. “Benny? Not so far ahead. ‘K?”
“Sure thing Aunt Gus!”
Lev asked, “Did he actually hear what you said?”
“He heard. Question is did it really register. Let me see what else he needs to do.”
“I figure we have another hour here,” Lev said looking at his watch and some notes he was making. “Everything between here and Albuquerque is either a drive by or quick stop. There’s a couple of things I wanna do in Old Town Albuquerque and from there we drive to Santa Rosa with a few short stops here and there. I might have tried to cram too much into today so if we have to miss anything after Old Town I’ll just deal with it.”
Turned out Benny was nearly finished and the last thing was to talk to a ranger and then we were out of there. I hated rushing but it was that kind of day. The news didn’t help.
[1] Be a Junior Ranger - El Malpais National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)
Jan 6th: Gallup, NM >> Santa Rosa, NM (Part 2)
Driving Route Part 2:
Before getting back on the interstate we had to pull over at a Travel Center truck stop for fuel and to find out what the rad blasted rattling was coming from under the hood. It wound up being a piece of gravel stuck in bumper. It had happened before so it was one of the first things I checked. I did it as we waited in a surprisingly short line for a gas pump. The place was really well organized and you weren’t allowed to leave you car at the pump while you went inside for anything. That way they got as many through and then out as possible. Of course the EV chargers were backed up to Hades but it was that time of year when the cold drew down batteries faster than in the summer. The highest temp I read today was 52F and the winds on the highway usually dropped that by five to ten degrees.
While driving on Route 66, we saw this old sign in the distance. Lev wanted to stop and see it, and it ended up being one of the coolest signs he’d photographed thus far. Lots of cool signs all over the place. There were also several ghost towns. The next one of those we saw was Cubero. Cubero is still an actual town, technically though you could tell it was in hard times, but on the outskirts there are some ruins that you can see of Route 66 era buildings. There is also an old gas station that is closed, but it had another nice sign for Lev to photograph.
Next up? Dead Mans Curve. There was a sign-thingie that explained its notoriety. This curve in the road got its name because it is almost a 180-degree curve that was dangerous for early travelers to maneuver around. There was a tour bus that pulled over at the sign as we were pulling out so I’m glad we got there when we did. I’m as interested as Lev is about making this trip into something more than just a mad dash. And I can see working helps him as well. It doesn’t cost me anything to play along.
Right after the curve was a rock on the left side. Supposedly it resembles and owl. Looked like a snowman to me but I suppose an owl was cooler. Whatever. It was a big rock in the middle of nowhere so as a landmark I suppose they had to call it something.
Once we made it back to the highway, we saw this old bridge right next to it. It is dangerous to drive over, so it was closed, but you can get out of the car and walk on it. Lev told us just to stay in the van and keep it running, he was just taking a couple of quick phots.
Stopped at the Route 66 Travel Center. I parked and Lev and Benny took the empty fuel cans to the walk-up service pump while I got another piece of gravel I couldn’t reach while the engine was so hot that had rattled itself down to where it was bouncing around just like its pal. Thankfully I was finally able to get it out about the same time that Lev and Benny returned with not only fuel but a case of drinking water that they’d been selling at a walk-up station as well.
As we made our way towards Albequerque, Lev asked to stop at this place called Enchanted Trails on the left. It was an RV park, but we stopped here because they had a passport stamp. In the back, they have old cars and RVs that you can look at. Lev took a quick series of photos and then it was back on the road.
As we entered entered Albuquerque, there were more old Route era signs. The best of them was the El Vado Motel sign. There were some restaurants and shops begging to be explored but Lev just took photos from the side window as he gave me directions for our next destination; Old Town Albuquerque.
The old downtown reminded me a lot of Santa Fe when Benny and I had gone through it, including a central area with a gazebo and shops and restaurants around it. There was a church there that was one of the oldest in the state but Lev had plans. O.M.G. It was such a Lev thing for us to do.
The Rattlesnake Museum had over 30 different types of rattlesnakes, the largest collection in the world. In fact, the Rattlesnake Museum hosts more different species than the Bronx Zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, the National Zoo, the Denver Zoo, the San Francisco Zoo, and the San Diego Zoo, all combined. Or so they claimed and I had no reason to doubt them. There were species from North, Central, and South America in recreated habitats showing they really cared about the reptiles’ health. Sign-thingies all over the museum explore myths, how to cure phobias, and other “mysteries revealed” type info.
The place was a blast. Not that I’m a snake or reptile lover, but I’m not as freaked out by them as some people are having lived cheek by jowl with them most of my life along the river in Florida. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t play with snakes any more than I would place with a shark, but I know they play a vital role in the environment. If I am in their backyard, I leave them be to do the job they were created to do. Though gotta admit, if a water moccasin (aka Cottonmouth) comes into my territory, I won’t suffer it to live. Those demons will track and hunt you and I don’t care who says that is nonsense. They are aggressive and are one of only 6 venomous snakes out of the fifty native snakes we have in Florida.
“Aunt Gus, look,” Benny said wide-eyed when he saw some baby albino rattlers in the reptile nursery.
“Cool,” I agreed. “But …”
“We don’t mess with snakes, sharks, and stranger dogs no matter if they are babies. They don’t know you and you don’t know them, and you might scare them and then they behave bad.”
“You got it,” I told him. “And what happens then?”
“They might have to be put down like the bears that won’t behave and animals that kinda eat people.”
“Key-rect again Little Bear. You have your thinking cap on for sure. So when we get to the River House we need to help Uncle Lev by not giving him anything to worry about. And it wouldn’t do me any good either if I didn’t think I could trust you to follow the rules.”
“I will Aunt Gus. I’m not a baby.”
“I know you aren’t. But mistakes can happen, let’s just minimize that sort of thing. It is the same rules I had when I was your age.”
If I learned nothing else being a hardheaded kid, it is that when you know why there is a rule, you don’t have an excuse for breaking a rule. I mean mistakes happen, but so does occasionally choosing to be a knucklehead.
There were other things in the museum besides snakes. There were exhibits on snake anatomy and physiology, snakes in history, snake statuary, snakes in the arts, and one of the oddest exhibits was the “Snake Saloon” where all of these strange bottles of booze where lined up behind a small bar. Some examples of that one were Cobra Malt Liquor, Red Rattler Soda, Snake Eyes Liquor, and several other things I know that many of my Cadet-mates would have gotten a kick about.
I looked at Lev and he grinned before saying, “No. None of that is coming home with us.”
“Count me relieved,” I responded trying to grin back at him.
“I’ve tried some weird crap when I was over in Asia but trying to not make those kind of choices these days.”
“Do I want to know?” I asked cautiously.
Well he told me a few:
- Mice Rice Wine - Think about this for a second; someone a long time ago decided to try this—baby mice, right after they are born, are dropped into a jar of rice wine. Once the wine ferments, you drink the wine, and eat the mice. This is by far the grossest alcohol you can possibly try. Hands down.
- Tharra - a bit of an umbrella term for a type of moonshine coming out of India or Pakistan. The process is unique to the region. Thankfully. Imagine distilling sugar cane in terra cotta pots buried under cow feces. Apparently, this 180-proof beverage has a very specific sitting time: too long or not long enough, and you’re looking at drinking a very deadly poison.
- Stag Semen Beer – One, he wasn’t getting. Two? Gross. This place called Wellington is well known for the craft beer so why not go the extra mile with a new star beer on the menu? Gag me. Stag Semen Stout local was in high demand during a local craft beer fest.
- Kumis is the ancient Turkic word for fermented horse milk. The drink is similar to kefir but because it’s made from raw mare’s milk it has more sugar and therefore a higher level of alcohol when fermented.
“Want me to keep going?” he asked with a grin.
“Not if you ever intend on me kissing you again,” I told him dryly. “That is some nasty crap that has passed your lips.”
“Er … yeah. Years ago. Years and years. Stupid is alllll gone.”
I said, “Good. Because about the weirdest thing I’ve eaten to date is Iguana or salted pigs tail on a dare and that’s the way I want to keep it.”
He laughed and we kept going for a little longer before having to leave which is when we found out that one of their gimmicks was to give you a digital certificate of bravery when you leave. Uh huh. Both Benny and Lev now have it rotating through on their digital photo frame.
In the newer downtown Albuquerque, there is a Madonna of the Trail Statue. There are twelve of these along the route from California to Maine but only two on Route 66.
On the way out of town, we saw a Route 66 diner. It looked like a cool spot for lunch as well, with a lot of memorabilia. We only stopped for a few photos though as there was a line out the door where travelers were trying to grab a bite to eat.
Jan 6th: Gallup, NM >> Santa Rosa, NM (Part 3)
Driving Route Part 3
More historic signs follow such as the Moriarty Sign, the Longhorn Ranch, and Clines Corner. After that, the way to Santa Rosa, Route 66 was pretty barren. There were a few old signs, but that is about it. There were a few historical sign-thingies like the ones on the Trail of the 49ers but we didn’t do much but pull over for a photo.
Then came the Route 66 Auto Museum. We spent an hour there and even I got a charge out of it. Some of those old muscle cars would have been able to tell some stories I’m sure had they been able to talk.
Our last stop of the day was at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa. This spot has been a famous Route 66 stop for decades as it is a swimming hole that features 61-degree F water year-round. It would have been fun to take a dip if it hadn’t been freaking freezing by this point.
Boondocked at another Love’s Travel Center hidden in amongst the big rigs when the hotel we were supposed to stay at was surrounded by flashing lights and lots of unmarked cars and ambulances. Luckily we had only reserved, not paid in advance and we put a stop on the card just in case they tried to charge us for not showing up. We took turns on night watch because it was the prudent thing to do given the news said there was a rise in “social unrest” and the government is debating instituting another lock down.
Lev and I are concerned but from the sound of things they are otherwise occupied at the moment, and unless things get too much worse it has been tabled for at least a week. Lev thinks they will eventually feel like they have no choice but to institute another lock down, but they won’t do it until the stores have been at least partially restocked. We are just going to keep watching the future to try and determine whether we can stay at this pace or need to kick it up a notch.
Resources:
http://www.rattlesnakes.com/core.html
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you very much.
beaglemama
Contributing Member
Thanks, Kathy!
I like Lev. He has a good head on his shoulders (understands about stocking up, not drawing attention, etc.) and he's always conscious about Benny's safety.
I like Lev. He has a good head on his shoulders (understands about stocking up, not drawing attention, etc.) and he's always conscious about Benny's safety.
Sportsman
Veteran Member
Mr Bill
Veteran Member
Oprah and zuckerberg are already trying to do that
Jan 7th: Santa Rosa, NM >> Amarillo, TX (Part 1)
Today’s weather: 50F/22F
Driving Route (Part 1):
It was cold today. Really cold. And in more than one way. But I’ll explain that in a bit. We didn’t stay long at the fuel station, just long enough for the sun to come up. I had to make the van dance and wiggle a bit to get us out of there because so many trucks were stuck there overnight during their curfew. That’s correct, “their” curfew. It seems that some states are requiring commercial vehicles be off the roads by sunset. Looks like several states are now considering the same thing for non-commercial vehicles on highways and possibly on local roads as well … or vice versa. There’s a lot of noise on the “snewz” but not much of it is making enough sense to fully believe.
We made a quick pit stop at Power Dam Falls as we headed out of Santa Rosa and then also saw Cuervo and two more ghost towns. On the way out of Santa Rosa, the route is pretty barren again, with three different ghost towns that it goes through. The ghost town of Cuervo is the most substantial with lots of structures to see. The other two ghost towns are only one to two structures as you are driving the route. At one point, we followed Route 66 under the interstate through a tight, one-lane underpass. Nesting birds that fluttered about made it feel like we were going through a cave. Luckily there was no traffic coming the other way.
Next “town” was Tucumcari. The Route 66 Museum in Tucumcari boasted a neat monument along the road which drew us in for pictures and to visit. It is filled with perfectly restored old cars and a great photographic exhibit to see. It isn’t that Lev is into cars precisely. I think it is mostly a Y-Chromosome thing. What he really likes is old cars that make fun photographic subjects. I think that is the same reason he like the old signs that he has been taking photos of.
The town of Tucumcari was one of the best Route 66 towns in New Mexico from what I could tell. We made sure to spend some time here and see some of the old signs and recreated gas stations as we drove through town. The Safari hotel was another spot. It had a neat sign depicting a camel and rider. We stopped in for a few photos. The Blue Swallow hotel was another staple on any list of Route 66 attractions according to a tour bus we crossed paths with there. It has a classic neon sign and old cars, making it a must stop.
San Jon was a small old town that was listed on the national registry of historic places with vintage garages and a few motels. We didn’t see a lot when we went through it though so it made me wonder if maybe the current circumstances had stuff closed down.
Not long after San Jon is when our day got more interesting than I was happy about.
It wasn’t till the late 1920s that Route 66 began to be paved, so for years, it was dirt or gravel. Driving this section of the road between San Jon and Glenrio was supposed to give you a feel for what it must have been like back then according to a couple of brochures that Lev had picked up. Er … fine. It was cold, dirty, and dusty. I don’t consider that nostalgic but whatever. It was a highlight for Lev, but something many people skip if they are trying to do the route fast. The gravel pinging around on the bottom of the Ark didn’t make me happy but that just meant I drover slower. I’ve driven worse in the national parks and in Alaska.
We’d stopped so Lev could take some pictures when this other car comes from behind us. I got funny feelings off of them from the get go. One, they weren’t driving the right kind of vehicle for that stretch of the road. Two, while they were male and female they didn’t give off the right kind of vibes to be a couple of any flavor. And they didn’t seem to have a long acquaintance either. They knew each other. They have a good story. But it just didn’t ring true. I sent Benny back to the Ark and locked the doors. I winked at him and he knew the drill; something was making Aunt Gus’ hamster fritzy.
When I heard a radio crackle from the woman’s purse and the guy’s “camera bag” at the same time the woman knew the jig was up but she refused to give in and kept playing their game, whatever it was.
When they pulled around us and kept on going Lev asked, “What gave them away to you?”
Turns out Lev had pegged them for cops. I told him, “Not cops, at least not local ones. Locals wouldn’t have had to be undercover like they were. Feds? Meh. If they were, not good ones. If we had been bad guys we could have shot, shoveled, and shut up and kept going. No drones that I can hear.”
“Hear? Babe …”
“When the APD isn’t in gear you know my hearing is better than normal. Drones irritate me, they make my eardrums itch … or that is how it feels. Chan tested me after I kept tugging my ear when he was using one. But that’s not the important part. What I meant is that either there wasn’t a drone or it was too high or too far away for it to register. Too high or too far away would make what they could see and hear problematic if they were cops. And they were carrying radios that went off at the same time. I haven’t seen any other vehicle and ours were the only car tracks until they came up behind us. And before you tell me my tinfoil is too tight …”
“Whoa. I wasn’t going there.”
I took a breath and shoved Hamster Dragon back in its cage. “Oh. Well good. Let’s get out of here but keep an eye out for anything strange. And let’s watch the going off road in unfamiliar territory. They weren’t local cops. I’m fairly certain they aren’t feds because they could have just used drones to keep an eye on any ‘travelers’ in a given area.”
“They could have been looking for terrorists.”
I shrugged then nodded. “Weird and stupid but possible. Still if they were they weren’t very good at what they were doing. Could be some flavor of local militia but I don’t think so, they usually go in groups of three.”
“Are you ever going to tell me?”
We hadn’t gotten in the van when I noticed there were a lot of boot tracks near the rear corner that had faced away from where I had been standing. I got angry. I was also glad I’d locked the van after putting Benny inside.
I growled, “Correction. There was a third but he or she must be good as I missed the SOB. See if you can find a car wash or something along that order before too much longer.
The road between San Jon and Endee, New Mexico is the dirt one we were traveling. Along the way, you can see the “modern bathrooms” sign on an old, abandoned bathroom in what is left of the town. This is the last thing we saw before passing into Texas.
Driving Route (Part 2):
After crossing the state line, the first town we came to was literally the first town; Glenrio, right on the border, or as close to it as makes no never mind. And Russel’s Automotive in Glenrio was the closest thing to a car wash we could find. I sent Benny with Lev to go take pictures and asked the guy in the shop if I could use one of the bays at the rear of the building to check for a rattle that has been driving me bug crap. The guy laughed and said sure, why not. He’d had a few of those rattles himself. Not to mention the town was run down and doing poorly and all but one of the bays were empty.
I pulled in and then climbed down in the bay and used a high intensity flashlight to look around. Those bastids had put not one, not two, but three trackers on the Ark. The first one was obvious … and obviously meant to throw me off if I found it. The second one was a more professional placement. The third one was damn good but so am I now that I’m leaning back on my training. I looked at the three trackers in my hand and came to a quick decision. One I flushed, one I palmed onto a cop car that was in the bay next to me getting an oil change and the other I got rid of before we hit Amarillo.
No. I don’t feel guilty. I do feel irritated. I don’t know who they were or what game they were playing but I decided we weren’t going to join their game. I kept an eye out for the remainder of the day and didn’t see anything but I’m going to be watching for the next week to see if there are any more stupid cards being handed out. I think they may have just been some flavor of local militia making sure strangers weren’t scoping something out. Maybe we were too near something, or some place, and it made them suspicious. With that same reasoning they could have been some traffickers of some flavor. Who knows but I hope they don’t get too stupid and I’ll leave it as a minor irritation.
The only other reason we stopped was so Lev could get a picture to celebrate the halfway point of our “adventure.” There is a sign there which highlights being at the midpoint of the route. I stuck my head in the café to get some privacy and deal with my anger at the three jerks that put the tags on us. I was angry enough to skip the diet restriction I normally follow for Benny and Lev’s sake but managed to control myself. But it was hard to say not to a sample the fried bologna or the “ugly pie.” The food looked and smelled really great.
Our next stop was in Vega, Texas to visit a small and interesting museum there. The Caretaker was a character (right up Lev’s alley) and we got a postcard custom printed by an 1800’s printing machine with some dust bowl dust attached to it. The place also had a Route 66 passport stamp.
Heading on from there, we made it to the Cadillac Ranch, home of the twelve Cadillacs buried nose down. This is easily one of the top five well-knowns stops on most people’s Route 66 road trip. Even I knew about Cadillac Ranch.
Trying to use my head for something other than a place to park a hat, while Lev is taking his turn driving I was looking for places to stock up. If the trackers did nothing else, they woke me out of the fog of hamster-control I’ve been working through. The big problem we are running into in that regard is that many stores are “locals only” and you have to prove your residency with ID and a piece of mail in your name from a local address. This just proves most places are ignoring the federal mandates, assuming they can get away with it. At the stores that aren’t “locals only” there is some price gouging. It is making both Lev and I a little concerned. Yeah, we’ll use that word rather than some of the ruder terms we used once Benny is asleep.
Luckily just on the other side of Cadillac Ranch there was a SAMs Club that accepted my membership card, rather than requiring any other ID. We didn’t stay in there long, the armed militia in the parking lot didn’t exactly give us warm and cozy feelings and we weren’t the only ones on edge. The mood of the other customers was not a happy one.
First “trouble” we ran into was that no one was allowed to use the flatbed carts; regular grocery carts only, and only one cart per card per day which would limit what we could pick up. Sensing a potential storm brewing that could sink our plans, I let Lev do our surveillance as there was too much general noise in the warehouse. It was creating an issue with my APD. Not the best time for that to happen but that’s why we make a good team.
Good thing that Lev has his own way of getting information; he is good at getting people to talk. He found out the no-flatbeds-and-only-one-cart rule was because yesterday there was a large brawl that broke out when “non-resident aliens” – aka illegal immigrants and green card holders – came in by the truck full right at opening and grabbed all the flatbeds and were trying to game The Limits.
Bottom line is that while some got away with some inventory – some because they were first in line and paid for it and some because they ran off with it while they were trying to lock down the store – most of the non-residents are in custody at a local ICE processing center that didn’t have any choice because it isn’t exactly totally controlled by the feds any longer. Those that were involved in the actual brawl are in the county lock up (definitely not fed controlled) until it is decided how to proceed. It is in the local news but hasn’t really hit the national news networks yet … probably intentionally … and I guess those in authority are still trying to decide what to do. There are already problems because they are finding that there are illegals in terrorist cells, or that is what Lev heard from an off-duty cop in with his wife to get groceries. Maybe that explains the trackers and maybe not. It gave me something to chew on anyway. I suppose the next hole in the boat that needs to be corked is what to do about all the green card holders currently in this country, as well as the tourists and people here on tourist and student visas, and that includes all of the HB visa holders. What a mess.
We got as much as we could but if the SAMs Club is any indication, inventories are getting slim on the shelves. Almost no paper products but we have a bunch. Lev insisted that if it even looked gluten free that we picked such items up; basically rice and beans galore but there were also a surprising number of other things like pretzel thins, Kind brand bars, gluten-free pancake and waffle mix, gluten free breakfast cereals, gluten free snacks and chips, and the like. We got some canned meats … tuna, salmon, beef chunks (not in gravy), canned hams certified gluten free. Shelf-stable milk and protein/nutrition shakes that are gluten-free which we managed to get around The Limits by getting different flavors for every flat (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and banana). Then Lev slowed down in the meat department and asked if I knew how to make jerky.
“I did it once, understand the process. Why?”
“Do you think the batteries will hold up to keep the dehydrator going?”
“Probably? Are you thinking of making some? We can probably look up the directions online.”
“I know how. It was one of the things that I did with my grandfather every year … beef and venison usually. Our Thanksgiving tradition was to bag an extra turkey and make turkey jerky.”
“Don’t we need to marinate the meat before drying it? Because if we do we need to find something besides soy to do it with. Too many condiments have gluten in them.”
My point looked to have given him a headache, but we headed back to the condiment area and what do you know, they had Kikkoman soy sauce that was gluten free and they were selling it by the gallon jug. We popped Benny out of the buggy seat and put three such jugs where he had been sitting then headed back to the butcher meat area.
While Lev was picking his cuts of meat I looked down only Benny wasn’t where Benny was supposed to be. I looked up and spotted him in time to not give the hamster a coronary. I marched over and got down in his face. “Benjamin Lawrence Barrymore, you do that again and I will tie you across the grocery buggy like a roadkill deer on the way to the taxidermist. Do you understand me?”
“Uh … sure Aunt Gus. I … er … was just reading the ingredients on the cheeses to see …”
“Don’t. Even. I already told you that if there was money left in the budget I would come over here and we’d pick out the cheese together. There are too many people in moods that are too foul for you to be playing this game. You have KP duty until I say otherwise. Got it?
He sighed, admitting defeat, and accepting the consequences he’d earned. When we got back to Lev I was surprised when he stopped what he was doing and bent down on Benny’s level.
“Look Buddy, I know you are bored. I remember what it was like having to tag along when my mother or aunt went shopping and there wasn’t much for me to do but stand around. The problem is, things are too crazy right now. We need you to stick with us. If you can’t follow the rules you are going to have to go back in the buggy like a baby.”
“Uh uh! I’m too big!”
“We thought you were. But if you keep wandering off …”
“I only went to look at the cheese.”
“And what if we had lost you in this crowd? Because you know that would have been bad. Right?”
He sighed. “I didn’t mean to.”
“You meant to walk over there without telling us. Now we are having to spend time getting you to understand rather than getting this trip over with.”
Benny got it but it makes me realize he is growing up and that means he is likely going to grow into some trouble sooner rather than later. Especially since he is a Barrymore. But for now, the situation is handled and we got in line to check out and then took way too long to try and find some way to stuff our purchases into the van in the non-existent space we had left. I got hives just looking at how things were packed. We need the trailer now but that’s not happening so just live with it hamster. I drove while Lev put the first batch of meat in the dehydrator which first required him to simmer the meat in the marinade until the meat reached 160 degrees F.
Happily that didn’t take that much time so Lev could still take his photos. On the way through Amarillo we stopped at a few old signs and motels – including the Beef Burger Barrel & Cowboy Motel – to take photos before making our way to our last tourist spot.
For our last stop of the day, Lev had booked a hotel room at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. I was surprised that the place was packed but then again, there are only so many places you can eat when you aren’t from the area. In fact, many of the usual eateries are still closed and aren’t looking to reopen until after mid-January.
Jan 7th: Santa Rosa, NM >> Amarillo, TX (Part 2)
Whether you take on their 72-ounce steak or not, the Big Texan is a great stop with a lot of roadside type attractions. Benny decided to schmooze me a little to get back in my good graces. I knew what he was doing. He knew that I knew what he was doing. Lev knew too but let our dynamic play out to see how things were going before suggesting we look at the giant rocking chair and the huge bull that are there for the tourists to ooo and ahh at. I let it pass. Benny isn’t a robot, he’s a Barrymore. He’s going to make mistakes. The question I need answered is will he make the same mistake more than once.
Both Lev and Benny knew I was letting it go and they both tried to show me a good time as a result. We walked around and enjoyed it all before our excellent steak dinner. My inner carnivore was very happy. No, I didn’t take the 72-ounce bet but it felt like I had.
Overnighted in the motel attached to the restaurant and brewery that are on site. It is only a one-star hole in the wall but it was popular. Meant we could park, eat dinner, then walk around. Lev has been watching to see if a vacancy would open and it did and he grabbed it as fast as it popped up. Our other option was the Pilot Travel Center as a boondock. Glad we didn’t have to because all of the truck stops we’ve been by seem to have their hands full with people at the pump, buying food, getting showers, etc. and I still wasn’t ready to let go the issue of the trackers even if we had found a possible explanation for it.
There are a lot of people on the road still trying to get home from holiday traveling or because they are snowbirds from the South or trying to get the last bit of traveling in before they shut the country down which the news claims they keep threatening to do. I’m glad we are on and off the interstate, snd have also mapped plenty of alternative routes. Occasionally we’ve heard they’ve closed exit and entrance ramps and that it is really screwing up people’s plans.
I think if we weren’t so tired Lev and I would be hankering for more privacy than we’ve been getting. Lev picked up some condoms because … temptation. We took a shower together despite the cold after Benny fell asleep and things nearly got out of hand. But I refuse to apologize for it and so did Lev. But at the rate things are going we’re going to need to figure things out, and quickly.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Needed more, hank you.
Jan 8th: Amarillo, TX >> Oklahoma City, OK
Driving Route (Part 1):
Feel like all I’ve done today is run from stop to stop to stop. Not a horrible day but the “snewz” hasn’t been grand. Nothing new really, more tedious in its repetition. Makes me feel Fritzy with nothing new to chew over so it is like we are covering the same ground over and over with no better results.
The VW Slug Bug Ranch was our first real stop on today’s route, and it was something we didn’t even know was there. The ranch was much like the Cadillac ranch on the other side of town, except that it had VW bugs instead. There was not any information about it, but it made Lev and Benny laugh so it was worth it. Lev doesn’t realize how serious he looks once he is sure that Benny is asleep. I do. It makes me feel bad that I can’t help him but Grandma Barry used to tell me that men had to be men and most of the time all us females could do was stay out of the way while they were doing it.
Our next stop was something we could see coming for miles; Groom Cross. It is a 19-story, 2.5 million pound, steel cross with along the base, many statues showing the life and death of Jesus Christ. A sign-thingie explained that it took eight months and more than one hundred welders to complete it. Each year over ten million people drive by the cross, many of them stopping if only for a few moments.
From solemn to silly. Often known as the leaning tower of Texas, there was this crooked water tower we saw from a distance before turning into a viewpoint of it. It was used to draw in travelers to a truck stop nearby. The truck stop is out of business and long gone, but the tower remains, and it is a favorite stop for many along this portion of the route.
Driving Route (Part 2):
In the town of McLean, Texas, there was a museum that had a small but significant exhibit on Route 66 and an extensive exhibit on barbed wire. Yeah, I said barbed wire. Also known as Devil’s Rope. And a few other things. Supposedly it was barbed wire that tamed the West. The barbed wire portion of the museum was huge.
In the same town there were a couple of old, renovated to preserve vintage authenticity, service stations. They were worth a stop for photos so we did.
Then came the U Drop-In Café. Built in 1936 and known as the Tower Station, it is an iconic building on Route 66. Or so Lev told me and Benny excitedly. Benny’s eyes got big and he joined in the “oooh, aaah” with Lev. I … uh … played along. Like I’ve said, I’m pretty sure this is a Y-Chromosome thing. The building is so well known that it was in the Cars movie and “Cars Land” in Disney’s California Adventure. I wasn’t getting it but sometimes that’s how life rolls for me. The cafe is a museum and shop now with no food, but it did serve Elvis when he drove Route 66. Once Lev told me that it became a little more interesting for me. A little. And it was a great last stop in Texas.
We crossed into Oklahoma and in the town of Erick, Sand Hill Curiosity Shop is one of those places Lev just didn’t want to miss. It is home to Harley, who was the inspiration for Mater in the Cars movie. The place was crazy from the inside to the out. It had an overwhelming amount of stuff to see. The only thing is that the stories about Harley are not always family-friendly so I distracted Benny while Lev got an earful.
Another place we stopped with the Beckham County Courthouse. Why? For the historical marker there. If you are a fan of the Grapes of Wrath movie, the courthouse was shown was a back drop in one of the scenes.
Next up, in Elk City we visited one of two Route 66 museums back-to-back. The first one had more interactive exhibits with cars you can sit in, movies to watch, and even a fire station pole you can slide down. Outside it has one of the largest Route 66 signs in the world as well.
The next museum, this one in Clinton, was probably the most professional and well done we’ve been to on the route. It was not free like the others, but it was worth its price of admission. It had a ton of exhibits. Some of the highlights were the photos of the route (Lev really liked to look at these) and the presentation that showed old footage people gave them from their Route 66 drives. Outside there was a hot dog stand exhibit that was pretty cool as well.
It was about dinner time for us, so we decided to head to Lucille’s Roadhouse and grab some food. This is a “new” place that was named after a famous old gas station only a few miles further down the road. It was like a typical sit-down spot, but the food was pretty good. And I was feeling good until I went to the ladies’ room and saw “Beth,” the woman from what I called the tracker group, coming out only the other woman with her called her “Brenda.” I knew I hadn’t gotten the name wrong that she gave me so hearing her called something different made me even more leery of who she might be.
They didn’t see me as it was dim down the hall to the restrooms and I stood back in an even darker shadow. I watched them go over to a table in a corner where I saw two guys, neither of whom were the one that was with Beth/Brenda on the dirt road. In fact, as I watched, it didn’t look like a work meeting but a real date which may be why she hadn’t noticed us … she wasn’t looking for us.
I took care of business and then got back to our table, going the long way around to leave the building.
Lev was looking concerned having picked up a message from my eyes and once Benny was once again busy licking the last of his plate up (I didn’t call him on his manners) he asked, “Everything okay?”
Quietly I mouthed, “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”
After we left he asked, “Something happen in there?”
“I saw the woman. Beth. But the woman with her called her Brenda. Looked to be on a legit double date with a couple of guys that wasn’t the one we saw. Maybe the other one. Maybe not. Looks like they are local enough though that I can stop worrying they might be feds after all.”
“Er …”. I looked at him and he said, “Don’t think I don’t believe you. Just I’ve never seen you get like this.”
I shrugged. “Does it … uh … bother you?”
He glanced in the rear-view mirror and gave a thumbs up to Benny who had headphones on. Turning back to look at me he said, “No. Definitely not. Kinda sexy to be honest.”
I almost choked. “Sexy?”
“Yeah. And I’ll explain how sexy …”. He sighed. “When we get a little privacy.”
I had to grin. Honestly. I did.
For more photos we headed to the building that the restaurant got its name from. It was an old service station was from the 1920s, and it is famous along Route 66. It wasn’t open, but it was cool to see from the outside. Or at least it was a distraction for the hamster. I’m really not that concerned anymore, not that I had been to begin with. Two of the three weren’t good at what they were trying to pull off. The third one was, boot size indicating #3 was a male, but then again, not that good that he hadn’t given himself away allowing me to find the stupid trackers. The fact that he got that close to the van with Benny in it was my own fault and would not be happening again. The only thing I can say is thanks to them I am fully “in mode,” something I haven’t been for a long time, maybe since I left school.
Thinking about it I might have tried to put that all behind me too much, cut a part of myself out thinking I had to sacrifice it for Benny and Penny. And for a time maybe I did. But Lev is here to balance that side of me out. It is a think I need to have with myself.
We drove over the William H. Murray Bridge. It was over 4,000 feet long featuring multiple trusses. It was hard to get a good photo, but it is fun to drive over. It made a satisfying kachunk-kachunk-kachunk as we drove across it.
We were racing the sunset, so we made our way to El Reno, and just stopped in the downtown square and took a few photos before heading on. On the way out of El Reno, there was an old flour building that was great for photos as well. Lev said it reminded him of a similar mill in this place called Hopkinsville, KY. Then there was the Milk Bottle Building in Oklahoma City. It is another one of those “iconic Route 66 photo spots”. You can’t go in the small corner building, but you could park at the Walgreens next door and take some photos. The milk bottle is unusual to see, and it has been there for over 100 years according to a sign-thingie in the parking lot. On the outskirts of Oklahoma City was a broken down Old West Trading post. I am not sure whether it is still in business at all, but it wa worth stopping for a few quick photos regardless. It may have been made to look as old as it was, hard to say. Another quick stop was this really small gas station that was being renovated, or the realty sign said it was. Mostly it was just neat to look at.
As the sun was fading, we made it to the Lake Overholser Bridge, another famous bridge on the route and stopped in the park that it was attached to take a few photos. Even I could tell it made for a pretty picture with the sun setting over the bridge.
We decided that we needed to do the drive to Pops Soda Shop even though we were getting tired. This place needs to be experienced at night, and since this was the only night we would be here, we didn’t want to miss it. It was easily worth the drive as the LED soda bottle outside of the shop is about four stories tall (66 feet and weighing 4 tons), and it changes colors continually, making it a great place to visit at night.
And oh. My. Gosh. We were going to just fill up with fuel for the van since it was right there and then run inside for a quick look. There. Is. No. Such. Thing. Do you have any idea what more than 700 flavors of soda pop looks like?! I remember in high school my friends and I would sometimes run to the Soda Emporium or Rocket Fizz to see what the grossest flavor of soda was and then dare each other to drink it. I regaled Lev and Benny with the stories of when we drank Corn on the Cob flavor, Turkey & Gravy flavor, Celery flavor, Green Bean Casserole flavor, and I was going to continue naming them as I remembered them but that last one nearly gakked Benny out. He doesn’t think green beans should be “covered with gross stuff” and prefers them as nature meant for them to be … cooked just until the squeak goes away.
Lev didn’t know whether to believe me or not until he saw a few of these special flavors amongst the semi-normal ones and looked at me like I was hiding something in my past he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. I gave him my patented evil grin and he shuddered dramatically. I’m pretty sure he was just fooling. Pretty sure anyway. He still insisted on buying a case of 24 of the various flavors to share at a later date. And I do not even want to record how much time he and Benny spent on the wall of old-fashioned candies figuring out which ones they could eat, and which ones were a no-go. The only thing I had to say is none of it better have red dye in it or I wouldn’t be answerable for the consequences. They laughed. Little did they know I wasn’t kidding.
We are staying in an Embassy Suites tonight. I did my best not to squeak at the expense, but Lev understood.
“Babe, the area is booked up or I would have looked for something else. On the plus side though, the parking lot has security and there is a free hot breakfast in the morning. There’s also a chance at a little … er … privacy.”
Okay, it was the last that really sold me on it. So sue me. And yes, I plan on letting him explain how sexy he finds me.
Resources:
https://www.pops66.com/soda-ranch/
Jan 9th: Oklahoma City, OK >> Tulsa, OK
Weather: 45F/23F
Driving Route (Part 1):
Stayed cool to cold all day today. It started out well however, as the hot breakfast really was a hot breakfast. Scrambled eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, home fries, fruit, all the coffee Lev could handle and all the milk that Benny and I could drink. Yum. And we got there right as the breakfast bar opened and we kept eating until we were full. And both Benny and Lev were hysterical when I brought them some syrup and told them they should dunk their bacon and pretend it was a crispy French toast stick. We finally got out of there and back on the road.
On the outskirts of Oklahoma City is the 1880 Territorial School. This school was the first in the county and also where the county’s first wedding took place. It is only open one day a week, but there are some sign-thingies you can look at outside.
The Arcadia Round Barn was another of the famous Route 66 stops in Oklahoma. The barn is two stories and built in 1898. A sign-thingie explained that it is an “engineering marvel” that even the most unastute carpenters will be impressed with. Count me unastute. I can do home repairs with the best of them but this place was amazing. And round. Did I mention round? The second story featured a massive wooden dome and all three of us said “wow” when we walked into it.
Along the road, Lev had me slow down as we past a collection of stone walls that I would have missed or ignored. It was the ruins of an old gas station with an interesting history. It that had a back room that was used for counterfeiting. There is a small sign-thingie that tells you about the story.
Another gas station in the area was call Threatt’s. It is a historic building that was built in 1915 and was a house style service station, but there is not really much to see here now. It is still standing but the real estate sign on it looked ancient. If I had to guess it is full of mold or asbestos and outdated wiring that means it would cost a heck of a lot of money to rehab. But because it has a historical designation it can’t just be bulldozed. It will probably still be for sale when Benny has grandkids, assuming it is still standing.
Despite the large breakfast all three of us were hungry. I think it is the cold weather and their fast metabolism. I have a slower metabolism despite the kind description of being of “athletic” build. I will admit that the food at Butcher’s BBQ stand was good. Really good. It has been around for decades and deserves its reputation. It has won a ton of awards for Best in Nation. If you are ready for lunch (and it is open) then you really should stop here on your way through.
Lev gave me a kiss and I knew something was up. He had ordered for us ahead of time and it turned out to be the “Meat Locker” which is a family meal with all the traditional meats as well as three sides; brisket, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, turkey, and sausage links. Corn muffins were the bread and the sides were apple pie beans, cole slaw, and a pint of pickles and onions. In addition to the Meat Locker, Lev ordered another pint of apple pie beans, a gallon of sweet tea, a gallon of lemonade, and this plate of mess called Rednexican Nachos. The nachos were tri-color corn chips, white queso, corn and bean medley, BBQ sauce (homemade and gluten free), fresh cilantro, and a mix of brisket, shredded chicken, and pulled pork. Not only did we have BBQ for lunch but we had enough for dinner as well. And we’ll be having it for at least one meal tomorrow on top of that. And before I forget to note it, Lev’s batches of jerky are turning out really well.
Our first stop after lunch was one of the Meramec Caverns signs. It was coming up on the route into Missouri, and we saw signs like this that farmers were paid to paint on their barns. Lev said it reminded him of the old “See Rock City” signs that were still around when he was a kid. There are not many left, for Meramec Caverns or Rock City, but the one that Lev got for his records is a great one to see if you want an example of what used to be on the route.
The large stone building in the middle of the town of Chandler belongs to the armory which was built in the early 1900s. The armory has an “interpretive Route 66 museum,” but I am not sure what that means. I will say it is a fun quick stop though and they have a lot of photos and videos that talk about the route. You can sit in theater seating, or even lay on the provided beds and watch the movie playing above you. Have you ever seen anything like this at a museum before? I sure as heck haven’t and Benny and I have been to more than a few over the last couple of years.
There have been a lot of gas stations that were restored and that you can visit along the route. There were a couple between the museum and our next stop that Lev had me slow down so he could take photos of
The Rock Cafe is a popular lunch spot in Stroud, OK. We didn’t eat there but we poked our head in, and it smelled good. The building was constructed in 1939, closed for a while and then reopened in 2009 and has been going gangbusters ever since. They also have a gift shop in the building it is connected to and a beautiful old neon sign out front which is really what Lev had been after.
In the town of Bristow, you can see a large Plymouth Chrysler sign which is attached to one of the telephone poles in the middle of the city. It was a good spot for a quick photo of an old sign. We were running out of time so we had to skip the next car museum, but we did stop by the massive old gas pump that is probably 40 feet tall outside of the museum. It was a surprise for Lev which made him feel good. He said it is a bit like treasure hunting to get interesting photos that he doesn’t have to edit too much or use special filters. He’s a “natural” photographer, preferring his subjects to be less CGI or filtered and more realistic. I still wonder if the museum was as cool as that giant gas pump was but we had to hurry and head into Tulsa.
Driving Route (Part 2):
From there, we headed into Tulsa which, according to Lev and his brochures, is one of the best cities on the route to experience the Route 66 revitalization. Tulsa is trying to keep the road going with lots of fun things to see in the city related to Route 66, including old signs, art, and a Route 66 food hall.
We were mostly just driving around trying to give Lev time to find any vacancies. First, we went to the East Meets West Statue at the 11st Street Bridge and the the Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza. The sculpture in the plaza called “East meets West” was commissioned to showcase the two modes of transportation that were used to make the drive on Route 66 over the years; horse and buggy and some old-timey looking car. It is a great example of a sculpture that preserves the history, and I enjoyed seeing it in Tulsa.
Then the Meadow Gold which is another historic Route 66 sign. It is in great condition and it has two sides, both of which have been well preserved. Lev took photos of it from several angles. Two minutes from the Meadow Gold sign is the Buck Atom Space Cowboy, which is like the popular muffler men on the route but a new take on them.
It is at this point that Lev finally got a place for the night, but he wasn’t happy with it.
“Sorry Babe.”
“For what? It’ll be about like boondocking, or those places in Vegas.”
He sighed. “It doesn’t have great ratings for it to be an RV park.”
“Relax. It has a dump station included in the price and laundry facilities.”
“Gus it is going to be cold, freezing even. They say the building is unheated.”
“Guess that means I won’t be fighting people to use the machines.”
A little grumpy he said, “You don’t need to be Susie Sunshine. I screwed up.”
“One,” I snorted a laugh. “When have ever known me to play at being Susie Sunshine? Two? You did not screw up. You are tired and stressed. We both are. But we are making the best of things so well that not even Benny has noticed. He isn’t trying to pacify us or anything and normally he would if he was worried … and he’s not. So I’m not. I’ve got confidence in you Admiral.”
He looked and at first must have thought that I was overplaying my hand or making fun but luckily he figured out quickly I wasn’t. He relaxed a bit but still sighed before saying, “Let’s go to this place called Mother Road Market. I know, I know. We don’t need more food given all the BBQ that is left over but we can at least look around and see if there is any news that we aren’t picking up on the radio. Then we can drive by the Oil Driller statue and from there it isn’t that far to the RV Park. We’ll divvy up duties from there.”
That’s what we did.
The tourist brochures say if you are looking for lunch or dinner in Tulsa, head to the Mother Road Market. I can believe it. The food hall has dozens of places to choose from and a Route 66 vibe with signs and art on the walls that perked Lev up. Plus, they have an outdoor mini-golf course where each of the holes has a famous stop on Route 66 as a hazard. I was too full to really enjoy the smell of the food court, but it was what Lev called “visually appealing” and I ok’d a peanut butter milkshake for Benny. Where he puts all of the food he is eating is beyond me. As Grandmother Barry would say, he is hollow from the feet up, just like Lawrence could be.
Tully’s looked like another good restaurant. It is in a historic building and has wrapped neon lighting. We didn’t eat there, but we did stop for photos.
Our last stop of the day was at the giant oil driller statue which is a Tulsa landmark. While not on Route 66, it was a quick detour to see this 75-foot-tall gold man that was put in in the 1950s. It also wasn’t far from our final destination.
The RV park looked pretty nice from the outside and the staff was great, but once you got beyond the gates it was pretty clear this was definitely a place utilized primarily by resident workers. Mostly males and definitely working class. They were bedding down for the night, if they hadn’t already done so, and the trash barrels were full of take-out containers.
Lev kept Benny in the van and I took our clothes to the laundry. There were two other women there, both Spanish, but they were keeping to themselves. Didn’t stop me from listening into their conversation. Bottom line seems to be that they are having trouble finding stores that will sell to them because they can’t prove residency, not even with their pay stub. It is forcing them to buy everything from the food trucks and delivery vans which is more expensive. It gave me pause and I talked to Lev about it when I got back despite the fact that he was editing which is usually try not to interrupt. We both agreed that we needed to stay focused on supplies as we can find them.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Nice additions, thank you. Now me, I would hot foot it home lol.
kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I would have been hot footing it home earlier. But I get what they are doing. And it seems to work for them.
Jan 10th: Tulsa, OK >> Carthage, MO
Weather for the day: 68/29
Driving Route (Part 1):
Freaking bipolar mess. Woke up this morning and it was … get this … warm. I mean really warm. After freezing my tailfeathers off last night. Everywhere we turn people keep stepping outside and turning in circles like they couldn’t figure out what was going on. Heading northeast the temp got up to 68F. Seriously what the heck kinda weather. Then in Carthage where we’ve stopped for the night it has dropped back down to freezing. Somebody needs to give Mother Nature a check up from the neck up. Bizarre doesn’t even begin to describe it. Grandma Barry used to call certain weather extremes “pneumonia weather.” I’m beginning to understand what she means. Getting Benny to keep at least his sleeves pulled down was an exercise in frustration. He wanted to wear shorts. Geez.
Getting on the road this morning was interesting. Someone in their infinite stupidity had blocked the entrance and exit of the motel and being surrounded on three sides there was no way to escape. On top of that they had engaged their emergency break. We needed to go. And we weren’t the only ones. No one know who the car belonged to. The concierge … well, not really what he was, just the guy at the front desk of the motel … claimed that it didn’t belong to anyone staying there because there wasn’t a parking pass. Okay, time to think outside the box.
“Who has a jack? A hydraulic jack. Any of you guys in trucks? Particularly good if the thing has wheels. Anybody?”
A guy about my age started snickering first. I could have done without the “if you don’t want her I’ll take her” crap that started but whatever. Between the van’s jack and three of the heavy duty trucks we had four jacks under the car and had it up and moved in less that ten minutes and we all piled back into our vehicles and headed out fast. Two of the trucks headed in the opposite direction from us and one out way until they banked off to get on the interstate.
I was playing with the radio then hit an oldies station that was playing Elvis’ “Hound Dog.”
“Perfect.”
Lev started wheezing and … well, nothing was said but obviously my husband thinks I have talents. The only thing he did say was, “How much trouble did you get into in school?”
“Er … depends on who you ask. I hate bullies and stupid people that are stupid on purpose. Especially when they tried to take their stupid out on my friends or on people that couldn’t defend themselves.”
He coughed.
Then I said, “And yes, it was necessary to put that car between those two concrete posts. It’ll be lesson that you don’t play stupid and block people in just because you can’t find a spot on the street to park.”
He kept sputtering, trying not to laugh. I shrugged. Sometimes life is what it is … and sometimes you help it along.
After getting on the road and figuring out where everything was that Lev wanted to see, we started our drive by heading to the Blue Dome. This building was built in 1924, and it was unique because of the dome structure, with the attendant living in the dome. There wasn’t much to see there anymore, though. On the way out of Tulsa, we stopped at the Circle Theater for a photo as it has been there since 1928. It is still used as a movie theater today, but we didn’t get to go inside as it was not open.
Also on the way out of town, we entered a roundabout and saw the Route 66 Rising art installation. It was not easy to access since it was in the roundabout, but it was a cool example of what Route 66 is like in Tulsa.
Ever heard of the “Blue Whale of Catoosa”? If you know nothing about Route 66, you likely still have seen this whale. It has been movies and tv shows for years. I’ll be honest and thought it was another one of those strange things that Lev finds interesting. Well, Lev and now Benny who seems to think Lev’s interests are natural. A sign-thingie explained that Hugh Davis built the whale as an anniversary gift for his wife in the early 1970s. For a while, the lake was open for swimming, and people stopped to slide off the whale into the water. You cannot swim there anymore, what isn’t considered safe, but you can explore the area and walk through the whale to its tail.
Heading on, we stopped at the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, OK. Route 66 is known as the Will Rogers Memorial Highway, so it was worth stopping at the museum to learn more about the man. I didn’t know a lot about him myself, but Lev did because of his grandfather. The museum is well done with lots of exhibits and videos you can watch.
After leaving the museum, we made a short detour off Route 66 to Chelsea, OK, which is the home of Totem Pole Park. This 19-acre park features many different totem poles and other pieces of art from this guy named Ed Galloway, and it claims that it has the world’s largest concrete totem pole. The totem polls are very impressive, and I wouldn’t doubt that claim. It was about 4 miles off Route 66 but put a checkmark on Lev’s list.
Ku Ku Burger is well known in this section of Route 66 because of its historic sign. We didn’t eat here, but we stopped to take a few photos.
Next up was the town of Commerce, the town where Mickie Mantle grew up. You can still see his childhood home, and you can see a statue of him near the baseball field. If you are a baseball fan, then these two spots are great places to see. I didn’t realize it but Lev used to play baseball. Apparently there is still plenty of interesting things to learn about each other.
Across the street from one of the many historic gas stations along Route 66 is the Dairy King. Dairy King has been here for decades making food and Route 66 cookies. We spent 30 minutes just chatting with the owners about Route 66. No cookies for us but it was still a little early in the date to do any kind of meal. Not to mention we needed to keep moving.
From here, Route 66 crosses into Kansas, but we were only in Kansa for twelve miles. The first town you will get to in Kansas is Baxter Springs, and they have a couple of stops. Cafe on the Route is a restaurant that is housed in an old bank building that Jesse James once robbed. It wasn’t open. Still interesting even though I had to take the time to explain to Benny who Jesse James was. A few blocks away was another one of those recreated gas stations. It is the home of the Route 66 Kansas Welcome Center, but it was also closed
Known as the Rainbow Bridge, this is probably the main Route 66 attraction in Kansas. The bridge was built in 1923, and you can only drive on it in one direction now. We stopped for some pictures and to read the sign-thingie.
When we got to the town of Riverton, we made a stop at the Williams’ Store. It was built in 1925, and it is still a functioning store today. There are lots of historical items and photos on the wall inside. We grabbed a couple bags of ice for the cooler to keep the meat from spoiling until Lev can finish all the jerky he is making. But that is about all we could buy because technically he is only supposed to sell to locals. The ice wasn’t food so he said since we seemed like a nice young couple … and as we had cash … he’d do it for us.
Galena was the last town before leaving Kansas. We stopped at this museum as it looked interesting, but it was closed, and we only got to see the mining equipment from the outside.
A few blocks off Route 66 in that same area is “Cars on the Route,” which is another old gas station turned café, and that one has capitalized on the Cars movies as well. It is an entertaining stop though, especially for Benny, and it had some of the best Cars inspired vehicles that we saw. We were there for a half an hour but we needed to get on the road.
In the Galena Park near Cars on the Route, we saw a Will Rogers Memorial Plaque and from there we left the area and crossed over into Missouri.
Driving Route (Part 2):
Heading on into Missouri, we made a detour to Grand Falls, south of Joplin. The news said there had been a lot of rain the previous few days, so we knew the waterfall would be flowing, and it was pretty crazy to see how much it was rushing. But it was once again getting cold so we didn’t stand out there watching it for very long.
After that, we headed on towards Carthage, which is where our hotel was for the night. On the way, we saw the large praying hands roadside attraction, and we stopped to walk up to them. Continuing on, there was what looked like an old drive-in movie theater on the outskirts of Carthage. It may have been a drive-in a couple times a month but what it was most of the time was a flea market but it was closed for the season according to a hand stenciled sign at the gate.
Lev was upset that we were once again bookdocking, this time on the motel strip. After Benny went to sleep with the sound cancelling headphones on and on a cot the motel provided for free due to his age, Lev and I sat down and looked over the remaining itinerary trying to tuck things in here and there. We hadn’t been able to find a single grocery that wasn’t “locals only” which made us both twitchy. The distance we are going to drive tomorrow isn’t long but it will get us to Springfield which is another major stop on our route.
Part of me wants to drive straight to the River House and hole up until we have things figured out but (1) we have to stop in Bumpus Mills, (2) we have to stop in Jacksonville, and (3) we need to avoid suspicion and (4) Lev is doing this so he has some photos to sell which is important to him. As we’ve driven, there have been several check points where it is obvious they are photographing license plates. I haven’t mentioned it before because I wasn’t sure I was seeing what I thought, but people are being pulled over. I know, sounds completely normal. What I mean is that they are pulled over not far from one of the checkpoints or it looks like they are being searched out and pulled over as other people were obviously driving more egregiously. On the news tonight they are talking about people getting in serious – as in felonious – trouble for not following the travel plans they filed with the fed gov and their travel permits are being rescinded until “no illegal activity can be determined.” Dad used to call those types of law enforcement agencies very rude names. As a trucker he had to deal with a lot of crap.
I will admit in this log that my natural concern is trying to push its way into hamster worry territory. But I will hold it together for Benny. I will hold it together for Lev. Just no one better get in my space without my permission. It would not be healthy for them at this point. I want to pull in our defenses and secure a location. Bad things are coming. I feel it. I hear it, especially in things that aren’t being said.