Gettin' Our Kicks.... on 66

In the week and a half we've been in the States, we've spent each and every day exploring many a tourist attraction in between the long drives between hotels. But today, the drive was the attraction, as we spent the best part of 9 hours on the "Mother Road".

We joined the 66 almost immediately after leaving our hotel at 10am this morning. Deciding to leave the TomTom in the trunk, and relying on our map-reading skills - and a lot of luck - our attempts to traverse the legendary road began fairly smoothly, and without much error. The road followed a fairly decently tarmac'd route out of Joplin and on toward Kansas - the State which we would be spending the least amount of time in, during our whole trip - just 14 miles infact. A glorious white bridge greeted us along this stretch of road, and due to the lack of traffic, we were able to take avantage of a photo opportunity, shown below.

The fourteen mile stretch in Kansas brought us into the State of Oklahoma, and to an almost abrubt halt - as we soon discovered just how difficult Route 66 can be to follow. A seemingly ordinary stretch of highway suddenly descended into a decaying mess of a track, laden with gravel and pot-holes, with little or no suggestion that we were still on the fabled road which we were attempting to follow. Help from a kindly farmer assured us that we were on the correct path, but it came with a warning, that the road gets "a lot worse" in places further into the State, and on into Texas. Mercifully, the rough section which we had found, opened back onto well-paved roads after only a few miles, and we continued to push on into Oklahoma State through towns such as Miami, and Chelsea.

Despite the farmer's warnings, the route was kind to us on the rest of journey down to Oklahoma City, in which we stayed faithful to the Route, with the exception of a quick detour through Tulsa on the Interstate. Oklahoma is littered with turnpikes (toll-roads), yet we managed to avoid them all by following 66. During the morning we drove the car with the top down, as you of course should do when getting your kicks on the fabled highway, but as morning turned into afternoon, it quickly became clear that the weather was turning abusively hot! Temperatures were somewhere in the low to mid 40s, and was pretty oppressive to say the least. On our days on the Interstate this heat would escape us because we were constantly on the move, but with traffic lights, and stop signs every few miles on Route 66, stopping the car briefly would cause us to feel like we were on the edge of boiling point. After stopping for a burrito for lunch, we put the roof up, and switched the air-con on - and kept it this way till we reached our hotel later that evening.

Route 66 itself was a welcome respite from the mundane Interstate roads we'd been driving along over the past 10 days. The roads were still ridiculously straight, but the hills, and occasional twists and turns made it a far more enjoyable drive. The small towns that we passed through were a bit of shock though. The USA is the richest country in the world, and to see the desolation, and deprevation that has befallen these backwater places, you suddenly become acutely aware of the economical divide between the big cities, and the small towns. Empty buildings, closed businesses and battered old cars lined every street, most notably because of the declassification of Route 66, and the change of truck routes to the larger Interstates. Those businesses that do survive, do so almost entirely on the basis of the 66 tourist trade, with many claiming to be "genuine" or "authentic" historical landmarks. It's as difficult to decipher who is telling the truth as much as it is navigating your way along the road itself.

Later in the day we arrived in Oklahoma City, and headed downtown. We were in for a shock, as the streets were almost entirely deserted. No-one seemed to want to venture out on the Sunday after 4th July. We visited the Myriad Botanical Gardens and it's Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, which we found unremarkable at best. The most interesting thing was when Adam was told there was a "Tripod Charge" for the Conservatory, which was $25. Now considering the entry for a person was $6, we thought that was pretty steep, so the left the tripod outside.

Oklahoma just didn't do it for us after such a long drive, so we decided to drive another hour toward Clinton, where we were reliably informed a rather good Route 66 Museum was located. It was late so the place was shut, but we crossed over to a hotel on the other side of the road, and checked in for the night. We were relieved to find that it had a self-serve laundry, and as we did the loads of washing we so desperately needed to have cleaned, we headed for a pizza, and discussed what was in-store for us in the next couple of days - namely Texas!



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Now playing: The Rolling Stones - Route 66
via FoxyTunes

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM ROUTE 66 PART 1 HERE