Ann's Bit:
We have been in Dallas visiting family and resting. I got together with my best school buddy from FIFTH GRADE! Left today, Wednesday, the 8th to drive to Oklahoma City, OK, where we picked up Route 66 again and drove as far as Weatherford, OK. Oklahoma actually still uses Route 66, (OK 66), so fewer vintage buildings still stand. The road is kept in good condition and traffic moves right along. It parallels Interstate 44 at this point.
Today's drive was lovely. I finally broke out the video camera to film the road, the scrub oaks, and distant green hills. No boredom so far! Sore butts, but not bored.
An observation. Shopping on Route 66 is the pits! Souvenirs are pathetic! Where is capitalism when you want it? And cars out here are all white. grey. beige. Very few reds, BRIGHT blue, etc. People are very friendly. No one walks. We get the strangest looks on our evening walk, few cross walks, not walking friendly here.
Today's drive was lovely. I finally broke out the video camera to film the road, the scrub oaks, and distant green hills. No boredom so far! Sore butts, but not bored.
An observation. Shopping on Route 66 is the pits! Souvenirs are pathetic! Where is capitalism when you want it? And cars out here are all white. grey. beige. Very few reds, BRIGHT blue, etc. People are very friendly. No one walks. We get the strangest looks on our evening walk, few cross walks, not walking friendly here.
Ben's Bit: (pic above: Benny, his mother Johnnie, Aunt Billy, Uncle Bobby)
We leave Dallas and head back for Oklahoma City. The drive through the Texas-Oklahoma border area is rolling, green, and full of the scrub brush and stunted trees as in much of north Texas.
At Oklahoma City, we decide to head west to Weatherford, OK. Along the way, we pass through Bethany and select the dog-leg detour over another 1920s steel truss bridge near Overholser Lake. Next is the town of Yukon, with its massive grain elevator emblazoned with the logo: “Yukon’s Best Flour”. Yukon sits right on the Chisolm Trail, a major conduit for cattle drives from Texas heading for the railroad in Kansas during the late 1800s. Beyond Yukon lies El Reno and the splendid 1933 “pony” bridge near Hinton Junction. This bridge is made up of 38 small “pony” trusses in series to span the wide estuary created by the South Canadian River (Canadian? Eh?).
Beyond Hinton Junction lies a splendid stretch of 1930s concrete roadway with built-in curbs. It is arrow-straight toward the town of Hydro and lopes over hill and dale producing a thump-thump rhythm in our floorboard as we cross the seam between successive, 16-foot sections of the roadway. The road is never more than a quarter mile from Interstate 40, yet it seems to be in another world. We see hawks hunting in the fields, cattle grazing close to the road, and a succession of farms and barns and giant rolls of hay.
Nearing Weatherford, we stop to take photos of Lucille’s, a former roadhouse and café that has recently been restored to its original appearance by a sympathetic new owner. Next to our hotel in Weatherford, we find the NEW Lucille’s restaurant, named for the now departed Lucille Hamons, who founded the original with her husband, Carl, in 1941.
At Oklahoma City, we decide to head west to Weatherford, OK. Along the way, we pass through Bethany and select the dog-leg detour over another 1920s steel truss bridge near Overholser Lake. Next is the town of Yukon, with its massive grain elevator emblazoned with the logo: “Yukon’s Best Flour”. Yukon sits right on the Chisolm Trail, a major conduit for cattle drives from Texas heading for the railroad in Kansas during the late 1800s. Beyond Yukon lies El Reno and the splendid 1933 “pony” bridge near Hinton Junction. This bridge is made up of 38 small “pony” trusses in series to span the wide estuary created by the South Canadian River (Canadian? Eh?).
Beyond Hinton Junction lies a splendid stretch of 1930s concrete roadway with built-in curbs. It is arrow-straight toward the town of Hydro and lopes over hill and dale producing a thump-thump rhythm in our floorboard as we cross the seam between successive, 16-foot sections of the roadway. The road is never more than a quarter mile from Interstate 40, yet it seems to be in another world. We see hawks hunting in the fields, cattle grazing close to the road, and a succession of farms and barns and giant rolls of hay.
Nearing Weatherford, we stop to take photos of Lucille’s, a former roadhouse and café that has recently been restored to its original appearance by a sympathetic new owner. Next to our hotel in Weatherford, we find the NEW Lucille’s restaurant, named for the now departed Lucille Hamons, who founded the original with her husband, Carl, in 1941.
2 comments:
Walking is for commies! True-blue Americans ALWAYS drive their American v-8 guzzle-monsters EVERYWHERE, even to the 7-11 on the corner to pick up dinner.
Great shots! Wow - you are having wonderful weather it seems. I love that the bluemobile shows up in so many of the pictures :).
Post a Comment