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Day Seven
Onward through Texas and into New Mexico.
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We left Elk City and had breakfast at Deb’s Diner in Sayre, OK. This was the quintessential Route 66 diner. All of the patrons, except for us, appeared to be regular customers who ate there often and got their local news while having breakfast. Rick and I realized, after we had finished about half of our meal, that we were the only men in the place who didn’t eat with our hats on. Regional customs are very important if you want to fit in. |
Much of Route 66 across the Texas panhandle exists as discontinuous pieces of the old roadway, each piece with a barricade at the ends and a sign stating “road closed”. It would have been better to obliterate the old road than to leave these cracked, weed-filled reminders of a earlier time. Some of the old road exists as the main street through many, impoverished towns. Of the 180 miles of Interstate across the panhandle, there are fewer than 20 exits to access the small towns.
| About 15 miles across the Texas border we entered Shamrock, TX, home of the U-DROP INN Cafe and gas station. |
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Built in 1936, it is one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture on all of Route 66. Although our guidebook said it was still in operation, such was not the case. Rick and I had a reoccurring feeling of dread that many of the historical places along the route would eventually fall into ruin and disappear. We had experienced many examples of this during our trip. Incidentally, several months after the trip I read that Texas, along with the National Rte. 66 Federation, was supplying sufficient funds to refurbish and open the INN. Great news for the “roadies”.
We stopped in Amarillo at the Goldenlight Cafe for a gigantic cheeseburger & fries. I have never seen french fries float before. If the 2cv had needed any oil, I could have drained my plate into the engine. Of course, we had a few beers to cut the grease.
Just west of Amarillo is Cadillac Ranch, a sort of a Detroit Stonehenge.
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Rick likes paintings on velvet of floral bouquets and I like to see a 2x4 leaning against a stuffed Iguana which has a SPAM can in its mouth. As I’ve said before, some of us are meat and potatoes guys and some of like chili dogs, liver and Iguanas with SPAM cans in their mouths. Rick and I crawled over, around and through each car and wrote our names on the cars with spray cans of paint left by previous vandals, eh, artists. It has been a work in progress since the day it was opened to the public and I feel privileged to have left my mark, however briefly, on this historic work of art. Rick, being a dedicated motorhead, tried to do a tune-up on car number 3. |
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About 20 miles short of the New Mexico border we passed through Adrian, TX, the geo-mathematical center of Route 66.
1,139 miles down, 1,139 miles to go!
We drove through Tucumcari, NM and into Santa Rosa for the night. After a great Mexican meal, a few hours of Olympics, it was off to bed.
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