A required stop for us along Route 66 near Tulsa was The Blue Whale of Catoosa. It is kitsch at its best with an interesting history. It was a good place to stop and have an on-the-go breakfast and to take a few photos.
This is probably the last “postcard” I’ll post, but I have lots more photos to share over the coming days and weeks.
I thought I would post some statistics and random comments on our recent Southwest road trip. I want to do a map but Google Maps limits the number of waypoints I can do at one time, and Location History doesn’t let me choose a date range and we went over a month end. I could do a series of maps, but then it would be a (another) project in Photoshop to layer and stitch them all together. Later, perhaps…no more projects right now! 😉
Distance: 6,355 miles in 23 days. While that averages to “only” 276 miles per day, several were and felt much longer due to days where we drove less. Our Northwest trip last fall was 8,000 miles, but somehow didn’t seem as long. Go figure – too much time on Interstates this time, maybe?
Photographs: 3,473 for me, 708 for Kathy plus a few on my phone. Kathy keeps my point & shoot handy for out-the-window burst-mode shots of “Welcome To X” signs and other interesting scenery. Plus surreptitious photos of me. 🙂 She got photos out the window as we cruised The Strip in Las Vegas which I am anxious to see. Might make an interesting slide show!
Weather: The only drops of rain we saw were in Arizona, of all places, and on our last day through Tennessee. Our friends in Arizona are experiencing beautiful blooms in their backyard garden from an unusually rainy period.
Travel: We made our reservations further in advance this time than we have done on our last few road trips. As our dates began to gel, we started finding “no availability” in a few motels where we wanted to stay, so we decided to hedge our bets a bit and go ahead with booking. We weren’t sorry.
Anyone who feels like or tells you it’s too soon to travel is watching too much TV. People are out in force and it shows in a lot of places. We didn’t go anywhere with excessive crowds. The Grand Canyon was probably the most peopled, but the shuttle buses are running at reduced capacity and, because we were there on a Monday, things were a little quieter than normal. Funniest paradox was that there is no social distancing happening in the gift shops! 🙂
Services: Pretty much everything is open. Some fast food restaurants in some locations, which we often rely on for potty stops, are drive thru only. So we started relying on larger convenience stores (love Love’s truck stops!) and gas stations.
The biggest frustration for us was the motel chains that still advertise (and charge for) a full hot breakfast but then hand you a paper sack with a granola bar, apple and bottle of water. Have a nice day! They’ve also stopped providing daily housekeeping, which isn’t a big deal for us but is for some people. When restaurants are open everywhere, how much longer are hotels going to use “Covid” as an excuse for reduced service?
Gas was expensive but available everywhere, although I’m glad we got home when we did. Our last fill-up was in Tennessee on Monday, and I have about a half tank left. Hopefully this latest mess will be resolved soon so I can refill!
People: People were generally friendly everywhere, but I think the friendliest ones might have been in Arkansas. We stopped at a visitor center there, and a really nice lady started handing me samples of Made-In-Arkansas products, and before I knew it I had a bag full of fig jam, brown mustard, Little Debbies (Arkansas – who knew?), maps and brochures.
Someone is going to ask so I’ll say it here. Most chain restaurants and motels still ask people to wear masks, and for the most part people do. Independent places, especially in Texas and Oklahoma – very few masks. We went with the flow, and if they asked we complied, and if they didn’t we went without. No big deal, and no more commentary.
Volunteers in the National Parks are treasures. Nice people doing what they love for free (or sometimes a free campsite).
We had several occasions where people asked us to take their picture, which I did in exchange for them taking ours. Worked out great and I never worried about someone taking my camera. Except for the guy in Las Vegas, who I handed Kathy’s camera. 😉
Annoyances: Oklahoma. That state loves toll roads, and they require exact change but don’t tell you how much. Who carries change these days? What we found out later was that if you keep track of how much you owe and send them a check (check?) before they send you a violation notice, you are in the clear. But who has time to find that out while scrounging for change? Yikes, what a mess.
Traffic: Aye yey yey…trucks and RVs. By necessity of distance and time we drove more miles on Interstate highways than we typically do. More and more trucks hauling more and more stuff. Some of it important like food, but much of it just more stuff that I fear is destined for all of the self-storage places we see everywhere. And RVs galore. Many of them stuffed to the gills with overburdened trucks that can’t hold the speed limit, Greyhound-sized behemoths towing SUVs full of the crap that won’t fit inside, golf carts, 4-wheelers, motorcycles, you name it. Needless to say, we didn’t see anything to convince us to take up the RV lifestyle. We like our little Subie just fine, thank you!
I’ve gone on way too long, but will write more about individual stops as I go through the photos. Needless to say it was a fantastic trip, and we look forward to hopefully crossing off the New England states this fall, then on to Hawaii! 🙂
On our way back through Texas we made this required pilgrimage to the Cadillac Ranch, on Historic Route 66 near Amarillo. We didn’t paint, although there were plenty of people who were painting (I got lucky that they all happened to be hidden in this shot). We had to be careful and stay upwind of the overspray!
We’re home now, but I’m a few days behind in processing photos.
We stopped for breakfast at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas. It is purported to be the halfway point between Chicago and L.A., and who am I to argue? Great breakfast and interesting memorabilia make it a worthwhile stop.
Kathy & I spent a night at this motel on the “strip” in Tucumcari, New Mexico. A town with a long history as one of the highlights of Route 66, Tucumcari is struggling a bit these days, although a few of the classic hotels appear to be doing a remarkable job of hanging on. The Motel Safari is one example of those classic hotels. I’ll have more to say regarding our Route 66 experience, but suffice it to say that we would not hesitate to return to this motel.
While in Albuquerque, Kathy & I rode the Sandia Peak Tramway to the top of the mountain for lunch at 10,378 feet! That’s high! The tram ride was fun and the views fantastic. Lunch was very good, too! 😉
We were there…had to do it. 🙂
This park is on the same loop road as Wupatki – interesting that two distinctly diverse parks can be located within a few miles of each other. Sunset Crater was formed as a result of a volcanic eruption that occurred around AD 1085.
The Wupatki National Monument is located in north-central Arizona near Flagstaff and is rich in Native American archaeological sites. The ruins of several pueblos are located there and open for visitation. For us it was another off-the-beaten path place with interesting sights.
We were able to get tickets for a daytime walking tour of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Highlights of our visit included looking at the sun through a solar telescope and visiting the building that houses the “Pluto Discovery Telescope.” I think I want to be an astronomer when I grow up. 🙂
Interesting story about the boxing glove. It was put there by a maintenance guy who kept hitting his head on the end of the counterweight.