We checked out the Cactus Inn, unfortunately the cactus was not up yet. We tried the road for the “truly adventurous” mentioned in MRJ #10. What a great side trip! Takes you past a VW graveyard. We headed into Alanreed and checked out the 66 Super Service Station, great restoration job. We also looked at the ruins of the Standish Motel. This being the motel where 3 people died from drinking antifreeze to get warm. We then decided to get on the interstate and head back to camp. There are the ruins of an old reptile farm on the frontage road to the freeway; you have to look close for it. Pretty neat! Got on the freeway, and much to our surprise, Route 66 was in much better shape and easier to travel, less ice and snow, and we were moving faster than the interstate traffic. And felt safer too.

The roads are still in bad shape, so we’re forced to stay put for another day. We got on 1-40 and headed east to Elk City, OK to get our kicks. We had explored here previously, so we didn’t spend a lot of time here. Although we did cruise the old road again and took some photos. Then we headed into Sayre, pretty quaint little town. We stopped and took photos at the 66 Canteena and Western Motel. We had lunch at the 66 Diner, a real small place, similar to a railroad car. The woman who owned the place wasn’t very friendly, but I did manage to find out that she had purchased the building and moved it from Weatherford, it had originally been in El Reno. She also had two others, don’t know where, but the place was for sale. The food was okay, but cheap. We did all the abandoned sections here and checked out the Beckman County Courthouse (used in The Grapes of Wrath).

66 DINER - Sayre, Oklahoma

Next stop was Erick. A town with lots of closed buildings and businesses, I would say destined for ghostness. It was fun to be able to stop in the middle of the road to take pictures and not have to worry about traffic. We wanted to go to the 100th Meridian museum but it was closed, only open on Friday and Saturday. Took pictures of the old motels. Then it was on to Texola. A nice drive with lots of old sections that could be traveled if one wanted to, even though they aren’t really meant to be. Had lots of fun at the jail and checked out the whole town.

Texola Jail - Texola, Texas (built in 1910)

Something special that I remember about this photo is that Cheryl sent it to her grandfather in Salt Lake as a joke. He reciprocated by calling me and saying that I should have left her there! (You can see Cheryl behind the bars, laughing.)

Then it was into Shamrock where we did a bit more exploring and then went back to camp. Don’t know where tomorrow will take us, hopefully somewhere warmer. The roads appear to have melted and we have noticed the scrapers running.

We got on the Interstate and didn’t stop much for exploring, weather was getting worse and we were trying to stay ahead of the storms, or at least between them. We had a look at the Continental Divide; it was nice to see that this had re-opened. We stopped at the TeePee Trading Post, just over the New Mexico/Arizona border. Had a great buffalo burger here! We stopped in Winslow, AZ for the night, had to do laundry and few other errands. Ate at the Falcon Restaurant and had another great visit with Pete. You must get him to tell you the story of the burro he got for Christmas one year, its pretty funny. We always have such an enjoyable visit with Pete; he is one of a kind. It was nice of him to stay past closing to chat.

Continental Divide - East of Gallup, New Mexico.

The next morning we had planned on stopping at Two Guns, but there was snow predicted for Flagstaff by noon. We decided to make a run for it and pray that Two Guns will still be there next time we pass by. The snow came earlier than predicted and we got caught in the middle of a nice snowstorm, luckily it had cleared up by the time we finally reached Seligman. Another spot of luck! We found Angel Delgadillo hard at work in his barber shop. After he finished a haircut we got to visit at length with him. The “spirit of 66” is personified in Angel, and it’s catching. He makes the road and all the hardships associated with it come alive. Truly a pioneer in the Route 66 movement.

Angel Delgadillo Angel’s Barber Shop Seligman, Arizona