A few days of visiting family and we’re back on the road. Going west we followed the old route into Tulsa. This is mostly country driving, nice to find on the outskirts of such a metropolis. We had a hard time finding Mingo using various guides; we finally just went to Admiral Place and followed it until we reached the traffic circle. Then we knew where we were. Driving along Admiral Place we didn’t have any feel of the old flavor of the road, it just seemed like a run down town with a newly paved 4 lane road. After about a mile we turned around and went back to 11th street. Aaaahh! That’s more like it. We had planned to eat brunch a Norma’s Cafe in Sapulpa, but when we stopped to take pictures of the Metro Diner the smells of food changed our minds. A great old diner car type place, good food and good prices. We noticed that the sidewalks along here have a small strip of red brick set in them, and there are Oklahoma Route 66 shields about every 30 feet. Looks great! Talk about spirit.

Until we got to downtown Tulsa I wasn’t sure if I liked art-deco or not, I’ve discovered that I do. There are many great examples of it along 11th street. We had been wanting to see the 11th Street Bridge and figured it would probably be gone, to our delight, it is still standing. It has been slated for destruction for some time. It’s a neat looking bridge. Upon closer looking we see why it is closed; the underneath is all cracking and doesn’t look like it would hold much weight. On the way out of town we stopped to check out the old ruins of the 66 Motel, there was an air conditioner running so we assumed someone was still living there. It is up for sale. Further down the road is the Shady Rest Motor Court, it’s used as apartments now. The old courts are pretty neat with their attached garages.

11th Street Bridge - Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

 

66 Motel - Tulsa, Oklahoma

Next stop was Sapulpa and Norma’s Diamond Cafe, home of 99 cent WOW breakfast. We wanted to have dessert, but were still full from breakfast. Norma is a really sweet lady who’s been in business since 1950. We couldn’t wait to get to the Rock Creek Bridge, and what a beauty it is! Covered in red brick makes it all the more unique. A great stretch of road runs through here after you cross the bridge. I’m partial to sections of the road that are overgrown with trees though, just makes them seem more like a country road. There are a couple of more stretches between Kellyville and Bristow that are great to drive, and we did. There are many homes along these pieces. We were envious of them being able to live on Old 66 Hwy. Our final destination was Bristow. On a previous trip we had looked around somewhat, SO we headed back to Tulsa. Another day of mother roading comes to a close.

Norma’s Café - Sapula, Oklahoma

Our next stop was off to southeast of Oklahoma City, Choctaw and a KOA. We have done quite a bit of exploring on a previous trip, so this will be a short trip. We got on the interstate and went to Arcadia. We had lunch at Hillbillies, not bad. We expected more atmosphere, but it was fine. We then took a ride over to Jim Ross’ new house. What a beauty! We are so envious of him; he’s got a great house right on an old section of Route 66. It’s wonderful. We then headed off towards Edmund and drove through, not much flavor of the olden times. We have never followed the route through Oklahoma City, so that was the plan for the day. There really isn’t that much old stuff through to, it was a bit disappointing.

We had to go visit the site of the bombing, we were too close not to. It was a very emotional visit. There are so many tributes, poems and prayers there. It is a sad place. Made more so by the fact that it is a terrorist thing that happened on American soil, by an American. We got to check out the old milk bottle building, pretty cool, it is now a sandwich shop. We were surprised to see all the Vietnamese businesses along here. We had wanted to check out the Route 66 Trading Post run by Danny Scott and his mom; it’s gone out of business. Better for my pocketbook.

Site of the Oklahoma City bombing.

 

 

Old milk building - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Now a sandwich shop.

We now must depart the old highway and do some visiting with relatives in Dallas, but we shall return.

After our visit we made our camp in Clinton OK at Wink’s RV Park, we’ve never stayed here before. It’s a nice little town. First stop for us was Hydro and Lucille’s; we enjoy visiting with her so much. She’s a really nice lady and loaded with stories. She is celebrating 56 years on the highway this year. Afterwards we followed the road back into Clinton.