Before heading into Carthage we took a little side trip to Red Oak II. Well worth the trip! An early American community built and restored by Lowell Davis. It was like stepping back in time. There is a great diner car that is now part of a cafe. A beautiful old Phillips 66 station. I must admit I don’t think I’ve ever seen one quite that bright. It was like walking through an old western movie scene, except for the above mentioned. Very cool. Had wanted to talk to the owners but didn’t know which place they lived in, nobody came to greet us, except for three very friendly dogs. We went back into Carthage. Checked out the Boots Court, just love the way this looks. The old metal chairs out front remind me of the ones my grandparents had on their porch. Of course we had to stop at the 66 Drive In, closed for the season. So nice to see this restored.

Through Carterville and Webb City before cruising on into Joplin. Town was pretty busy for a Sunday. Downtown is still full of all the old time store fronts and fun to be in. As you head out of town it is sad to see that all the old businesses are no longer there. It’s a nice drive into Kansas. The State Line Bar was hopping, no doubt watching football. We drove past the mines and into Galena. There was not much happening here, really quiet. Next stop was the Eisler Brothers Market in Riverton. First time we’ve been there during the daylight hours. Bought a few trinkets and headed for home. We move on to Tulsa tomorrow.

We’re staying at Mingo RV Park in Tulsa. We have a day with relatives. And then a day of being a little bummed out. The Vette has had a leak and we took it to the shop, not good news. The oil pan has a hole in it and needs to be replaced. We have to rent a car and all they have available is a Hyundai Accent. Guess its wheels. The next day we decide we need some good old Mother Road to raise our spirits. We hit the turnpike and head back to Galena KS. We cruise through Riverton and go to the Rainbow Bridge. We really enjoy spending time here. And it is a great bridge. Next town was Baxter Springs. Every time we’re in this town we see something new. And then we are over the border and into OK.

The first town we come to is Quapaw, home of the Spooklight. I don’t know of anyone who has seen this. We cruise past the mounds of chat and into Commerce. A nice little town. Makes us sick to go by the Newell factory, we’ll never be able to afford one of these gorgeous buses. All we can do is drool. Next town is Miami. A busy place and home to the beautifully restored Coleman Theater. There were about 3 school buses there for the tour. Good to see kids getting exposed to this kind of stuff.

Time now for one of our favorite stretches of original Route 66, the first 9’ section. It’s fun to drive here and wonder about this unfinished portion. A beautiful 6 mile stretch. Next stop was the closed Buffalo Ranch. After we got there we wished that we would’ve made it here while it was still open. We did go into the Trading Post. Didn’t buy anything because the girl working hardly acknowledged that we came into the place. Oh well. We hadn’t come here before because when given a choice we always take the earlier alignment.

On to the other 9’ section. We were actually glad we had the rental while driving these 9’ sections. Both sections are getting more torn up and even covered with gravel in quite a few spots, it won’t be long before you’ll need a 4wheel drive to follow them.

9’ section of “Old 66” - Afton, Oklahoma Dairy Ranch at the Buffalo Ranch - Afton, Oklahoma

Buffalo Ranch Store Afton, Oklahoma

Afton was our next stop. We can see why our friend, Laurel, would want to move here. There’s a lot of potential for this sleepy town that appears to be growing. There’s a great old service station there that would make a great gift shop. We checked out the building that has the old Portland concrete paving on the outside of it, pretty cool.

A nice leisurely stretch before coming to Vinita. it’s amazing to see all the fast food places here for such a little town. We like this town though. Quite a few of the older buildings still standing here. Past White Oak, Chelsea, Bushyhead and into Foyil. Didn’t have time for a return trip to the Totem Pole Park but did drive through town. We love the stretch here. It’s a nice little original section. Past Sequoyah and into Claremore. The café in the Will Rogers Hotel was closed at the time we got there, had hoped for a little snack. Past Verdigris and a stop at the Blue Whale. A great time to be there, right before sunset. I swear you could here the happy voices of the children that used to frequent this old swimming hole. Through Catoosa on the new 66 and back to camp.

The next day we decided to do a little bit of exploring, looking for an old section near Verdigris. We drove the route through Catoosa and then followed a stretch that goes west of Molly’s Landing restaurant. What a great stretch! It is right in the middle of a subdivision of beautiful, expensive homes. We followed it as far as we could. Parked and walked the rest of what is there. It ends at the top of a hill that slopes down to the Verdigris River. There once was a steel truss bridge here, though there’s no evidence of it anywhere to be seen. We decided to go to the other side and see if we could see where the road went on the other side of the river. There is an old truck yard on the other side that a nice stretch of road runs through. It was fun to walk both of these sections. We went back to the Blue Whale for a bit more exploring and then went back through Tulsa and back to camp.

Got to pick up the Vette the next day and took advantage of the light traffic to explore Tulsa a bit more. We went out to the 66 Motel. It’s really starting to deteriorate. Too bad. It was a great motel in its heyday. Still looks pretty good, but would cost a fortune to fix up. As it turns out we leave Tulsa the next day due to an ice storm coming in. We will leave our beloved road for about 10 days to visit relatives in the Dallas area. When we return to Route 66 we plan to make our camp in El Reno. See ya when we get back.

Whew! There’s nothing like a visit to Big D (Dallas) to make you long for the two lane. The traffic is horrendous. We’re now making our camp at Hensley’s RV Park in El Reno OK. The Hensleys no longer have the restaurant here; it is now a Denny’s. They also sold the service station here and have built another motel in Yukon. Hensley’s used to be on Route 66 but moved near the Interstate when it was opened. We now have to contend with the weather. This is a big disappointment to us because we are going to have to dodge storms and will have to pick and choose which sections of Route 66 we will travel. Luckily, we have followed the old road quite extensively several times between here and CA. So although we will miss some of our favorite sections this trip, at least we have been on them before.

Our first day of exploring took us through El Reno to see what had changed and how much the town had grown. We then headed west out by the prison and past the old fort. There are not many towns along here and it is a great stretch complete with curbing and rolling hills. All old original Portland concrete. After a while we come to the big Spur 281 mess where our beloved road has been removed. It’s a sad thing to see. Thank goodness a good portion of it will be preserved at the Smithsonian. Continuing on we get to pass over one of our favorite bridges, the 38 pony bridge. We love going over this one and trying to count them without getting lost in the scenery.