Dave R, Author at Blogging The Road

A day of rest in Santa Fe

We had a lie in this morning as we didn’t have to drive anywhere – BLISS !! It wasnt much of a lie in but was nice not getting up and having to repack the bags and head to the car. We ate breakfast in the hotel and then took a leisurely walk down to the Santa Fe rail road yard to visit the Saturday farmers Market.

The farmers market runs along the old rail tracks and is an exuberant mix of fresh vegetable stores, musicians, street entertainers (or stoned hippies – not sure which most of them were) and general wares.

Tucumcari to Santa Fe

We started the morning with breakfast in another classic American diner. Kix on 66 is a bit of a Tucumcari icon on Route 66 and the pancakes, sausages, eggs and crispier than crispy bacon went down very well.

When i was first researching where we were going to go on route 66 i came across the following video about a ghost town called Cuervo. It sounded so “American Detective” or “Twin Peaks” i just had to make a pull in off the I40 to check it out.

Amarillo to Tucumcari

We left the Big Texan early and headed just out of Amarillo to the Cadillac Ranch. For those who don’t know what the ranch is, its essentially a bunch of Old cadillac’s buried nose down in the desert in 1974 as an art installation which people spray paint.

We left our bit of graffiti after finding a couple of half used spray paint cans on the floor and carried on our way along single lane old road past abandoned filling stations and buildings and parts of the larger main I40 highway where 66 wasn’t accessible

Red Oak 2 Missouri gallery

Artist Lowell Davis grew up in the “real” Red Oak, about 18 miles northwest of the “new” Red Oak II. The original Red Oak, like many other rural agricultural towns across the USA, started to fade sometime after World War II, when people began to move to the cities in earnest.

Davis returned in the 1970’s to find his home town had become a ghost town and by 1987, Davis was living on a farm near Carthage that was little more than an empty cornfield. His creative inspiration soon led him to turn his acreage into a tribute to his home town and before long Red Oak II was born.

Oklahoma to Amarillo and the best steak in Texas

It would appear that i can now answer Tony Christies question, YES, i do know the way to Amarillo. Now thats out of the way i can get on with todays blog post about the journey along Americas Mother Road from Oklahoma City to Amarillo in Texas I think we missed a lot of old 66 on the way out of Oklahoma but i was more concerned with finding fuel and a Best Buy or similar in order to buy more storage for my GoPro. Once that had all been sorted we made our way to Yukon to pick up Route 66 again.

Carthage to Oklahoma via Kansas

The day began with breakfast in the local pancake hut which was occupied by a couple of camouflage wearing hicks who were obviously on there way out hunting ( huge camo 4×4 in car park) and a bunch of old timers who left in various Vintage American cars and pickups and an Indian motorbike. After Breakfast it was off to Red Oak II, home of artist Lowell Davies.

Cuba to Carthage Missouri and very special motel

The sky was still gloomy when we left The Wagon Wheel but the worlds biggest rocking chair in Fanning Missouri was waiting and we weren’t going to let a few grey clouds spoil that !

The rocking Chair is 42 feet and 4 inches tall and dominates the skyline as you approach the Fanning trading post. Its slightly odd but a bit of a modern Route 66 classic (being built in 2008) so after a few cheesy photos we headed in to the trading post.

St Louis to Cuba Mo

Getting out of St Louis was slightly easier than getting in. We still managed to make several wrong turns before finding route 66 towards Cuba and heading for our first stop of the day, the famous Ted Drewes Frozen Custard shop.

Unfortunately the shop was closed leaving a very disappointed Oz. This is something we have found a few times over the last couple of days. famous route 66 shops and businesses closing early or opening too late. Its a real shame to not see these institutions and be able to support them.

Springfield to St Louis

After a heavy night on the beer with an American couple last night and a short walk to see Abraham Lincoln’s childhood house and other period houses we finally left the strange town of Springfield Illinois to head to St Louis..

Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time last night, the hotel was spot on and there were some impressive buildings such as the Illinois State Capital Hall, but despite the fact there was big country festival with live music and bbq etc on the place was dead.

Blogging The Road

Articles by Dave R