Instead of throwing all my trip pictures up here for you to go through, I thought I'd make it a little more interesting. We loved going on this road trip; it was so much fun and interesting and we want to do it again! In fact, we'd recommend it to anyone thinking about taking a trip like this. Route 66 was interesting, historical, and educational. :)
First, I'm going to post about all the Route 66 sites we stopped at. My next post will be about the View Along the Way. And lastly I'll post about Our Fun Family.
You can read this in two ways: (1) read as you look at the pictures and click on the links to find out more, or (2) just scan through and pick out your favorite pictures. :)
We started our trip in Springfield, OH (of course), drove down to St. Louis, MO, made a detour to Uncle Bob's in Chouteau, OK, and got on a Route 66 course from there to Murrieta, CA to visit Troy's sister Erika. We stayed mostly on the interstate, I-40 (for those of you wondering if we actually drove on Route 66).
Now, on to the places we saw!
Museum of Transportation – St. Louis, MO
This was our first official stop on Route 66. This place was amazing and we had a blast looking at all the old cars and the trains, trains, trains! We took so many pictures, I tried to narrow it down. The kids loved climbing up into the engines, ringing the bell, and running all over the place.
The museum had a small section of cars and a truck. Brian loved the race car!
Stand in front of this one, Brian!
Run, run, run as fast as you can!
They had old and very old trains
The caboose
These things we so huge!
Sitting up on the engine (yes, those are rocks in her mouth. . .)
Inside the engine
We were a little disappointed not all the trains were open. There were some really neat passenger cars that we had to look at through the windows.
The only time I'll let him walk on train tracks. . .
After staying the weekend with Uncle Bob and Aunt Jonna (will be featured later), we hit the road again:
First Ghost Town – Bridgeport, OK
We did not know what to expect when we got off the freeway at this stop. We were so excited to see our first Route 66 town and were disappointed to not see very much. We didn't even know if we were in the right place! There we still some interesting things to see:
Coming into Bridgeport - just a few houses
The church
The post office
The trailer in the abandoned building - there really is someone living there! They had Christmas decorations, a satellite, and everything!
National Route 66 Museum – Elk City, OK
This was a big museum that had many different parts. We saw a lot of memorabilia and period pieces.
This museum was more hands on - we had fun getting in cars,
Playing on the fireman's pole,
And even getting on the fire truck!
A glimpse into what life was like traveling on Route 66. . .
Need gas?
A good example of what it would have looked like. . .
There was a huge barn full of farming equipment, tractors, tools, everything you could think of!
I don't think it works, buddy!
Leaning Tower of Texas and Largest Cross in
Northern Hemisphere – Groom, TX
This water tower was purposely made to lean to attract drivers off the interstate!
All that's left of the Tower Restaurant sign
This cross was built on private land to combat all the adult video and book stores in TX (we didn't really see any; MO was a different story. . .)
Cadillac Ranch – Amarillo, TX
This was another way to get people off the road:
These cars were installed in 1974 as an expression of a "sense of place" and the "mobility and freedom of the automobile."
Visitors are encouraged to get up close (we didn't - too cold and windy!!) and can even paint and add graffiti to the cars if they so desire.
Midpoint of Route 66 – Adrian, TX
You can't take a Route 66 road trip without visiting the midpoint. We actually wanted to eat dinner here, but the Midpoint Café was closed (a common occurrence on our trip, despite all the research).
The Saab in the beautiful sunset
Old gas station/garage
The Midpoint Cafe - we would have loved to gone in!
Maybe next time!
Tucumcari, NM Tonight!
We stayed the night in this historic town, but failed to get more pictures in the morning (or on the way back).
The Blue Swallow Motel is a famous Route 66 icon
Trip from Tucumcari, NM to Murrieta, CA
The weather started to look bad, predictions looked even worse, so we hopped on it to beat the weather (choosing to see everything on the way back). We were really blessed on this part. There was a little snow around Albuquerque, but other than that the Lord parted the clouds for us so we could get through. Thank you!
Once in Murrieta we had a fabulous visit with Erika and her family. You'll be able to read about this soon when I post about all the family we saw. On the way back from CA we stopped in Tucson, AZ to visit Troy's other sister's, Britney and Emily. I failed to get pictures here - girls, please email me!!
Hatch, NM - Chile Capital of the World
While this wasn't a Route 66 stop (we stopped here for lunch on the way to Albuquerque from Tucson), we thought it was funny how we had never heard of the Chile Capital of the World before. If you don't believe us, check out their website!
The only ones eating outside of their cars at Sonic that day
Albuquerque, NM - Unser Racing Museum
This was another disappointment on our trip. We forgot to call ahead and found out when we pulled into the parking lot that it was closed. This would have been a very fun stop for Brian. . .
Santa Rosa, NM - Bozo's Car Museum
Can you believe that this museum was closed as well? I guess it's our fault for taking this trip during the off-season lol. There were still some great photo opportunities, however:
Coming in to Santa Rosa
There were a lot of businesses boarded up and closed like this
Another motel sign
Bozo's Famous (or should I say Infamous) Car Museum
Fun pics of old cars. . .
Mator! I didn't know you lived here!
Once again, maybe next time. . .
Cuervo, Newkirk, & Montoya, NM
Drove Along Route 66
After Santa Rosa, we tried to get on Route 66 and almost got lost! We got back on the interstate and picked it up at Cuervo. After driving for awhile we decided that 55 mph was boring! Plus, the car was getting hot (but that's another story. . .)
We had seen pictures of many of these buildings on theroadwanderer.net; it was amazing just how much more broken down they are today.
Coming off the freeway to get on Route 66 - to the right (dead end) is where it used to be
Another old church
Very old service station
Troy was fascinated with all the abandoned cars
Not an abandoned car. . .
Route 66 on the right, freeway on the left
Richardson's Store - in even worse shape now (featured on roadwanderer.net)
Route 66 Rest Stop – shortly after Groom, TX
(only on the east bound side)
This was a rest stop dedicated to Route 66; it was almost like a mini-museum. It was fun to look around and play in the sunset.
Inside was a gallery of vintage signs. This is just a taste of the pictures we took.
Route 66 themed playground
One, two, three, go!
Beautiful Texas Sunset
Route 66 Neon
Shamrock, TX - U Drop Inn
We had been looking for awhile for a place to stop for dinner, restaurants were in short supply in this area. We decided to stop in Shamrock and drove up and down the main street looking for more than a Mcdonald's to eat at. We ended up at this little motel cafe. It was one of those movie moments; we walked in and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at us. There was a teenage girl running the whole thing and the food was pretty good. The only bad part was Ellie's AWFUL pooping accident in the bathroom (I had to call Troy on my cell phone for backup).
The highlight of stopping in Shamrock was seeing the U Drop Inn. This was featured in the movie cars - see if you recognize it.
It was never actually an inn, but a service station and cafe. The name was the winner of a contest held by the town.
We would have loved to have gone inside
Recognize it now?
Famous Round Barn & Pops – Arcadia, OK
As we were headed for the Round Barn, we passed what looked like a very interesting gas station with a giant sculpture out front. We didn't really think anything about it (we didn't need gas) and continued on our way. At the barn, we learned that the gas station was a modern Route 66 attraction, Pops. When we were done at the barn, we jumped back in the car and headed back to Pops.
Driving by on the way to the round barn
The Famous Round Barn - no one thought he could do it
Inside the loft - this space is rented out for parties and receptions
Have we seen that car somewhere before?
Pops logo - inside the store (which we didn't get a picture of) were hundreds of types of soda. We had fun choosing a few to bring home for the family.
Got gas?
Rock Café – Stroud, OK
We were excited about taking a lunch stop here. Once we found it we discovered it had burnt out in May of 08. Bummer! Too bad we didn't see this when we were doing our research.
Driving through Stroud - plenty of motels, few restaurants; a common Route 66 feature
Ready to eat at the Rock Cafe
Good luck rebuilding!
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial:
Gateway Arch and Museum – St. Louis, MO
After another closed museum the night before, we finally made it to the end of our Route 66 adventure, the famous St. Louis Arch. We were paid money to go up this arch, so up we went!
A great view of the arch
Inside our pod, ready to go up!
Ellie was a little worried and had me in a death grip
At the top looking down
Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy morning. There is a street down there if you look closely.
Running down the rounded top of the arch
One of many pictures showing how it was made
Underneath the arch is the museum featuring exhibits about the expansion of the west. Funny thing, there were too many Asians taking pictures of each talking manikin; I wish I could have taken a picture of Brian's reaction to them!
We did get a picture in front of a tee-pee
View from the bottom
At the end, we were very excited to see our final destination: Home!
First, I'm going to post about all the Route 66 sites we stopped at. My next post will be about the View Along the Way. And lastly I'll post about Our Fun Family.
You can read this in two ways: (1) read as you look at the pictures and click on the links to find out more, or (2) just scan through and pick out your favorite pictures. :)
We started our trip in Springfield, OH (of course), drove down to St. Louis, MO, made a detour to Uncle Bob's in Chouteau, OK, and got on a Route 66 course from there to Murrieta, CA to visit Troy's sister Erika. We stayed mostly on the interstate, I-40 (for those of you wondering if we actually drove on Route 66).
Now, on to the places we saw!
Museum of Transportation – St. Louis, MO
This was our first official stop on Route 66. This place was amazing and we had a blast looking at all the old cars and the trains, trains, trains! We took so many pictures, I tried to narrow it down. The kids loved climbing up into the engines, ringing the bell, and running all over the place.
The museum had a small section of cars and a truck. Brian loved the race car!
Stand in front of this one, Brian!
Run, run, run as fast as you can!
They had old and very old trains
The caboose
These things we so huge!
Sitting up on the engine (yes, those are rocks in her mouth. . .)
Inside the engine
We were a little disappointed not all the trains were open. There were some really neat passenger cars that we had to look at through the windows.
The only time I'll let him walk on train tracks. . .
After staying the weekend with Uncle Bob and Aunt Jonna (will be featured later), we hit the road again:
First Ghost Town – Bridgeport, OK
We did not know what to expect when we got off the freeway at this stop. We were so excited to see our first Route 66 town and were disappointed to not see very much. We didn't even know if we were in the right place! There we still some interesting things to see:
Coming into Bridgeport - just a few houses
The church
The post office
The trailer in the abandoned building - there really is someone living there! They had Christmas decorations, a satellite, and everything!
National Route 66 Museum – Elk City, OK
This was a big museum that had many different parts. We saw a lot of memorabilia and period pieces.
This museum was more hands on - we had fun getting in cars,
Playing on the fireman's pole,
And even getting on the fire truck!
A glimpse into what life was like traveling on Route 66. . .
Need gas?
A good example of what it would have looked like. . .
There was a huge barn full of farming equipment, tractors, tools, everything you could think of!
I don't think it works, buddy!
Leaning Tower of Texas and Largest Cross in
Northern Hemisphere – Groom, TX
This water tower was purposely made to lean to attract drivers off the interstate!
All that's left of the Tower Restaurant sign
This cross was built on private land to combat all the adult video and book stores in TX (we didn't really see any; MO was a different story. . .)
Cadillac Ranch – Amarillo, TX
This was another way to get people off the road:
These cars were installed in 1974 as an expression of a "sense of place" and the "mobility and freedom of the automobile."
Visitors are encouraged to get up close (we didn't - too cold and windy!!) and can even paint and add graffiti to the cars if they so desire.
Midpoint of Route 66 – Adrian, TX
You can't take a Route 66 road trip without visiting the midpoint. We actually wanted to eat dinner here, but the Midpoint Café was closed (a common occurrence on our trip, despite all the research).
The Saab in the beautiful sunset
Old gas station/garage
The Midpoint Cafe - we would have loved to gone in!
Maybe next time!
Tucumcari, NM Tonight!
We stayed the night in this historic town, but failed to get more pictures in the morning (or on the way back).
The Blue Swallow Motel is a famous Route 66 icon
Trip from Tucumcari, NM to Murrieta, CA
The weather started to look bad, predictions looked even worse, so we hopped on it to beat the weather (choosing to see everything on the way back). We were really blessed on this part. There was a little snow around Albuquerque, but other than that the Lord parted the clouds for us so we could get through. Thank you!
Once in Murrieta we had a fabulous visit with Erika and her family. You'll be able to read about this soon when I post about all the family we saw. On the way back from CA we stopped in Tucson, AZ to visit Troy's other sister's, Britney and Emily. I failed to get pictures here - girls, please email me!!
Hatch, NM - Chile Capital of the World
While this wasn't a Route 66 stop (we stopped here for lunch on the way to Albuquerque from Tucson), we thought it was funny how we had never heard of the Chile Capital of the World before. If you don't believe us, check out their website!
The only ones eating outside of their cars at Sonic that day
Albuquerque, NM - Unser Racing Museum
This was another disappointment on our trip. We forgot to call ahead and found out when we pulled into the parking lot that it was closed. This would have been a very fun stop for Brian. . .
Santa Rosa, NM - Bozo's Car Museum
Can you believe that this museum was closed as well? I guess it's our fault for taking this trip during the off-season lol. There were still some great photo opportunities, however:
Coming in to Santa Rosa
There were a lot of businesses boarded up and closed like this
Another motel sign
Bozo's Famous (or should I say Infamous) Car Museum
Fun pics of old cars. . .
Mator! I didn't know you lived here!
Once again, maybe next time. . .
Cuervo, Newkirk, & Montoya, NM
Drove Along Route 66
After Santa Rosa, we tried to get on Route 66 and almost got lost! We got back on the interstate and picked it up at Cuervo. After driving for awhile we decided that 55 mph was boring! Plus, the car was getting hot (but that's another story. . .)
We had seen pictures of many of these buildings on theroadwanderer.net; it was amazing just how much more broken down they are today.
Coming off the freeway to get on Route 66 - to the right (dead end) is where it used to be
Another old church
Very old service station
Troy was fascinated with all the abandoned cars
Not an abandoned car. . .
Route 66 on the right, freeway on the left
Richardson's Store - in even worse shape now (featured on roadwanderer.net)
Route 66 Rest Stop – shortly after Groom, TX
(only on the east bound side)
This was a rest stop dedicated to Route 66; it was almost like a mini-museum. It was fun to look around and play in the sunset.
Inside was a gallery of vintage signs. This is just a taste of the pictures we took.
Route 66 themed playground
One, two, three, go!
Beautiful Texas Sunset
Route 66 Neon
Shamrock, TX - U Drop Inn
We had been looking for awhile for a place to stop for dinner, restaurants were in short supply in this area. We decided to stop in Shamrock and drove up and down the main street looking for more than a Mcdonald's to eat at. We ended up at this little motel cafe. It was one of those movie moments; we walked in and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at us. There was a teenage girl running the whole thing and the food was pretty good. The only bad part was Ellie's AWFUL pooping accident in the bathroom (I had to call Troy on my cell phone for backup).
The highlight of stopping in Shamrock was seeing the U Drop Inn. This was featured in the movie cars - see if you recognize it.
It was never actually an inn, but a service station and cafe. The name was the winner of a contest held by the town.
We would have loved to have gone inside
Recognize it now?
Famous Round Barn & Pops – Arcadia, OK
As we were headed for the Round Barn, we passed what looked like a very interesting gas station with a giant sculpture out front. We didn't really think anything about it (we didn't need gas) and continued on our way. At the barn, we learned that the gas station was a modern Route 66 attraction, Pops. When we were done at the barn, we jumped back in the car and headed back to Pops.
Driving by on the way to the round barn
The Famous Round Barn - no one thought he could do it
Inside the loft - this space is rented out for parties and receptions
Have we seen that car somewhere before?
Pops logo - inside the store (which we didn't get a picture of) were hundreds of types of soda. We had fun choosing a few to bring home for the family.
Got gas?
Rock Café – Stroud, OK
We were excited about taking a lunch stop here. Once we found it we discovered it had burnt out in May of 08. Bummer! Too bad we didn't see this when we were doing our research.
Driving through Stroud - plenty of motels, few restaurants; a common Route 66 feature
Ready to eat at the Rock Cafe
Good luck rebuilding!
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial:
Gateway Arch and Museum – St. Louis, MO
After another closed museum the night before, we finally made it to the end of our Route 66 adventure, the famous St. Louis Arch. We were paid money to go up this arch, so up we went!
A great view of the arch
Inside our pod, ready to go up!
Ellie was a little worried and had me in a death grip
At the top looking down
Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy morning. There is a street down there if you look closely.
Running down the rounded top of the arch
One of many pictures showing how it was made
Underneath the arch is the museum featuring exhibits about the expansion of the west. Funny thing, there were too many Asians taking pictures of each talking manikin; I wish I could have taken a picture of Brian's reaction to them!
We did get a picture in front of a tee-pee
View from the bottom
At the end, we were very excited to see our final destination: Home!
7 comments:
Dang, for all your planning, you shoulda had better luck with the museums and restaurants being open! It looks like you had a fun trip. :)
Yeah, we shouda . . .
Wow...it looks like you were able to see some pretty cool things! I'm glad you had a fun road trip!
What a great road trip! I love how well you documented everything--you're amazing! Can't wait to read the next installment!
WOW! Thanks for the American tour! That took some time to compile! You seriously need to consider putting that in a printed album for posterity!
Can I just say I'm impressed! You're more brave than I am. It looks like you had a great time.
How did you like the way you could feel the arch move when you were in it? We lived across the street from St. Louis (in Bellville, Ill.) for a year. D.Ray was four and refused to go up in the arch. I don't remember who stayed back with him.
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