Days 24 - 33: Vacation Photos

I've been on vacation since last Friday so in lieu of my normal morning photos I will be sharing photos from our vacation.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog we chose to drive Rt. 66 through the eastern half of Oklahoma and part of Missouri. Our trip started just outside OKC in small town Arcadia, OK
.

Pops is a new generation gas station along Rt. 66 with an old Rt. 66 kind of flavor. You can stop in Pops for food, fuel and a nice cool bottle of just about any flavor of soda you can imagine. Pictured above is the giant soda bottle in front of Pops and a snapshot of just a few of the bottles that line the front and back walls of this fun little side attraction on Rt. 66.

Once upon a time these painted barns dotted the side of Rt. 66 all the way to Meramec Caverns in eastern Missouri. Very few still remain. Here is a shot of one not too far outside of Chandler, OK.

We happened to come across a closed section of Rt. 66 in Bristow, OK. It seems they were celebrating their "Heritage Days" So we pulled over, parked, unloaded and walked downtown Bristow and watched a parade march down main street, Rt. 66, Bristow, OK. What are the odds of catching something like this driving down the Interstate?

Just outside of Tulsa, OK is The Blue Whale. Located in Catoosa, OK. This interesting turquoise whale was built by a man for his wife as anniversary present in the 1950's. While swimming is no longer allowed, this spot used to be a popular swimming hole/roadside attraction along Rt. 66. The owner also built an arc shaped zoo on the property. Its no longer open to the public but part of the old arc still stands. My son made his very first friend from another country here on our way back. He was so excited. My husband told me that he ran up to him and said "Dad I just met a girl all the way from Spain!" He told me later the only thing he understood her say was "come on" but that was enough for him. They played for a bit before their group and ours headed back down the road.

Totem Pole Park is just a few miles off of Rt. 66 in Foyil, Ok. This giant wonder measures in at 91 feet tall. The park is scattered with various totems that Mr. Ed Galloway began creating after he retired. That's right, he was 65 years old when he began sculpting this magnificent piece of artwork. He also constructed a building called "the fiddle house" that houses hundreds of violins he carved himself out of every wood imagined. I even saw one that was carved from poison oak!

In Afton, Ok we stopped at a refurbished old DX station that now houses a small visitor's center and Packard museum. I was in a hurry to get inside and didn't snap a very good picture of the front of the building. But here are a couple of the inside of the Packard museum in the old garage portion of the station. We met and chatted with Laurel who runs the station. You can check her out here on her blog. Its an interesting read. Amazing the people she meets everyday. She snapped a photo of our dog Chicken and posted it on her blog as well. Be sure to check out her post titled "A dog named Chicken"

Laurel pointed us in the direction of the "Sidewalk Highway". Just outside of Afton there are sections of Rt. 66 that predate 1933. These sections of road are titled the "Sidewalk Highway" because they are only 9ft wide. We stopped mid road jumped out set the camera on the hood of the Jeep and used the timer to take a snapshot of our family standing on this historic roadway. It was so fun to drive this section. We followed it all the way to Miami, OK.

In Miami, Ok we visited lots of exciting places, but the Coleman Theater took the cake. We spent two hours touring and listening to this gorgeous theaters history. They are doing a fantastic job restoring this old treasure. I highly recommend stopping in and checking this place out!

Route 66 travels through approx. 13 miles of Kansas. We stopped in Galena, Ks to snap a picture of Robert with "Tow Tater" the tow truck that inspired the movie "Cars" creators to make the cartoon "Towmator"

Across the street was a fantastic example of the common ghost signs you see gracing the sides of buildings all along Rt. 66.
We had the distinct privilege of meeting "motor mouth" as she's nick named on our way back from MO. She runs the visitor's center/cafe you see behind Robert and Tow-Tater above. Stop in and say hi, she'll fill ya in on all the goings on in Galena, Ks.

It wasn't open so we just jumped out and snagged a couple of photos for scrap booking sake.

This is what's left of Spencer, MO. Essentially a ghost town, I think I read somewhere that Spencer might not have even survived into the hay day of Rt. 66.

This is just a snip it of the sights and stops along Route 66. We took tons of pictures and had lots of fun. Soon I'm going to start planning a trip for the western half of Oklahoma into Texas. What a great way to spend some time with the family and learn a little about this great nations history. If you haven't done it yet, you need to start planning a trip now. Get out and check out this exciting historic section of road. You won't regret it!