(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66

We got out of Dodge and headed south to Elk City, Oklahoma, battling a fierce headwind almost all the way. Even though the terrain was pretty flat, the transmission cooling fan kept coming on, just as if we were driving uphill. When we fueled, we found our towing mpg was down by at least a quarter, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7. Oh, well. I guess that evens out the tailwind we got traveling east in Nebraska.

Here in Elk City, we discovered we were smack dab on the (in)famous Route 66, one of the great American road trips. A must-see is the National Route 66 Museum, which is part of a museum complex that includes Old Town Museum, the Blacksmith Museum, and the Farm & Ranch Museum, set in a complex of a facsimile old town and adjacent to a beautiful park.

This museum stop is a MUST if you are in the area, and the admission fees are very reasonable. We spent a couple hours here and could have spent much longer without a 13-year-old rushing us.

Jan fits right in with the Popeye collection, don't you think?

These little teardrop travel trailers have made a comeback. You can even buy plans to build your own, as many travelers did 60 years ago.

Damien got to try a fireman's pole.

Here we are traveling down Route 66.

 Complete with roadside attractions!

Oh, look! It's the Joads, of The Grapes of Wrath.

Some views of the grounds.

An interior scene.

There's a rodeo hall of fame--Oklahoma is BIG rodeo country.

There's way too much to cover in a single blog entry!

I used to have one of these! This is a 1950 International Harvester pickup truck. Mine was a 1951, and yellow, and, by the time I bought it, was using almost as much oil as gasoline.

Anyway, if you're passing through Elk City, which sits on I-40, make time for this museum. It's only closed four days a year (guess which!).