"End of the Trail" sort of

Now here is an interesting group of pictures. The first ones are all from the Route 66 Museum that we came across in Clinton, Oklahoma. There are several of these museums along the old route which ran from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, but this was the premier one devoted just to the road. There is a diner on the property that was moved from a little town along the highway. This road was crucial to many little towns and large cities that the road connected. It really got America out on the road and on the move. With the advent of the interstate system which began in the 1950's many of the little towns died on the vine or found the going really rough and Rt. 66 was replaced mostly by Interstate 40. There are still small sections of road you can drive on, but most have been torn up, blocked off, or allowed to return to nature. All the exhibits reflected a time that is gone. We zip along in air conditioned comfort covering several hundred miles in a day and perhaps we have Bobby Troop on a CD singing about getting "your kicks on Route 66". If you ever find yourself in Clinton, Texas be sure to stop at the Route 66 Museum!

We drove on over a hundred miles through flat, flat, flat, land. When we crossed into Texas the ranches seemed to get bigger and cotton fields more extensive. Found the Extended Day America Suites which Lee had been wanting to try since they were recommended by a friend. It is very comfortable and the price is great. If we were so inclined we could have cooked our dinner but that isn't our style, remember! Instead we ate at a near by roadhouse and had ribs and chicken fried steak. We enjoyed another hearty meal, Texas style!

But before we had dinner we drove out to the Cadillac Ranch which is a field on I40 outside Amarillo. In the 1970's a quirky millionaire hired a bunch of artists from San Francisco to come and design this piece of public art alongside the road. They buried 10 old Cadillacs from the junk yard and over the years it has become quite a tourist stop. When they were first erected/buried they were headed west and still are but had the original colors. Over the years, with the approval of the quirky millionaire, they have been vandalized and the graffitti artists have been at work. Count me in on that score. There were all kinds of people out in that cow pasture with their spray cans so who was I to turn down the offer of a couple of sprays myself. Wonder what the cows think about all the crazy people out in their pasture.

Well it is almost bed time. We will be taking a hiatus from the blog but tune in next week when we wrap up this incredible adventure. Nighty night from the Gotta Go Girls, Lee, Judi, and Gerry