On to Texas

Conoco Station and Cafe in Shamrock, TX

Leaning Tower of Texas 

(Purposely built this way to attract attention) 

Britten, TX

Hitching the girls to a wagon in Amarillo.

Just look at Vickie's eyes!

She is not happy at all!

The Big Texan

Built from concrete in 1959

Palo Duro Canyon

The Cadillac Ranch....my contribution to the layers of paint on the sunken cars

Our Tour Leaders 

Then, on to the Quarter Horse Hall of Fame

Imagine my surprise at finding a painting of the grandfather of a horse I owned! 

Two Eyed Jack, grandpa of Two Eyed Tamet (Gambit)

Click on the link to see pictures of my horse, Gambit, 

....and me 

....from way back when! 

 

...and the Rest of Oklahoma

The lands we traveled through in SW Missouri, the SE corner of Kansas and the NE corner of Oklahoma had originally benefitted from the mining of lead, zinc and other metals. 

As we moved toward central Oklahoma the land changed, and we were in oil country.

This oil well was at the campground where we stayed in Oklahoma City. 

From this point forward on our travels along Rt 66 we would see many wells. 

We visited the National Cowboy Museum and the Western Heritage Museum

There were great displays telling the story of cowboys.

Later we went on a canal ride in the Bricktown area of the city. 

The city was revitalized in 1993 by MAPS

(Metropolitan Area Projects)

Bricktown had formerly been an abandoned area of warehouses.

The MAPS program brought it back to life by creating a canal and

encouraging the development of an entertainment and dining district.

Along the canal we saw several murals. 

This was made by college students out of thousands and thousands of mosaic stones. 

May favorite were the bronze statues depicting the land run in 1889.

The US Government opened up two million acres of land and whoever got to it first,

 could place their flag to claim 160 acres of land, which would be theirs for free if 

they lived on it for a year, making improvements. 

The statues portray the desperation folks felt in acquiring land.

And this is a "Sooner".

Some folks jumped the gun and illegally claimed land before the race began.

Thus, the derivation of the term, "Oklahoma Sooner"!

And then...

the "Rain Train" came.

We had pouring rain, thunder, and high winds for almost two days. 

Oklahoma City had a total of 5 inches of rain!

Despite the rain, it was time to move on along Rt 66.

We stopped at yet another Rt 66 museum in Clinton, OK.

Although I didn't take pictures of any of the cars or Rt 66 memorabilia,

I did find this:

We have seen many of the places and thing that are on depicted on the quilt. 

We spent a night in Elk City, OK. 

They have a museum complex with several vintage buildings

holding lots of vintage stuff.

One of the museums had this one-of-a-kind chair made from spinning wheel pieces. 

When we travel we always discover some sort of surprise. 

On this leg of our trip the surprise was that we were parked for the night at the 

Elk City Visitors and Convention Bureau....

and the Western Oklahoma Quilt Guild was having their 

annual retreat! 

I can't tell you how tempted I was.

I figured the Mister could go on to our next stop - only a few hours away,

and after a day of sewing I could hop in our tow vehicle and join him!

I decided I best not...especially since it was still raining!

So we drove on through Elk City discovering this historic drilling rig.

The city had this 1960's rig reassembled and erected it along Rt 66 and I-40

to attract tourists to their town.

This also speaks to Oklahoma's oil industry.

Oklahoma is in our rear-view mirror....

on to Texas!

 

Oklahoma City Memorial

 

On a silent field where the building stood

Stand one hundred sixty-eight chairs.

One for each adult who was in the building that day,

One for each child. Their lives stopped there. 

The gates of time mark the minute and hour

When the bomb detonated, releasing such power.

The western gate displays the time of 9:03

The time of innocence lost in this Oklahoma city.

A time when folks came forward from everywhere,

To help those who were hurt and to lend a prayer.

To help the world move forward, such a positive sign. 

We remember each life lost when each chair shines. 

My visit to the memorial and to the museum in Oklahoma City touched my heart. Of course I clearly remember the images of the bombing that inundated the news on April 19, 1995. I remember hearing the stories. Those images were practically burned into my retina, and one can't forget such horror. I appreciated learning the story behind the memorial; about how hundreds of Oklahoman's came together to create a beautiful meaningful memorial from their collective vision.

Tulsa Topics

Our next stop was in Claremore, OK, which is due east of Tulsa.

But first, we had to get there! On our way to Carthage we stopped in Miami, OK (pronounced: Mī-ǎ-muh). We toured the Coleman Theater. The theater originally opened in 1929 and offered Vaudeville performances. Later, silent movies were introduced, then "talkies" and theater. Today the glitz and glamour of the theater has been painstakingly restored and plays and silent movies can once again be enjoyed, accompanied by the original Wurlitzer organ (toward the bottom right in the picture, with some of the pipes behind the curtained balcony.)

We toured around Tulsa. One stop was to see Ed Galloway's Totems and violins. Ed constructed this massive totem pole to honor different Indian tribes. He has several smaller totems, and they are now all maintained by volunteers. Ed also hand crafted over 370 violins using different hardwoods and designs. I have never seen anything like either the totems or the violins (most not playable).

From there our tour guide stopped our bus to show us the statue of Andy Payne. Andy was a 20 year-old Cherokee from Foyil, OK...the area where we were. Andy participated in the first International Transcontinental Foot Race in 1928. The race began in LA, followed Route 66 to Chicago and then finished in New York City. Andy's home town, Foyil, was on Route 66.  When Andy entered Oklahoma, huge crowds came to cheer him on. Andy won the "Bunion Derby" and the $25,000 prize. He paid off his family's farm mortgage with his winnings. 

Would you believe that land-locked Oklahoma has a sea-going port?

The Port of Catoosa is located near Tulsa and has large manufacturing and shipping concerns onsite. Ships navigate the Verdigris River to the Arkansas, then to the Mississippi and on to New Orleans and the ocean and back the other way. 

We learned a lot about the art and architecture of Tulsa itself. Tulsa was in its heyday in the '20's and there are many magnificent art-deco buildings. Several of the large buildings in the downtown were built by Waite Phillips, a very successful, American petroleum business man who had many philanthropic projects in many areas of the country. 

Downtown Tulsa Skyline

Examples of Art Deco features on Tulsa buildings. 

My favorite building was the Boston Avenue Methodist Church. 

The church was designed and built at the end of the '20s.  It was designed by a Tulsa artist, a woman, named Adah Robinson. Her art deco design with a great deal of symbolism impressed the committee planning the new building. 

My favorite thing that we did in Claremore (besides watching the horses out for their morning gallops from our campground) 

was our tour at the Will Rogers Memorial & Museum. I am of an age that I missed 'knowing' Will Rogers. He died in 1935 but his legacy lives on in many great movies and his writing. Our visit at the museum began with a "buckaroo" talk and demonstration of some rope tricks. 

The "Buckaroo" gave a great presentation, often while twirling ropes, about Will Rogers. He shared with us that Will Rogers once did rope tricks, and comedic presentations. Will went on to write columns for papers and magazines, star in Wild West shows and in many movies. He was an amazingly talented man.

His signature quote was "I never met a man I didn't like." I would have loved to have met Will!

And our time in the Tulsa area came to a glorious end! 

And Suddenly...I am in Oklahoma!

This is proof that "time flies when you are having fun"! We left Cuba and stopped next in Springfield, MO.  Our first stop, believe it or not, was the Bass Pro Shop. It turns out that the Springfield store is the original shop. It began as a tackle/liquor store. This location also has a huge aquarium and WOW! The Wonders of Wildlife exhibit with hundreds (thousands?) of mounted specimens, as well as videos showcasing the importance of conservation and efforts to save species. (I have a wee bit of a problem understanding 'trophy hunting' and animal conservation....but some of the exhibits tried to legitimize the hunting.) We actually spent 5 hours at the store...and didn't do any shopping! 

From there we took a side trip to Rt 66 in Kansas. 

The highway covers only 13 miles in the state.

Galena was founded as a mining town...

they mined ..... Galena (lead)!

When the call for lead decreased, the town almost dried up 

until a producer for Pixar stopped by and saw the boom truck

that became "Tow Mater" in the Cars movie (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy). 

(I had not seen the movie but it was played for our group recently and it was darn cute!)

 The notoriety of several of the characters in the movie

brought visitors back through the town....

almost a parallel story to the animated movie! 

Another of Pixar's characters in Cars:

This is Doc Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman)

We toured Joplin and learned of the devastating tornado in 2011.

The tornado was on the ground for 38 minutes. The total path was 21.62 miles,

and the widest portion covered a mile. There were EF5 winds for 6 miles that tore down everything in its path. 8,000 structures were destroyed or damaged. The 9-story hospital complex was shifted off its foundation by the storm! 

We also visited the Joplin History and Mineral Museum.

Joplin was also a huge mining town. Parenthetically,  because of the bedrock of iron ores

very few homes have basements, which contributed to the 161 lives lost in the tornado. 

Throughout the town were examples of 3-D street art, the result of the worldwide street painting festival held in June. Visitors are encouraged to interact with the incredible 3-D street art. 

The image only looks 3-D if viewed from one position, otherwise it is stretched and distorted. 

Near Carthage, MO we walked around the town of Red Oak II.  Lowell Davis, an artist, began to save buildings in his home town of Red Oak. Red Oak, like many small towns, was quickly becoming a ghost town as folks moved to cities for greater opportunities. Davis purchased and moved buildings from Red Oak (and other similar dying towns) to his farm where they were painstakingly rebuilt and renovated. The buildings now form an open-air museum. Some of the homes are occupied, so it really is a village.

Fire Station

Phillips 66 Gas Station

The bus took us all back to the campground so we could prepare for another day along Historic Route 66.

A Stop in Cuba

Cuba, MO is a charming small town on Rt. 66, southwest of St. Louis.

The roots of Route 66 go back to Indian tribes and their hunting trails. 

The Osage occupied what is now Kansas, Missouri, most of New Mexico and Illinois. 

They inhabited a bit of Arkansas and lands following the Ohio River to the east. 

This monument at the Cuba visitors center, depicts the Osage leaving their lands.  

Unlike many India tribes that were forced off their lands and into reservations,

The Osage were forced off their lands by a treaty,

but instead of being forced onto a reservation

they purchased land in a small corner of Oklahoma. 

They obtained mineral rights, discovered oil, 

and became the richest people, per capita, in the world at that time.

Regardless, I have always hated how Indians were, and are, treated.

But, that's another story!

Back to Cuba....

Cuba is also known for its murals. Currently there are 15 murals throughout town depicting events in Cuba's history. I find it fascinating to see how many towns have 'beautified' blank building faces with pretty, interesting murals. 

The one in Cuba that intrigued me the most was Al's station: 

Al was a business man in Cuba, and held the Mayoral seat from 1946-1958. 

He owned Al West Motor Company, sold tractors, and operated

this Standard Oil station. 

Although his station no longer stands, the town constructed a wall where his station stood, emulating the shape of his station, on which to paint this mural commemorating his efforts to improve Cuba.