TEXAS
The next state that Goatfolks rolled through was Texas.�� The picture above was taken at a small town in Texas, one that the highways have forgotten.�� This is one of my favorite pictures I took on the trip.�� I think it really symbolizes Route 66: an old Edsel sitting next to a now abandoned gas staion, both relics of a forgotten era, much like 66 was.�� I have seen a more recent picture of this same gas station and the Edsel is gone, hopefully its was remembered by someone and restored..
One of the first towns we stopped in was Shamrock, Texas.�� It is a small town, and looked very much like a ghost town with many of the buildings vacant and abandoned.�� My friend Scott is to the left, doing some sort of dance I guess in front of the now closed U Drop Inn Cafe.�Its too bad it was closed, I am unsure if its been reopened or not.�� Its weird to think how thriving this town once was, I don't think we saw 3 cars pass by the whole time we looked around.�� Close by is the town of McLean, another almost ghost town.
The one place that was open for business in McLean was the place pictured to the right, "The Tribute To Barbed Wire Museum".�� I guess someone needs to honor barbed wire.�� Inside you will find the history of barbed wire and the various forms it comes in.�� If that interests you enough, you can also purchase your own barb wire collectors starter kit.�� Our friend Scott told us at this point his grandfather collects barbed wire, funny the things you learn about people when you travel.�� Anyways the place also had a Route 66 section as well and the locals were happy to talk with us and wish us well on our trip.
This is just another shot of the main drag in McLean, an abandoned gas staion and other buildings.�� Maybe the comeback of Route 66's popularity will breath a little life into this town.
Our next stop in Texas was the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo.�� We had seen billboard signs for the "Free 72 ounce steak" that they offer for hundreds of miles.�� If you can eat a 72 ounce steak, veggies, baked potato, salad, and shrimp cocktail in an hour, it is free.�� Seeing this steak, I have no idea how anyone could do this, but many, many people have.�� It was the biggest piece of meat I've ever seen.�� We all had good meals here and it was nice to be served instead of cooking at a rest area somehwere.
Just a shot of the outside of the Big Texan, taken just before we headed out for one of the most famous stops on 66, Cadillac Ranch.
The picture above is how Cadillac Ranch looks as you walk up, 10 Caddies tails up at the same angle as the great pyramids, paying homage to every year of the Cadillac tailfin.� It was pretty cool to look around and see the cars and all the messages people have left.�� The picture to the right came out amazingly good, as we had a foreign couple who did not speak english, take the picture for us.�� We brought some paint so we could leave our mark, leaving our names and date and also took the picture below for our friend Jamie, whos nickname is Squint.�� We had it blown up and framed it for him.��
This was a fun stop, but it was soon time to move on to the next state New Mexico.
