66 By 6
A Sixer motors west on Route 66: Part Two

Three days of late-summer freedom with no agenda but to motor west on Route 66 - sounds like a plan!

Mid-morning of my day of departure, I mentally ticked off my preparations as the Sixer and I enjoyed an hour of high speed cruising on US 412 between Arkansas and Tulsa, where we would join OK 66 in Sapulpa. With a coat of Zymol protecting the polaris silber skin of my BMW coupe, the 3.2 liter big-six pumping fresh Castrol and my new Z-rated Bridgestones rolling straight and true, my BMW was ready.

But was I?

A couple of weeks before the trip I had ordered a few Route 66 books and maps over the Internet. They included Traveling Route 66, by Nick Freeth; the Route 66 Adventure Handbook, by Drew Knowles; Oklahoma Route 66, by Jim Ross; and the Here It Is! Route 66 Map Series, by Jerry McClanahan and Jim Ross. The last two were especially valuable in helping me navigate Old 66's innumerable twists and turns through Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.

The map series, complete with detailed directions, stayed on my lap just about every mile I drove of the Mother Road. I highly recommend it to any Route 66 traveler, along with as many books and videos as your budget can afford.

Maps and books were important, but my drive on 66 would become one of the most memorable of my life because of one thing: my determination to take my time. I tried to put into action the philosophy of Mother Road artist Bob Waldmire: small is beautiful, old is beautiful, slow is beautiful, safe is beautiful.

A deliberate pace during three days of exploring the beautiful old road's past and present yielded some unforgettable memories as together the Sixer and I traveled 600 miles of historic Route 66 between Tulsa and Tucumcari.

I'd do it again in a minute.

After a brief stop in Sapulpa to clean the windshield and get my bearings, I joined old 66 on the Rock Creek bridge west of town on a bypassed routing of Route 66. This initial foray onto the original Mother Road produced a momentary twinge of hesitation, a feeling that I was taking my BMW where it wasn't meant to be. But that feeling passed as I continued to drive along the historic alignment of 66, the Sixer dancing to the bump-bump, bump-bump rhythm of section lines in original Portland concrete poured in the 1930s and 40s.

With very light traffic on the old road, I stopped in the right lane west of Rock Creek to take a few pictures. Getting out of the 633 I was enveloped in the shaded tranquillity of a quiet Oklahoma countryside. I was to find this tranquillity more than once on historic bypassed alignments of 66, still driveable but seldom traveled.

Back in the red leather of the Sixer's cockpit, I noticed the world’s biggest grasshopper perched on my windshield, apparently wanting a little Mother Road adventure for himself. And so we drove on, hopper hanging on tenaciously as we accelerated up to 60 mph back on OK 66.

Rolling through Kellyville (where the grasshopper decided enough already with hitchhiking) and on through Bristow and Depew, lunch time arrived just as we entered Stroud, OK. Where better to chow down on some authentic American road food than the famous Rock Café ?

A Route 66 landmark, the Café is built of native stone unearthed during the highway's construction through the area in 1939. The original owner paid $5 for the rock to build the Café, which has served thousands of hungry Route 66 travelers for over 60 years.

A root beer helped the burger and fries go down a little easier while I sat reading a very nice history of the Café.. Turns out the current owner planned to close the restaurant this fall for an interior restoration to its original 1940's layout. It should be open again by the time you read this.

I couldn't wait to get to Arcadia and check out the famous Round Barn built in 1898 and restored between 1989-1992 by locals, led by retired master carpenter Luke Robison. Unfortunately, I discovered that the barn was closed on Mondays, and settled instead for a few snapshots.

Bypassing Oklahoma City on some portions of US 77 and I-44, I rejoined Route 66 in Bethany. West of town the original routing crosses over the old (1924) Lake Overholser bridge. The bridge is a "mixed through truss" design, one of the few remaining of its size on Route 66. While its rusty brown metal doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, I figured the bridge could handle one more of the millions of Mother Road travelers it has carried over the years.

I made it across just fine and pulled the Sixer over for a rest at a very nice scenic parking area overlooking Lake Overholser. As I got out and stretched, I couldn't help but think of the many motorists in days gone by who had enjoyed this view.

After driving through Yukon ("Home of Garth Brooks") on a section of 66 that has been 4-lane since 1949, I snapped a picture on the fly of the "Yukon's Best Flour" grain towers and then pulled into Jobe's Drive-In in El Reno for a mid-afternoon shake. The Sixer got more than a few stares from the locals, and a fellow 66 traveler pulled off the road just long enough to take a picture of the drive-in, complete with the silver coupe and its shake-swigging pilot.

A few miles out of El Reno we motored along at about 55 mph over perhaps the finest extended section of Old 66 still around. The solitude that came from driving mile after mile of Portland concrete with no other traffic in sight prompted me to imagine being on the Mother Road in its heyday. In my mind's eye I met a bevy of American classics: a ‘32 Ford, a ‘41 Olds, my dad’s ‘49 Chevy convertible, my great uncle’s ‘55 Crown Victoria  with green plexiglas top.

As I descended down Bridgeport Hill toward the Canadian River and the Pony Bridge, I could have been the only car in a hundred miles. The Sixer and I were in good company with the ghosts of Route 66.  -RS

HOME