Day 20 Route 66

We went over to the Firelake Casino this morning to have breakfast and to check out of their campground after six nights of free camping. We are finally leaving–I think.

Fist stop was at the casino’s gas station where we bought 17 gallons of diesel for $56.26. Using our casino player’s card we paid $3.299 per gallon. They had a window washing tool with a trucker length handle so Dave was able to wash our windshield without having to stretch; that was nice.

Then we went East instead of West to go to a highway rest area Steve had told us about to use the dump there. The one at the casino was up on a curb making gravity not our friend. We had used that one the day we arrived here but Dave was reluctant to try it again. He was right to be reluctant. At the rest area he confirmed that things had not completely emptied previously which now resulted in a minor mess. It’s not pleasant to have to clean up those messes.

Then we went to WalMart to restock our groceries. They didn’t have everything we wanted but at least our cupboards are less bare than they were.

Finally we headed north towards Chandler, Oklahoma, where we left route 66 nearly a week ago. The road we took went through Meeker, which is where Steve and Carol just sold their house. It already felt like home to us going by places they had pointed out only a couple of days ago.

The wind gusts today are stronger than I like so I’m glad we don’t plan to go far today. We rounded one curve just as we came to the top of a hill where there was a break in the trees and nearly got blown off the road. Dave reassured me it would be better when we turned west since then it would be a head wind. How reassuring.

The dirt around here is rust red. I’m so glad the water in the RV park didn’t taste as rusty as the ground looks. My Dad’s water tastes like that which is why we didn’t fill our tank at his house. We wouldn’t have been able to stay here so long if we couldn’t fill our fresh water tank here. We are still doing that twice a week. Dave has a plan for installing a sight level that will give us a real reading on our fresh water level but he’s not yet ready to cut into our plumbing line to try it.  In the meantime, we fill more often than we probably need to rather than take the chance of running out while taking a shower. I’ve been there; done that; Dave doesn’t want to do it.

Finally we, once again, headed west on Route 66 stopping to take pictures of the Seaba Station and Arcadia’s round barn.  This barn is not hexagonal or anything–it’s truly round.  The theory is the farmer who built it believed tornadoes would slide by while leaving it standing.  It must have worked.

 

We had a very late lunch at Pops which sells five hundred flavors of soda pop in bottles. I had strawberry which made me feel about ten years old. I also had a grilled cheese sandwich but that didn’t make me feel as young since it had three types of cheese plus tomato slices on it making it a more adult grilled cheese than we had when I was a kid.

 

Now we are camped on the shore of Lake Arcadia at Central State Park. In spite of it’s name this is not a state park; I think it must be located in the center of the state. It is a Core of Engineers park which means my Access America card got us a really good price on a site with an electrical hookup right on the shore of the lake.

We plan to have a peaceful evening.

TTYL,

Linda

Detour 2

We spent six days and nights camping at Firelake Casino near Shawnee, Oklahoma. We were having such a good time playing with Steve, Carol, Larry and Sharon that we didn’t want to leave.

We all went over to the casino for supper the first night and talked for hours. We had a potluck featuring hot dogs another night and stayed out talking until we froze our buns. The guys stayed out even later one night watching Dave’s slides from Viet Nam. The guys also spent one afternoon crawling around our RV installing our new antenna.

 

Steve and Larry went fishing in the creek but didn’t bring back any fish for us to eat. Steve and I went geocaching while Dave and Carol worked on her computer. I taught Steve to ride my Segway–we’d already taught Larry at the Gypsy Gathering. We went into town and got flu shots–OK that was wasn’t much fun but eating at the Chill & Grill while we were out was since we got to see some of Carol’s photographs hanging on the wall there. She’s a professional photographer and the photos we saw were amazing! Dave and I spent one day huddled up inside reading and playing on the computer; I spent that day in my pajamas which was great! I don’t get to do that much anymore.

It was interesting camping in a casino’s parking lot. Along a creek they had a row of RV sites with water, electricity, picnic tables, and grills. All this was free as was the shuttle over to the casino for those of us who didn’t want to make the long walk across the parking lot. They hoped you’d come in and gamble but none of our crowd are into gambling. We felt a little bad about not paying for the sites so we went in to eat in their restaurant a couple of times. Then I realized–this is a casino. They are gambling on us coming in and losing. It seems only fair they should lose the gamble this time.

TTYL,
Linda

Day 19 Route 66

Yesterday we traveled about 15 miles from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Today we plan to travel about 50 miles to Chandler, Oklahoma. There are so many things to see along Route 66. I try not to schedule more than one museum per day since my body generally doesn’t tolerate more than that which also slows us down. Of course, the fact that we start moving so late in the day doesn’t help.

So this morning I got up earlier than usual and was ready to hit the road by 10:30 a.m. Since the museum I had planned to tour here this morning isn’t open today, we headed out.  

We didn’t get far before our first obstacle, though. A semi with a flatbed was parked sideways across three of the four lanes of the road. They were loading a cabin to be delivered to its new home. We were in the lane that got to go by while the oncoming cars waited so it wasn’t much of a delay.  

For some reason I don’t have stops listed on my spread sheet for the next several towns. Well, I did have some camping places listed but we just got started so we don’t need them. So we drove right through Kellyville, Bristow, and Depew. Along the way we saw several things that probably would have been on my list if I had known they existed. I wonder how people decide what places to put in their guidebooks?

As we approached Stroud we drove by the shoe tree. We didn’t know we were close enough to Stroud for it to be there yet but we knew it was next on our list. When we saw it, it took a moment for us to realize that’s what it was. Something compelled us to actually back down the shoulder of the road to take a picture of it. I’m not sure why. We haven’t backed up for many things we missed on the first pass. Anyway, here’s the shoe tree for whatever it is worth.

We had planned to stop for lunch at the Rock Cafe but someone cooked it a couple of months ago.

So we went on into Chandler, Oklahoma, looking for another place to eat. Along the way we found the Phillips 66 station in Chandler. We didn’t get it’s picture on our first pass either and when we returned after lunch someone was hanging a huge political sign from the Phillips 66 sign. Don’t they know they aren’t supposed to do that to historic places? So we just took a picture of the building rather than try to get the entire scene. This building dates back to when they were actually gas stations before they became service stations before they became convenience stores.

After lunch we went to see the museum we had scheduled for this afternoon: The Museum of Pioneer History. It was supposed to include a display on the early days of Route 66. It didn’t. It had some interesting stuff but being in a downtown storefront space it only took about a half hour to see everything we were interested in. I did like several of their exhibits, especially this woman’s letter to her daughter explaining how to do laundry.

So, now it was still early afternoon and we had done everything on today’s list. Since the first museum we had planned to see today was closed and the second only took a little time, we decided to risk moving on to the next one in this same town: The Route 66 Interpretive Center.

Good decision. Most of the displays in The Route 66 Interpretive Center are short videos at locations spread around a huge space in a former Armory. Each space has some unusual “seating”.  At one you sit in seats removed from a Model A Ford, in another it was seats from a Mustang, in another it was a bed representing laying in the back of your station wagon at a drive in movie, in another it was actual theater seats, etc. Some of the videos were “On The Road” type interviews. Some were collages of old post cards. Some were clips of old photos. All were interesting. And because they provided seating for all these I was able to stay the rest of the afternoon looking and learning. Plus, they had the early days display that was missing from the Pioneer Museum.

So, now we had done all of today’s items and the first of tomorrow’s items and it was still daylight! Apparently that’s what getting up in the morning does. I may try it again sometime.

Now it didn’t seem to make sense to backtrack to the RV park we had planned to stay in tonight since we didn’t need to be here in the morning for that last museum. So, we headed on down the road for our next detour.

Internet friends, Steve and Carol, are staying at Fire Lake Grand Casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma, less than 30 miles south of Route 66. We had made plans to visit them tomorrow but why not go on down today? So, we did. We arrived about 5 p.m. just as they were expecting other Internet friends, Larry and Sharon. Once we got sorted out who was who we had a great visit. When Larry & Sharon arrived, we all parked our RVs, connected our utility lines, then headed over to the casino to eat. Where we talked for hours. We already felt we knew these people from the Escapees Discussion Forum but we know them even better now. It’s good to make new friends.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 18 Route 66

I tried a new morning schedule. Usually, I do my morning computer stuff before taking my shower. But, when it’s cold outside, I get chilled while doing my computer stuff then I don’t want to take my shower. This morning I went right to the shower while I was still warm from bed. That worked better. So, I’ll try to remember to do it that way again.

Sunshine! We’ve had enough rain lately to make morning sunshine something to notice once again. Wonderful how that works, isn’t it?

This morning’s first stop was the Gilcrease Museum, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is a big place with lots of fascinating exhibits. We spent a lot of time at the Ansel Adams exhibit and a little time at the 101 Ranch exhibit. I need to get up my courage to bring in my segway if I’m going to spend much time in museums. We keep leaving before we are done because my knee gets so sore walking on those hard surfaces. They offered me a wheel chair but we are both less than enthusiastic about having Dave push me around and I don’t think I’d get very far trying to wheel myself. I wish we could come back time and again to see the rest of this museum, though.

The we drove by Cain’s Ballroom. Cool sign. This place still hosts bands playing for dances but I probably wouldn’t enjoy the bands that play there today. I am now officially an old fogy.

Then we went looking for the Center of the Universe. This is a place on a pedestrian walkway that has odd acoustics. We found the walkway but no place to park amidst the road construction so we cannot personally attest to the oddness.

Next we found the Golden Driller standing outside the fairgrounds. He’s 76 feet tall. He even makes the stop lights look short.

Then we went looking for the Blue Dome. This former gas station was open 24/7 decades before that became common. The attendant lived above the station and would fill your tank, check your oil, wash your windshield, and put air in your tires at any time of the day or night. Of course, he might wonder why you needed to do that in the middle of the night. This was the first gas station to offer pressurized air and a car wash and was being restored to be the centerpiece of a 2004 Route 66 gathering. But, it is gone. I wonder what happened?

I like my Segway and the fact that it has a seat but I sure wish the seat had more padding. I’ve discovered the seat looks like one from a unicycle so regular bike seat covers don’t work.  I thought Tulsa might be a big enough place to be able to do something about that so I Googled “unicycle Tulsa” and got three hits. The clerk at the first shop was a jerk; he did not want to even try to be helpful. So I was delighted to find the opposite case at T-Town Bicycles. The clerks there got a kick out of seeing my segway, they loaned us a wrench so we could tighten things that were coming loose, and they gave me a URL for a seat one of their customers has and likes that they said would take a week to order if we wanted to wait for it. As much as I would like to go back to the Gilcrease, a week in Tulsa is not high on our list of choices right now. But, thanks, guys! I plan to go to unicycle.com and order a Kris Holm air saddle.

We also stopped at a mall housing an Apple Store and a Radio Shack so Dave could exchange a bad part and buy a new cable. The bad part exchange went extremely smoothly; Dave walked into the Apple Store carrying the part and the clerk automatically brought him a new one. The cable is to hook up his piano to our stereo so we can hear the piano. Right now, only the person wearing the headphones can hear it. That’s OK for Dave’s practicing but we are about to visit a friend we haven’t met yet and she plays piano. We might want to hear her.

You can’t drive very far in Tulsa without seeing signs for Up With Trees. Apparently this is an organization which persuades people to donate money to plant trees in memory of loved ones. They are all over town. What a great project!

Heading on down the road we came to Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and went to our most frequent stop: WalMart. Having stocked up again we drove back to an RV park we passed on our way into town. So we are now parked at the Route 66 RV Park where Dave did four loads of laundry in their two machines. We were lucky to get them done since a couple other people came along while ours were in process. The woman said she didn’t mind waiting until tomorrow and the guy was just arriving as ours was finishing so that worked out OK.

While Dave was doing the laundry I did a bunch more research on upcoming sites. I discovered it’s important to list days and times of openings on my database. For instance the museum I was planning on us going to Friday morning is only open Monday through Thursday. And in the next town the first museum is open Saturday but the second one is not so we need to reverse the order in which we plan to go to them. Maybe now we’ll stop going to museums that just closed.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 17 Route 66

We had an odd night. Our electricity kept turning off then on. I first discovered this when I got up in the middle of the night and the night light in the bathroom wasn’t lit. At first, I figured the bulb burned out. Then I realized the clock on the microwave wasn’t lit, either. So, I checked the frig and it was running on propane instead of electricity. So, we shut down the computers. They were running on their batteries but why run the batteries down while we are sleeping? For that matter why do we use any electricity on them when we are sleeping?

In the morning Dave checked the EMS. That’s the electrical management system gadget that protects our RV from voltage that is too high or too low. It had been too high during the night so, to protect us, the EMS would turn off the incoming electricity until it dropped enough to not ruin our electronic systems. When the voltage dropped back into the safe range the EMS reconnected us.  Several times.  I’ll bet you never knew you could have too much electricity, did you?

Then this morning we found proof of how rough the roads have been lately. Our microwave oven had moved. It was no longer sitting flush in it’s cupboard. Dave had to remove the faceplate surrounding it to discover that a screw had come loose so the bracing bracket was no longer bracing it in place. He screwed it all back together, though, so we should be fine–at least until it shakes loose again.

Today was Dave’s turn to get us lost. He entered incorrect data into his iPhone so the map sent us wandering. We did eventually find the Will Rogers’ farm east of Oologah, Oklahoma.

  

It was nice enough but it made me think of the saying fulltimers use to help them clear out stuff: If it only has meaning because of who it used to belong to, who in the future is going to care?

I much more enjoyed the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma, because it talked about his life as an adult with all it’s entertainment value. I only took one picture there, though, since I was too busy being entertained to remember to take pictures.

For lunch we stopped at KFC.  I ordered their new original chicken strips which I greatly enjoyed.  I’ve often wondered why they didn’t offer them. They provide the best taste with the least mess.

Next we headed to Catoosa, Oklahoma, to see the famous Blue Whale and the Arrowwood Trading Post. They are the first things in town after you clear the trees so we almost missed them. By the time we saw where they were it was too late to pull over and the weather was too iffy to make it seem reasonable to turn around and go back. So, if you want to see them, you’ll need to Google them for yourselves.

We passed a billboard I thought said something worth remembering but I forgot half of it before I could get it written down so I can’t give you the exact wording but it said something like, “Save your money and someday it will do the same for you.”

So, now we are in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we drove down old Route 66 and admired a bunch of old buildings and signs that we did not stop to photograph. You’ve seen nearly as many motels and drive-in restaurants as we have by now so we need to save something for you to see when you make this trip.

We pulled into the Cherry Hill Mobile Home and RV Community after their office closed for the day. A quick phone call revealed that they parked 15 RVs here today–the circus is in town. But, they managed to find one more spot so we are safely tucked in among the mobile homes with our furnace running.  

It is cold enough outside today that our furnace started running when we drove away from KFC.  We turned it off again until we got here but I am very glad we have enough proprane on board to not have to wonder if it will shut off in the middle of the night.

TTYL,

Linda