Day 5 Monday, Sept. 8 Bridges to History

We left El Reno with rain suits ready but never needed them. By 10:00 a.m. the sun was out and it stayed very comfortable all day long...high of 79 degrees! It couldn't have been any better!  Traveling through the Oklahoma panhandle, the road curved through hills, and fields, and woods, and even by an occasional tumbleweed on the road!

The bridge over the Canadian River was incredible! Apparently the project began in 1930 partly to help stabilize unemployment during the days of the Depression. The bridge is nearly a mile long with a series of 28 pony truss spans.It was an engineering marvel during its time, opening in 1934. Beautiful!

We stopped at the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK and what a gem that was! I really enjoyed learning more about the history of the Mother Road. It's amazing to think about the foresight, the  engineering, the labor that went into building the road. It opened as a means of improving commerce across the country, became a thoroughfare for migrant workers and "refugees" of the Dust Bowl, and thrived with tourists when the economy improved. After WW II, President Eisenhower, having seen the German autobahn, pushed for a bigger, faster system....leading to the demise of Route 66. Very interesting stuff... loved the museum! 

We continued through the small towns of the panhandle...saw one town's solution to being located in "Tornado Alley."

It was so sad to see how the Interstate Highway led to deserted buildings and ghost towns.

Approaching the Texas border there was a stretch of pre-1930 concrete Route 66 that could barely be seen through the underbrush and other parts that were simply impassable on a motorcycle. We had to turn around more than once! (Did I mention things are NOT well marked out here?!)

We did come across many original buildings that have been beautifully restored! We even met two women that rented a restored 1955 Chevy and were doing Route 66 in that beauty!

We went through the town that was the birthplace of Roger Miller "King of the Road" but the museum was closed.  (Guess I will need to download some tunes!) We decided to pass by The Devil's Rope museum (barbed wire) but had to stop to see the very first Phillips 66 gas station.

Saw the courthouse that was briefly shown in The Grapes of Wrath. Thats another one for my winter reading list! 

More bad sections of the road.. Wish the Harley had a reverse gear! Poor Les.

Passed by the McClean-Alanreed Area Museum which includes information about the WWII German POW prison camp! There is just so much history everywhere we look!

We couldn't help but notice the "Leaning Tower of Groom" (Groom, Texas) built that way to mark a former truck stop.

Before we got to the end of today's journey, we saw the 190 foot cross, the "Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere." I couldn't help but reflect on how thankful we are that God seems to be looking after us. We've had beautiful weather and came through at least 2 situations that could have had deadly results. The first time we were coming down a hill in Oklahoma only to find a pickup truck loaded with someone's household furnishings had dropped a chair on the road! They picked it up as we got there...whew! Then today when we were going across a rather flat and windy stretch of Texas, a sheet of plywood came off a truck and two men were carrying it back to their truck as we came along.  Yikes!  Thank you, God, and all the loved ones in heaven that are looking after us. Please be with us as we continue our journey!

Tonight we ordered pizza from our Best Western motel room in Amarillo, Texas, had a beer and did laundry. We are ALMOST halfway there now...1298.9 miles on the Harley since we left and "Big Red" is going strong!

Love to you all .....