Theresa came up with a theme of Route 66 for the next section of the Smitanic adventure. (Thank you cousin Curtis and Evelyn!) Since I40 parallels the 66 route thru several states, that would make it easy to explore in the RV without risking narrow roads and low bridges that may occur on the legendary road.
The most efficient route was to take I44 out of MO which became a toll road soon after entering Oklahoma. Close to 100 miles and $30 of tolls was a bit frustrating to journey just west of Oklahoma City. The last toll had a malfunctioning change machine and no one at the booth
...with lines forming behind them the Smitanic crew gave up and proceeded thru the red light at the booth. Guess the Toll trolls will have to send a bill.
The first taste of a Route 66 point of interest (POI) was the Stafford Air & Space museum . This POI was also part of the Harvest Hosts (HH) network of RV overnight sites in the US. The Smits had joined this club before leaving home port to leverage low cost or free overnight stays as they meander about the country. This POI was the first time trying one of the sites affiliated with HH. The cost of admission to the museum, $5 for seniors, covered the nights stay in the very level paved parking lot with only one other RV.
The Smit’s are not really museum people. This museum was a fairly large facility and had a very nice display of airplanes, space program artifacts and aviation history. Kevin is an airplane guy so he was intrigued with the history and hands on collections.
Dinner was at the Route 66 dinner Lucille’s. It was cute with 50s style decor and a large menu!
After a peaceful night at the museum, another POI, the OK Route 66 museum, was just 20 miles into the day’s drive to Amarillo. Theresa had called and validated that there was RV parking so the Jeep and RV were driven separately to that point.
The small building housed a nice display of each decade of the legendary Route 66, within Oklahoma, history . Some of the paraphernalia started looking all to familiar in the rooms dedicated to 70, 80, 90s. Some items still in the Tasman attic could surely be donated to this museum for all of nostalgia.
The destination park for a 2 night stay was just outside Amarillo, TX at OasisRV Resort. The nearby POI, Cadillac Ranch, was the inspiration for parks main entrance centerpiece, a RV sunk nose down in the ground at a 45 degree angle. Other POIs like the second amendment cowboy and the big Texan boasting a 72 oz steak free if consumed in 60 minutes were saved for a future experiences.
Instead, a 3 mile Arbor walk in the heart of the town led to a quick chat with another couple on bicycles who were full time RVers and just came from the balloon festival. The couple had noticed Kevin’s Quartzsite Yacht club t-shirt as they passed the walkers one direction. Quartzite is a mecca for RVers so on the next time they passed the bikers then stopped to ask if Kevin was staying in and RV. They imparted lots of good tips to note on the Albuquerque bucket list item.
Next it was off to the Route 66 RV museum. This was a free entry tour thru an impressive display of vintage RVs, bicycles and motorcycles. Well worth the time.
In keeping with the theme, the Smitanic’s next stop heading west was in Albuquerque,NM at Route 66 Casino & Campground. This was a brand new park with very nice amenities including pickleball!
Dinner at the casino was good and the two travelers luckily managed to escape the casino without incurring any losses.
The next day started with some time practicing Pickleball.
Then a legionary Laguna burger at the 66 Pit Stop ollowed by a digestive hike through the Petroglyphs. The hike was 3 miles with spots were you can view markings etched in lava rocks dating to a time BC. It became an eagle eye challenge between the two hikers to see how many markings could be spotted first along the trail. The meanings of all the etched symbols are still a mystery.
The next day repeated the morning pickleball, then the team followed that with a hike along the Rio Grande River. There were trails everywhere both dirt and paved trails that followed the river. Close to the finish Kevin warned Theresa as she was about to step in the path of a snake on the trail. Her Fitbit recorded the heart rate spike well into the peak zone and she was leary of any stick or twig following that episode.
Inspired by the potential use of the trails with bikes, a local bike shop was visited to get tubes and tires for Kevin’s bike. He debated replacing both tires but opted for just replacing the damaged front tire. With the intent to rotate the ‘good’ back tire to the front and put the new tire on the rear. Once back at the RV he soon discovered that the rear tire was extremely worn as well. So he left both faulty tires on the bike to gamble which tire blows first! This solidified the next days plan to just move on rather than risk a bike ride.
All that activity called for a soothing dip in the parks Spa followed by a dinner of grilled legendary steak from Wisconsin.
In examining the travel schedule for entry into CA, it seemed to be about 1 week too early so two new stops of the Grand Canyon and Lake Havasu were added. Awesome! But for now it was onto Petrified Forest, a bucket list item for Theresa!.
OK Route 66 museum66 Pit Stop
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