AMARILLO, TX — That photo you’re looking at is a stretch of concrete-poured Route 66 near Ft. Reno, OK. Have concrete slabs ever looked so compelling, beautiful and lonely to you? Me neither.
Driving the Mother Road you can often see the development of interstate travel laid out before you. First came the train tracks, then concrete-poured roads that rolled with the land like Route 66 and, finally, the super highway system we most often drive today. It’s not uncommon for long stretches of Route 66 to be sandwiched between train tracks and a major highway.
Several U.S. highways used today closely follow the path of the Mother Road. In the states I’ve passed through so far it’s I-55 in Illinois; I-44 in Missouri; I-44 and I-40 in Oklahoma; and I-40 in Texas.
Today I drove some of the most pristine stretches of orignal Route 66 I’ve encountered to date. In the eastern part of Oklahoma, OK66 is mostly repaved road. But in the western part of the state the seamed, concrete roadway reappears. Unfortunately, periods of intense rain made the going difficult and at times dangerous, particularly during a rather hilly and bumpy stretch from Bridgeport to Hydro, OK.
The sun struggled to break through the clouds as I drove out of Oklahoma City in the morning, but no such luck was to be had. It did, however, manage to peek through long enough to create some nice lighting for this shot of the Yukon Mill & Grain Co. building in Yukon.
A little further up the road in El Reno, I spotted this cool mural.
In Geary I had to stop and ask directions to what my Route 66 map refers to as the “Pony bridge.” An elderly gent in a cowboy hat obliged me, and then added:
“I don’t know where that map got the name Pony bridge. We call it the Yellow bridge, and that’s what it is.”
And so it is.
Not long after crossing the Yellow bridge the rain started falling biblically. It was then I decided the safest thing to do would be to get on I-40 and drive that into Texas and Amarillo.
As I approached the Oklahoma-Texas border, however, the rain let up a bit and again I felt the tug of the Mother Road. Oh, what the hey…
So I got off I-40 at the exit for Texola, an Oklahoma border town now mostly abandoned, and motored into Texas the right way. But not before stopping briefly to walk the deserted streets of Texola with my camera.
Then it was on to Texas!
Moments after crossing the Texas state line, I encountered the best original Route 66 two-lane road I’ve driven on yet. In Shamrock, TX, I also discovered a rather neat compromise struck between the past and the present.
Also in Shamrock, the Tower Conoco building looked spectacular following its 2001 restoration.
Here are some detail shots.
But soon the rain started in again, this time with some nasty and chilly headwinds. I also had laundry to do and hadn’t exercised in a while, so I got back on I-40, drove to Amarillo and splurged on a decent room with amenities. The hotel desk clerk just told me tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warmer. Let’s see what it brings.
Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow!
Route 66 Dispatch 