Route 66 - Oklahoma to Texas
I'm having trouble trying to describe the strange little
town of Shamrock, Texas.  We crossed into the state
and stopped at a motel after nine hours on the road. 

Today was largely pain free, although we watched in
amazement as the car thermometer climbed to 34 degrees.

When I say pain free, I mean that we didn't get lost or make any wrong turns.
Blair would say that's because I was navigating and he was driving...but it also
had to do with the fact that Oklahama has actually made old route 66 an official
state highway.  So we followed it from Joplin, Missouri all the way to Oklahoma
City.  At times we were the only car in sight...we drove through small towns
like Chandler, clearly keeping one step ahead of the recession, still able to support
its own newspaper.

We passed Cotton-Eyed Joe's Hickory Smoked Barbecue restaurant, but didn't stop because it was only 11 am! Besides we were holding out for Pops Diner with it's 60 foot high Neon pop bottle out front.  More fool us...turns out Pops is a very recent addition to route 66...a gleaming new-age diner just outside Oklahoma City.  And its 60-foot pop bottle is less impressive in daytime, then it would be at night...when it's all lit up!

But after Oklahoma City, Route 66 is Interstate 40.  And as we headed west, we left the forests and grainfields behind.  In their place...home on the range!  Cattle and horses, ranches, oil derricks, oil platforms and fields of wind turbines. 

More on our small town of Shamrock...later today!