The People's Highway: Oklahoma City --> Amarillo: In Search of a Tumbleweed

Where Only Windmills and God Dare to Tread

On our way out of Oklahoma City, we passed our 1,000th mile (although Elvis can only count to 999.9, then he starts over at 0). We watched the landscape change from red dirt and robust patches of forest to dry, brown soil and solitary trees providing the only shade for livestock in miles. For the two of us – in skin tones of winter, Federal pale – the journey through the Texas panhandle was difficult, our forearms beginning to roast medium rare. For miles, all we could see were cattle and windmills – except in Groom, home to the largest cross in the western hemisphere and a reminder of whose country this is.

Good old Elvis made it to 1,000 miles.

Joe protecting his driving arm from the blistering sun.

The Mother of the Mother Road

Near Hydro, we stopped at Lucille’s Gas Station & Shop, which is closed today but remains an historic site. Lucille Hammons ran the gas station from 1941 to 2000, when she died. Immortalized in D.C. at the Smithsonian’s Route 66 exhibit, Lucille became known as the “Mother of the Mother Road” because she would give food or gas to poor travelers in exchange for an old appliance or broken-down vehicle. We stopped at Lucille’s Roadhouse down the street, a large, ’66 themed restaurant named in her honor.

Old Lucille's on Route 66 near Hydro, OK.

Almost Ghost Towns

On Route 66, we have traveled through dozens of struggling small towns since leaving Chicago, but the stretch of road between the Oklahoma-Texas border and Amarillo may be best known for what is no longer there. As interstates bypassed the old highway, these towns were literally choked off and killed – it was as if everyone boarded up and left all at once.

Near the almost ghost town of Alanreed, TX.

Alanreed's Baptist Church is oldest in Texas on the Route.

Another ghost town in rural Texas.

Amarillo & The Parkview Bed & Breakfast

We pulled into the Parkview Bed and Breakfast a little before 7pm. Nabil and Carol Dia, Parkview’s owners, greeted us with a cold beer and welcomed refuge from the Texas heat. The Dias have lived in this historic home for more than thirty years – raising several children and spoiling 11 grandkids within it. Parkview’s rooms are beautifully decorated in period furniture – ours included a claw foot tub - and host travelers from around the world. Many guests are traveling Route 66, including four “really tiny” Japanese women on Harleys (one of whom suffered from narcolepsy and rode between two others to stay awake).

Parkview Bed & Breakfast in Amarillo.

The Dias also tend an impressive garden, which includes pet koi fish who eat out of Carol’s hands. The morning after our stay, the Dias joined us for a breakfast of vegetable frittata and watermelon slices served with fresh mint from the garden.

Doesn't do the Parkview Garden justice, but our memory card was not in the camera when we took those photos. :(

Teleporting to Tuscany

We had planned to eat at the Golden Light Café & Cantina – a Route 66 classic – but quickly learned that local Macaroni Joes served authentic Italian food in an unrivaled atmosphere (aka they recreated an outdoor Tuscan café). Appreciating a break from Americana fare, we dined happily on garden tetrazzini and Jumpin’ Joe’s Spicy Spaghetti (guess who ordered which).

Inside of Mac Joe's.

Graffiti at the Cadillac Ranch

Anyone traveling Route 66 in northern Texas must stop at the Cadillac Ranch, a roadside attraction built in 1974 that includes ten Cadillacs nose-dived into the ground. “Only in America,” a photographer said to us as we stepped out of his shot, grabbing our spray can to paint “Go Pitt” and “Elvis Lives” on a car.