(4-22 Erick) After breakfast, at the “Wagon Wheel Cafe,” we headed for Oklahoma with cloudy skies, cool temp and a east wind. Stopping at Shamrock, TX, where David made a stop at the Bank, it began to rain. By the time we enter Oklahoma it was raining very heavy. A few miles into Oklahoma a man in a mini-van pulled up next to me and asked if I wanted a ride into town. Since we were only about 2 or so miles from town I said, no thanks. But, how nice of someone to stop and offer help. My guess was that the man was worried about the thunder and lightning that was all around us.
Just west of Erick two other rides, going the other direction, rode by. Any other time we would have stopped and talk but not today in the pouring rain. We both just rode on in different direction. As we enter town we look for a cafe. We have had enough of the rain and wanted a break. We found a cafe and was getting off our bikes when a man yelled at us from across the street, “come over here, it’s all free.” He yelled the same thing a second time. So we rode over. I was dripping wet and the first to enter this old brick building that use to be a meat market. Inside I met Harley and Annabelle. They claim to be “The Mediocre Music Makers” of “The Redneck Capitol of the World.” Harley told us to bring out bikes in and have a seat. After introduction, they sang us several songs, including “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.”
Then they invited over to their house for lunch, a pot of chili, spinach salad and makings for a sandwich. Since we had decided to make this town our overnight we ended up talking for sometime. They were very good singers and great people, thanks. After returning to our bikes we rode off to find a motel.
Erick, is a very small town, and is known for being the home town of Roger Miller, of “King of the Road” fame and Sheb Wooley, from the TV show “Rawhide” and for the song “Purple People Eater.” A museum is in the making to honor Roger Miller.
Our Motel was the “Elm Motel.” This motel is a classic, dating form 1928 and had carports right next to each room. Our room, while neat and clean, was old and with a green bathtub and sink, a windup clock and no phone.
After unloading the bikes and since the rain had stopped I wanted to go to the post office to mail some stuff home. Arriving at the post office at 4:45 PM I found that it was already closed for the day. I asked a man, who was leaving the post office, what time the office closes, he replied 4:30 PM, but he said just go to the door and they will help you. “Sure” I thought. But I did knock on the door and the lady Postmaster let me in and took my package, even cashing a travels check to pay of the postage. Now I ask you can this happen any place but in small town in rural America.
I had noticed that almost ever car/pickup trucks that came up the main street made a U-turn just passed our motel and went back the other way. My next realization was that I am seeing the same cars/pickup trucks over and over again. I then notices that the drivers were all kids. Could they be cruising? Erick is only about 12 blocks long and there is no one on the street to see the cruiser. The next day while eating lunch I asked the locals about this and they said “yes” the kids cruse after school. Kind of sad!
Dinner was at the “Rafter T Restaurant”, established in 1946, which was up near the Interstate. Up there were two modern motels and the gas station/mini mart. Returning to our room we turned on the TV to the Weather Channel, as we very often did. The forecast for tomorrow was NOT good. There was severe weather warnings for tomorrow. Meaning possible tornados. By the way I did check with the motel to see if they had a tornado cellar. Yes, they did and they showed me where it was and how to get in it.
(4-23 Erick) We woke to rain and wind. Checking the Weather Channel we found the severe weather warnings were still forecasted for today. In fact the target area for the most severe weather just east of us and in the direction we were headed. We deiced to stay put for today.
With a small break in the rain we headed back to Rafter T for breakfast. What a deal, 1 egg, 2 bacon, hash browns, 2 pieces of toast and coffee for $2.70. Returning to the motel we sat and watched the rain increase with lots of thunder and lightning. At times it looked very scary out. We did find out that there some tornados east of us. It’s hard to know if we would have been in their line or not. Any case it was a very smart move to stay put. As any of you weather watchers might remember this was one of the worse seasons for severe weather. With more tornados in this area than any other time. The weather did turn nice in the late afternoon. Also the cruses were back.
Harley and Annabelle: Their store is called “The Sand Hills Curiosity Shop” and is fast becoming western Oklahoma’s most popular Route 66 stop. The building, with its high tin ceiling and aged hardwood floor, began life as a meat market about a hundred years ago. Harley and Annabelle make a unique combination. He is loud and boisterous; she is quiet and shy. He’s a stand-up comic; she’s his straight man. She’s written over three hundred songs and he’s told at least that many jokes. Harley was born in Erick and Annabelle was born in San Diego. She walked into Harley’s store in 1987 for a guitar lesson, which never happen. They ending up talking a lot. Harley told her, “go back home and think about it for 30 days, and if she wanted to she could pack her bags and come on back. Twenty-five days later he picked her up at the airport. She’s been in Erick ever since.
Harley has a collection of vintage musical instruments, including a pre 1930s Gibson L5 guitar that was given to him by Roger Miller himself in 1958. Harley told me that he has booked three Route 66 bus tours, coming from England, this year and several from the USA. His store hours are: “we open when we wake up, and we close when we pass out!” Be sure to stop by if you are ever in the area, it’s well worth the time.
(4-24 Weatherford) Today would be a great day, clear and cool (48 degrees) to start and warm and sunny to end. There was also great tailwind. We rode 90 miles in 6 hours (15 mph).We rode on a mixture of Route 66 and I-40. On the I-40, is where we really made the time, flat and straight. When I-40 was built they had learned how to graded roads, when Route 66 was built the just paved the contour of the land.
Oklahoma is a great state to ride in. It has green rolling hills, good roads (even Route 66) and nice people. There are two Route 66 museum’s in the state. The first one we stopped at was in Elk City and is the National Route 66 Museum and the second one was in Clinton, which is the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. Both are very well done and worth stopping at.
David has his second flat, a piece of glass. We found a motel in Weatherford and had dinner at Kim Son’s Chinese Restaurant, another all-you-can-eat buffet. It was a great day.
(4-25 Oklahoma City) It was cool, clear and our tailwind was still with us. Maybe not as strong as yesterday. David had his third flat and the tire was flat while we were still in the motel. It turned out that the piece of glass from yesterday’s flat had also punched through the other side of the tube. It was funny that once David fixed the first hole, from yesterday, he was still able to ride 55 miles to our motel for the night and the tire would hold until morning.
We rode on a lot of old Route 66 this day. We rode cross the South Canadian River bridge which covers about one mile and has 32 spans. It sure was a fun bridge to ride across. I stopped and pick up a piece of the old road for as a souvenir. The weather turned worse, cloudy, cold and now with a side wind. With a lot of rolling hills all day and 87 miles for the day I was tired. Especially the hills to the north of Oklahoma City, which we took to avoid riding through downtown, were on the steep side. Dinner was at Country Market another all-you-can-eat place. I will end the tour with a weight loss of 8 pounds. It just does not seem possible with these all-you-can-eat meals we had.
(4-26 Sapulpa) I looked out the window at 6am and saw a big orange sun rising in the east, always a good sign. It was cool but sunny. The day was filled with more rolling hills. By the way Oklahoma is not a flat state. The road was littered with dead Armadillos. In spite of their hard shell, they are no match for a fast moving truck.
Lunch was in the town of Davenport at Dan’s Bar-B-Que Pit. Another all-you-can-eat place. Their moto is “Serving the finest in Bar-B-Que, to the finest of people.” By days end we had ridden 100 miles, our first century of the trip, with 94 of the miles on Route 66. Dinner was at “Freddie’s,” sort of an up scale restaurant. You know the kind that has cloth table cloths and where someone servers you. It was a very nice place.
The city of Sapulpa now occupies an area over which 14 nations have flown their flags. Three basic elements have combined to bring fourth the city of Sapulpa and shaped its basic character, Indians, Railroads, and Oil in that order. The brick and glass industries have also played a significant role in the formation of early day Sapulpa. The town gets its name from Chief Sapulpa, a full blood lower Creek Indian of the Kashita Tribe in Osocheetown, Alabama, arrived in Indian Territory about 1850 and established a trading post near the confluence of Polecat and Rock Creeks (about one mile south of present day downtown Sapulpa) to become this area’s first permanent settler.
(4-27 Vinita) Today was my kind of day, it got HOT in the afternoon. We took the Interstate to get across the city of Tulsa. It was just the easiest way to across big towns. Oklahoma’s Interstates had no signage prohibiting bikes, in fact there was no signage at all, even prohibiting pedestrians.
After dinner, at KFC, we made a stop at “Braum’s Ice Cream.” There have been a lot of “Braum’s” along the way so we had to check one out. Yes, it was good, but I have to say I have never met an ice cream I did not like. Our motel was “Deward and Pauline’s Motel. A nice place but I noticed that the east/west train going through town sounded it’s horn, continuously all the way across the mile or so of town, and not at just the street crossing. I asked the locals what was up. They told my that is was in respect for a family that was killed by a train a few years ago.
I have been noticing that all most very vehicles’s licence plate in Oklahoma has on it “Native American.” Again I asked a local if there were really that many Native Americans living in Oklahoma. They told me that even if you have to smallest amount of Native American blood in you are entitled to one of these plates, and besides the cost of these plates is much less than for non-Native American’s plates.
We rode 430 miles in Oklahoma with 8,260 feet of gain. Tomorrow we will ride in two new states, Kansas and Missouri. Kansas has only about 15 miles Route 66, so we will be in and out of Kansas before you know it.