Route 66 - Travelling The Mother Road with Babies and On a Budget. Finding Our Way From Oklahoma to Amarillo!

Welcome back to our Route 66 journey last time we left you here in Oklahoma, so let’s hit the road!

Husbag eyeing up a new car on the forecourt of Conoco, Oklahoma!

There are oodles of photo ops in each state along Route 66 but the ones we loved most are these old gas stations, some are refurbished & some are unfortunately left to fall into disrepair and eventually rot away. It's such a shame.  

Believe it or not, the one above is still open, although they don’t sell gas but they do make a mean vanilla milkshake to go!

Real old style diner, The Rock Cafe, Stroud, Oklahoma (date with Husbag, optional)

You simply have to make time for a stop in Stroud and the Rock Cafe, it was actually built with the stones that were dug up while making Route 66. It’s also where a lot of the Disney Pixar animated movie, Cars was set, so they have a full size Mater! Their menu is very unique & you can have anything from Alligator(I did) to Ostrich burgers (he did). 

Lunch was only $20/€15 for 4 of us.  It’s a fabulous place with really friendly locals. We stayed in the Best Western in Stroud. They have an incredible steak house but they don’t sell alcohol. We paid $77/€57 room only. 

The Rock Cafe had burnt down since our first visit but has since been rebuilt. (Ahoo, orbs!)

On the open road again & we make a break for Oklahoma City the state capital. You can thank these kind folks for having the world’s first parking meter installed in 1935 sseesshh! I glowered at every one of them on your behalf. You're welcome. 

Further west we stopped again in El Reno & again further on in Fort Reno where German & Italian WWII POW’s were held and many remain, buried. We simply had to stop at Elk City as there is a National Route 66 Museum that includes a full size replica town and railway complete with a caboose.

                                                    Colin, Orla & Aoife Elk City, Oklahoma

The Eggs & myself in a teepee, more about those later as we stay in one overnight!

Our last stop for the day was Shamrock, Texas named by an Irish man, George Nickel in 1890. They even have a piece of the Blarney Stone & hold a St Patrick’s Day parade every year! It’s one of the few dry/pioneer counties left since prohibition in the US so it’s a 30 odd mile trip if you’d like a beer.

It’s a beautiful town to have a ramble around and to see the old gas station restored is amazing. It’s now the U-Drop Inn a replica old style diner. I’d recommend eating here rather than Moriarty’s as that’s filthy & cheap for a reason!

U-Drop Inn, Shamrock, Texas

We stayed in The Sleep Inn, we really loved it as it had a pool for the children to cool down & have a swim. The breakfast was Texas shaped waffles! We paid $110/€80 B&B for the night.

Route 66 Neon on the U-Drop Inn, that’s me & the girls there on the left (promise!)

Some of the photo ops are literally in the middle of nowhere or in tiny little towns just trying to cling onto the few remaining tourists that pass by. McLean is one of those tiny towns with a fully restored Phillips 66 Gas Station.

Most of 66 is really old or gone so we had to jump onto the interstate a few times.

Phillips gas station McLean, Texas (small... far away)

Groom in Texas have a claim to fame as they have the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere, it’s a whopping 190 foot & lit at night. They also have a leaning water tower in the hopes of luring tourists into town.

Groom is a real cowboy town, they really wear chaps & spurs! But it’s also a very religious town we tuned into local radio stations as we drove to get a real taste of the states & here we were greeted by screaming, ranting & raving preacher, we quickly switched to CD!

Groom, Texas

Myself & the girls looking for the way to Amarillo -

There may have been Peter Kaye dancing and singing

Tune in next week to see do we find it!