Route 66 Thursday to Sunday

                                                                                

On Thursday morning, 13 June, we headed to Stroud, OK. for a breakfast of eggs, pancakes and biscuits glugged down with bottomless coffee at the Rock Café. Owner Dawn Welch was the inspiration for the character Sally in the "Cars" movie. Vivienne noticed a sign up on the wall;"Life is all about how you handle plan B!" On a road trip a "conversation starter" like that is always good for whiling away some journey time. Next we visited the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
We stopped in Cowtown to check out the biggest cattle auction in the world but obviously got there on the wrong day; not a cow or a cowboy in sight. We did see the shops selling western wear and guys in huge pickups rather than on horses.
In Clinton OK. we visited a very good Route 66 museum and we stayed overnight in Elk city at the Flamingo Inn. We had to wait in line for a table at the most amazing Mexican restaurant, Pedros.
On Friday we crossed from Oklahoma into Texas. In Glenrio, a ghost town, we nearly got attacked by a pack of stray dogs when we got out the car to take some pics! McClean, TX has the crazy but actually really interesting "Devil's Rope Barbed Wire Museum" as a highlight. We ate a lunch of steak and salad at the Red River Steakhouse in McClean, followed by a windy visit to Cadillac Ranch, an art installation on a farm in Amarillo. Ten Cadillacs, models from 1949 to 1963, are half-buried nose-first in the ground with their tail fins in the air, at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Everybody arrives with cans of spray paint to add their personal touch. Our "Plan B" life philosophy, will forever lie hidden under layers of graffiti sprayed onto the side of a Cadillac, nose-planted in a mielie field in the middle of no-where, fulfilled by the very act itself.
On Saturday we hot- footed it straight to Sante Fe, New Mexico, checked into the Silver Saddles Motel and spent the day window shopping and bar hopping. In the evening we had a great night at the Cowgirl BBQ, sitting outside watching live music and tucking into ribs or burgers.
On Sunday morning we had to drive to Albuquerque and drop Stephen and Vivienne off at the airport. We had brunch in a Route 66 Diner and spent the afternoon in the historic, read touristy, part of town. In the evening we spent a pleasant evening at the St. Clair winery, tasting flights of local New Mexico wines and listening to a live band. We stayed at the Stardust Inn, another Route 66 gem.