Oklahoma is OK

We continue our trip westward. We are roughly following Route 66, though we stick to interstates to make better time. We only stopped at two Route 66 Oklahoma attractions today. We visited the Blue Whale of Catoosa and Pop’s 66 Soda Ranch in Arcadia. 

Low shower, high shower

Yesterday I shared a photo of the shower in Boots Court motel in Carthage Missouri. The shower head was about beard level on Tony. If I had needed to shampoo my hair today I probably would have thrown out my back rinsing it. Luckily, I didn’t need to. 

As if to make up for the low head, the water pressure was super high. So, the shower felt good - from the neck down. Which was all we really needed anyway.

Breakfast

Not every hotel offers a wonderful, free breakfast. In fact, for the most part these adorable nostalgic Route 66 motels do not. 

We wanted to get an early start today. I didn’t sleep well last night, and I was concerned about getting my journal posted before we got not he road. So I woke up really early, by my standards. I got up around 6:15 and got to work. Tony showered, then when I finished my work I showered and we packed up.

We were about ready for a gas stop anyway, and Casey’s was just a few blocks down the road. There were also Burger King and McDonald’s so we thought we would just drive through somewhere. We did go in to make coffee at Casey’s though. We like that they have machines that grind and brew all fresh into our travel mugs. 

We checked out the Casey’s breakfast options and figured since we were already stopped we may as well grab and go. We got breakfast sandwiches and small cartons of milk. We also got a blueberry muffin to share.

The sandwiches were just ok. They were fast, and they were food. The muffin was pretty good. The milk was cold and, well it was milk. It really hit the spot. 

Blue Whale of Catoosa

We chose to get on the toll road this morning. We are getting sort of road-weary and ready to be home. So saving an hour of windshield time was totally worth the $5 toll.

There was plenty of gas in the truck, so the only real reason to stop was for pit stops. Our first stop took us off the interstate and on old Route 66 for a few miles so we could visit the Blue Whale of Catoosa. We visited this iconic spot in 2021. We remembered the funky hut-style bathroom building. Unfortunately, those were closed and blue rooms were available. 

On the other hand, this time the little gift shop was open so we popped in and said hello. This store was not open last time we were here. I smashed a penny for a souvenir. Then we took some photos and climbed back into the truck. 

Mobile lunch

When we wanted some lunch, I dug into the ice chest. We had two string cheeses and some cooked pork chop that we munched on. This satisfied us so we kept right on driving. In addition to saving time, we saved money and probably saved food. The fresh food will only make it a while longer on the little ice we add to the cooler. 

As we drove toward our next planned stop in Arcadia Oklahoma, we passed a famous Round Barn. I snapped a photo out the window and I was so amused to see that the barn looked like it’s mind had been blown by the clouds!

Pops 66 Soda Ranch

The other stop we were looking forward to today was Pops 66 Soda Ranch in Arcadia, Oklahoma. Our first photos were silly selfies with the giant pop bottle structure out front. Inside, Pops has walls of shelves of color-coordinated bottles of pop. Or soda. Or whatever you call it. At Pops, it’s pop. 

Also, this really made me giggle, you can buy cases of Dad’s at Pops. If you like Dad’s root beer, and I do, that is sort of tempting. But we don’t have room in the truck for a case of pop. Also, it would take me a year to drink that many.

Tony choose a blueberry, and I a strawberry pop. I really wanted strawberry cream, but din’t see one. I am certain there must have been one but I didn’t want to spend too long looking. I was almost tempted by the strawberry rhubarb. But if I didn’t like it I would have just wasted money, so I played it safe. 

I was delighted to see a 1979 Ford station wagon in the parking lot. At first I thought it was a display. Then I saw the couple get in and drive away. I hope they are doing the entire Route 66 experience in that car. 

Gas and Coffee

They do not have great gas prices at Pops, because of being in the middle of nowhere, so we chose to skip the pump and just go for the pop. 

We wound up stopping at a Love’s a bit further down the road for gas and coffee. We also grabbed a bag of trail mix to satisfy our sweet tooths. We were glad we weren’t planning on getting a sandwich, because two van loads of teens got in line at Subway just as we walked in. That would have been a wait. 

Shamrock or Amarillo?

At this point we really didn’t know what we wanted to do. We could make it all the way to Amarillo, and have a steak dinner at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Or we could stop in Shamrock Texas. 

Hotel prices are definitely lower in Shamrock. And there is a vintage Conoco gas station that lights up neon at night the we would love to see. 

In Amarillo, there is the aforementioned steak dinner. And the drive tomorrow would be shorter to get home. 

In the end, neon won out. We decided to stop in Shamrock and found a room at the Western Motel in Shamrock Texas. It’s unclear to me how old this motel is. It did have better ratings than the nearby Holiday Inn Express, so we forego the opportunity of one of those great free breakfasts to enjoy a good deal and a good location. 

Tube steak

The man at the desk was really friendly, and even gave us a key to check out our room before we chose to stay. Back in the office after a quick approval, the clerk told us about two good places to eat a steak dinner. I thought maybe Tony told him we normally go to the Big Texan, but apparently steak is just THE recommendation while visiting Texas. Why not!?

When dinner time came around, we were both feeling lazy enough not to want to go out again. We have a microwave, and again discussed not letting the food in the cooler go to waste. That food, by the way, has been transferred to the hotel fridge every night and repacked in the morning with fresh ice. 

We heated up the hot dogs we’ve been carrying. Tony had a slice of bread and I had some leftover mac and cheese. It’s no steak dinner, but it was easy. And already paid for. And maybe the cooler will be a little lighter to pack tomorrow. 

For dessert we had bread with butter and Koch’s FROG jam which was a gift from Grace and TonyG when we visited them in Missouri last month. Yum.

Shamrock after dark

We waited for darkness to fall, then we wandered out into the night to check out the neon lights on … Route 66. What a strange song mash. 

I knew we wanted to see the Conoco Tower Station. We didn’t realize our very own Western Motel would also light up the night. Not with neon though, they use LEDs. though the ATM in the parking lot has neon. Ha! I know cameras don’t like it very much, but I sure do love neon. 

I found a photo of the tower building that we took in June 2021 when we were on our first Route 66 trip. It’s lovely to see the renovation that has been done in the past few years. Of course, we didn’t get to stick around until after dark to see if the neon worked in 2021.

I also found when I was looking for that last link, that the Conoco Tower Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s owned by the city of Shamrock, and has been renovated using a Federal grant, and local fundraising. Isn’t it beautiful!

Tomorrow we will make the last leg of our journey home. We will still be following Route 66, so there will be more stories to tell.