Get Your Kicks on Route 66

[3fan4life]

When I realized how close Eureka Springs was to Route 66 I had to ride some of it.

Even though it officially began in Chicago, Springfield, MO lays claim to being the birth place of Route 66.

Apparently, it was conceived there and construction began there, eventually going east to Chicago and west to San Diego.





There were some photo-ops along the way:












I was surprised when the route took me through a small part of Kansas:






(I have NO IDEA what the significance of the Gorilla is)



Other than riding parts of the original Route 66 the purpose of the ride was to see the Blue Whale in Catoosa, OK.





I had seen pictures of this unique piece of Americana and couldn't resist the opportunity to see it in person.


From here I took the most direct route back to Ground Zero to get a good nights sleep and plan the next days ride.

[Jersey mike]

Damn fine looking bike! 

[Serk]

Looks like you had a whale of a good ride! 

I get a chuckle off of the fact I live off of Texas State Highway 66, which is older than Route 66 (1923 vs 1926) but much much shorter... They do play up the fact most folks won't know the difference between U.S. Route 66 and State Highway 66 somewhat...

[old2soon]

    Longer ago than I care to admit I drove All of Route 66 in suprisingly 1966 due to the airline strike! Drove from N A S North Island Ca. to Round Lake Il. in a red and black 62 Corvair! Round Lake il. is aprrox 50 miles N of Chi town. 2 things I recall bout crossing New Mexico. Paying for water to fill my gal water bottle. The owner of the fuel stop/resturant had to truck water in. Also 1 stretch I saw a black dot in my rearview mirror closing FAST and a quick dash scan showed I was runnin right at 90 MPH indicated. That Dot was a N M Highway Patrol and he just Blasted past me and kept rollin!
     I remeber it was nighttime I was Tired and I saw a sign-Illinois State Police station. Pulled in told the desk Sgt. I was Maybe 120  130 miles out from home. Could I take a nap in my car on your parking lot? Sarge sez yup over to the side there. How long ya wanna sleep? No more than 3 hrs sez I. 3 hrs later he raps on the glass I git outa the car he dirtects me to the facility and sez how bout a fresh cuppa coffee and a donut or 2? Yuppers and THANKS! Sarge sez I'd rather have ya here sleepin on my lot rather than p than pickin you up with a spoon! And BTW welcome Home Sailor! He'd seen my base parking permit on the front bumper! RIDE SAFE.

[Timbo1]

The Blue Whale has just completed significant improvements to the parking lot, souvenir shop / information center.  They had the re-opening May 30'th the same day a Guinness record attempt for the largest classic car parade ever was put together in Tulsa.  This was put together in part of celebrating 100 yr centennial of Route 66.  It was a successful attempt with 3596 classic cars participating. It was called Tulsa's Route 66 Capital Cruise and they did set a new Guinness Record  The whole town was full of classic cars no matter where I went I'd see some.

I found it interesting Wikipedia states Tulsa as the Birthplace of Route 66, started by a gentleman named Cyrus Avery.

Wikipedia also states Springfiled has a nickname Birthplace of Route 66 along with a couple other nicknames but I don't find any information supporting the Birthplace nickname in the article.  It does state that in 2010 they started having a Birthplace of Route 66 Festival.

I don't know where the real Route 66 Birthplace is and I think many towns big and small create roadside attractions like the gorilla to try to get a little tourism revenue.

You were close enough you should have came on in to Tulsa and went to Buck Atom's Cosmic Curios They've added a couple new statues over the last few years and the entire area has lot's of photo ops.

[F6Dave]

I'll go out of my way to catch some stretches of Route 66. Not far from Springfield is Carthage, with a famous old motel, Boots Court. I believe a foundation was established to keep it well maintained and operating. That would explain why it's in such good condition compared to so many places along the route.


I've stayed at the Wigwam in Holbrook, Arizona twice. It's been nicely restored. During my first stay I met a family from Brazil that was touring Route 66 on their summer vacation (it was January here). They wanted to experience some American history.


The Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, NM claims to be the oldest motel in continuous operation along the route. Several years  ago Valkyrie owners gathered there for an annual Memorial Day BBQ.


When staying in the old motels along the route you meet a surprising number of people from around the world. I once met three men from Australia who purchased a 1965 Thunderbird convertible and were driving it along Route 66 to California, where the car would be shipped to Australia. I also met 9 Swiss police officers who had rented Harleys and were riding Route 66 for a magazine article.

[fudgie]

The blue whale looks in alot better shape than when I saw it 8 yrs ago. The place was all junked up and dirty.

[JimmyG]

When I was a little boy, we took route 66 when we would drive from California back home to Tennessee. Probably made that trip 4 or 5 times.  Anyone remember the curio shop going out of Albuquerque going over the pass headed west? I think it was the last one before headed through the mountains.  I remember a Diamond back rattler skin they had hung on the wall in there. Must of been 12 long as I remember, it's was huge.  I've heard tales that several of the curio shops had ones just like it on their walls. We always stopped there before making that final push back to Cali.

[3fan4life]

I'll go out of my way to catch some stretches of Route 66. Not far from Springfield is Carthage, with a famous old motel, Boots Court. I believe a foundation was established to keep it well maintained and operating. That would explain why it's in such good condition compared to so many places along the route.

I saw that Motel somewhere between Springfield, MO and Catoosa, OK.

I wasn't sure if it was an operating motel or a tourist attraction.

[F6Dave]

It's definitely in operation, though with few rooms it fills up quickly. There are some great pictures on their website.

https://bootscourt66.com/

The rooms have restored furniture from their early days and include radios, which was a big deal in the pre-TV days. The exterior is lit with bright green neon at night. That must have been a favorite color along Route 66.