TAKING OUR TIME ON ROUTE 66

When Route 66 was commissioned as a national highway in 1926, life moved at a slower pace. Lucy and Ethel decided to take their cue from that era by lollygagging around the hotel this morning until checkout time at 11 a.m. It was a wise idea, because we felt refreshed by the time we left Tulsa.

Getting back onto Route 66, we went through small towns like Catoosa and Verdigris, heading for Claremore. It’s the birthplace of humorist Will Rogers, Oklahoma’s favorite son. Rogers, who was killed in plane crash in Alaska in 1935, was a master of all media in his time. He was a cowboy who roped steer on the family ranch in nearby Oologah, where he was born. He was a newspaper columnist, a star of radio, vaudeville, wild west shows and the movies.

Annette on the porch of the Rogers house

Rogers was a pioneer in early silent pictures, staring in 50. When talkies came out, he grabbed hold of them, too. As one of the informational plaques at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum stated, if he were alive today, he would be embracing Facebook and Twitter. His column appeared in 169 newspapers and totaled 20 million words by the time he died.

When we left the museum, we went 13 miles off Route 66 to his birthplace. First built as a one-room log cabin in 1870, the house was completed as a two-story Greek revival ranch house in 1875. It had to be moved a bit in 1960 when the Army Corps of Engineers damned up the Verdigris River river to form Oologah Lake, which the house now overlooks.

From Claremore we tootled on down 66 East toward Kansas, hoping to make it to Springfield, Missouri, before bedding down for the night. From the Kansas state line at Galena  to the Missouri state line at Carl Junction is a mere 13 miles, but it was one of the most picturesque portions of the return trip. We managed several photo opts, including cows in a pond (a common sight along Route 66), a rare bridge and a giant rocking chair. We had a good laugh when Annette tried to check in on FaceBook to see where we were. Her location service said, “Nowhere on Route 66.”  She thought someone traveling the road must have interjected that description, but there was a cafe with that name a couple of miles down the road. 

We stopped at the Miller Pecan Company in Afton and bought pecans, candy and a nut cracker (Lucy is a nut for gadgets), posed for photos in the store’s giant, outdoor rocking chair, then stopped at the Rainbow Curve Bridge two miles west of Riverton. Built in 1923, the latter is a single-span, concrete bridge over Brush Creek, and is the only remaining Marsh arch bridge on Route 66. James Barney Marsh was the engineer who designed the bridge, along with others across the USA.

Before hopping back on I-44, we stopped and made a reservation for the night at Best Western’s Rail Haven Inn on Route 66 in Springfield. Good thing we called ahead. By the time we arrived around 6:30 p.m., the only other room available besides ours was a jacuzzi suite. 
     The Inn is a lovely throwback to the early days of Route 66, with classic cars parked out front and two antique gas pumps near the office. Built in 1937 as cottage cabins, it was enlarged several times. It looks more like a motel now, with an L-shaped configuration. It has  been restored and is quite modern, but has a folksy feel. All 92 rooms are on one level. When Annette went out for ice, a cool breeze was blowing and people were sitting outside their doors chatting, as if in some small town in the 1950s. It was a peaceful ending to another long day.

Yep, that's Elaine.