50 States, Day 335

Weatherford, Oklahoma  to Amarillo, Texas,  209 Miles

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” 
~Samuel Beckett


Well, dangit we rode the freeway today. Actually it wasn't too bad, since we traveled through rural Oklahoma and Texas. So no Jersey walls, but plenty of cars, trucks and tractor trailers passed us. 


Once again, friends and locals recommended the Route 66 Museum in Elk City. The museum featured four venues: Transportation Museum,Route 66, Old Town Museum, and the Farm and Ranch Museum. The coolest feature in the trans building was a '57 Cadillac front end. You got inside, hit the gas and a video of the road played ahead of the car. With it's big thin steering wheel, operating wing windows and original dash, it really took me back. Another car cut-away played drive-in horror movies, with the speakers that hung on the side windows. 

And they had bikes:


1946 Harley Davidson EL Model. This was the first Harley post war, and the last year of the knuckleheads. 60 cubic inches. The front end is after-market. The original was a springer. 


1965 H-D Electra-Glide. This was the only model to feature the last panhead engine and first electric start. 74 cubic inches, and lots of chrome. This was the first of the big fat touring bikes. 


1948 Indian Chief. These bikes were pre-politically correct, and built in the Wigwam. They featured the suicide clutch, mounted on the left foot so stopping and starting, particularly on hills, was extremely difficult. These days it would be called a Native American Chief Executive Officer. It would need a bigger fuel tank for the label. 


1958 Cushman Scooter 'Eagle.' This featured the optional eight horsepower engine, as opposed to five. 
In another building they decorated it with the Route 66 motif, and decorated it with dioramas of local culture along the highway. Overhead speakers would describe the lifestyle of diners, travelers and gas stations along the way. Very intriguing. 


The museum cost four bucks, a real bargain and provided an hour or so of education with entertainment. How fun is that?
And now, full of fun and education, Quilter Girl!


Our motel had a continental breakfast that was a joke, with two kinds of cereal and no room for much more, so we went back to Jerry's for breakfast.  This  seemed like a real local place with the waitress joking around with the customers who she knew by name. It was a great friendly atmosphere.  We were sure glad we did as the food tasted great too.  I had a California scramble with cream cheese, ham and green onions, what a good combination.  Kevin ate his favorite, Eggs Benedict.  


'Quilter's Cache' was a find in Weatherford.  It was right in downtown, a small town quilt store with a little of everything.  Their fabric selections were not my favorites and I couldn't find everything I wanted, but I got a veggie stand fabric for Louisiana and a cowboy print for the Cowboy museum in Oklahoma.  I still want to find some longhorn cattle fabric for Texas.  I will see if we can find a quilt shop here in Amarillo.  


And a tip of the visor to Terry and Saundra Burns for putting up with us this Easter weekend. We'll do more on them tomorrow.  
  

5 comments:

Pam said...

Wishing you a joyous Easter weekend. Glad to hear that you have some friends for companions to get you through not having your kids with you! Happy Resurrection Day!

Unknown said...

Thanks Pam, and a Merry Easter to you. (Why do we always say Merry Christmas and Happy Easter?) He is risen indeed!
KP

Mel said...

I'm not surprised that Kevin's favorite breakfast is Eggs Benedict. Afterall, he has always lived as if...

life's a hollandaise!

Unknown said...

That's not eggactly funny.
KP

Mel said...

I make no eggscuses for my humor... or lack thereof.