Been wanting to take this trip for many years! Finally, the stars aligned, September 8th was the departure date. All my riding friends were busy, o well, I’ve been on long trips before, not my first rodeo!
Pull out on September 8th, about 8 am. Run hwy 16 through Llano and San Saba. Comanche, connect with hwy. 67. Run hwy. 67 to Stephensville. Hit hwy. 281 run to Mineral Wells. Stop to see the famous, ‘ Crazy Water Hotel” The hotel is being renovated. That’s a good thing, history being preserved. Back in the day, people believed that the water had healing properties. Maybe, Maybe not who knows. People come from far and wide to drink and bathe in the water. After a few snapshots time to move on. Continue on hwy 281 to Jacksboro. The Dairyland Café in Jacksboro, Great BBQ, and good home cooking! Always a good welcoming sight.
After my fill, roll up hwy. 148 to Henrietta. Make a hard right at Henrietta and connect hwy 81. Continue on this road through Waurika, Duncan, and Chickasha. I intersect Interstate 40 at El Reno. Run east to Oklahoma City. Motel time has been a long day. Found one on the service road, Eating joint next door is all good! After a good night’s rest, time to start this great ride. After all this road was established back in the late 40s. People were ready to travel after WW2. Many wanted to see California. Hence many motels and diners popped up along the route. Neon lights were the thing of the day. The brighter the better.
Meanwhile, I connected Route 66 just west of Oklahoma City. Trying to stay on the old route as much as possible. Not too much to see until Clinton, A great Route 66 museum. Plenty of history about Mother Road. Route 66 pretty much skirts Interstate 40. The next stop is Elk City, Another great museum. Continue on to Erick, Home of the late Roger Miller, Remember “Dang ME” “Chugg a Lugg” and my favorite “Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd”.
I continue west across into Texas, First Town Shamrock. One of the best restored old Conoco gas stations that you we find. Nice gift shop on the location. Great photo op. I forge ahead, Amarillo is in my sights. I pull into Amarillo, The Big Texan, is right on the service road.
I’m getting thirsty! They make you feel welcome, after all, we are in Texas! Pull up to the bar for some local brew. Met some guys running Route 66 towards Chicago, They were running out of time. Need to take time for this trip. That’s my mission on this trip to leave no stone unturned. No hurry, no schedule. The next stop is “Smoky Joes” on the west end of 6th Avenue in Amarillo. I’ve made this stop before. Burger Join bar. Had a burger, Friday night, and band night. All good, but I hadn’t secured a room for the night. Rather than run after dark, time to roll. Roll to Vega, about 30 minutes west of town. Got a room, lights out. I’m getting thirsty! They make you feel welcome, after all, we are in Texas! Pull up to the bar for some local brew. Met some guys running Route 66 towards Chicago, They were running out of time. Need to take time for this trip. That’s my mission on this trip to leave no stone unturned. No hurry, no schedule. The next stop is “Smoky Joes” on the west end of 6th Avenue in Amarillo. I’ve made this stop before. Burger Join bar. Had a burger, Friday night, and band night. All good, but I hadn’t secured a room for the night. Rather than run after dark, time to roll. Roll to Vega, about 30 minutes west of town. Got a room, lights out.
Next morning roll at about 8, and Make Tucumcari for breakfast. This town was known for years to have more motels than any town its size in the US. Sad to say most of the motels are closed, I-40 did a number on them. Most of the motels and old buildings are in decay. Too bad!
Continue west to Santa Rosa, a Nice little car Museum on the edge of town. Not much left of Route 66 in Santa Rosa. Hop on I-40 and ride to Clines Corner. Nice gift shop, also cut off the time to run to Santa Fe. Made in Santa Fe, Located in the local Harley Dealer, Got to get my poker chip! Gassed up and continue towards Albuquerque. The terrain gets a little better in this area. More hills and mountains, and trees. It’s been years since I’ve been to this town. Stumble onto the Harley Dealer, it was one block off the main road. Secure another poker chip!
Route 66 runs right through the old part of town. Kinda sketchy, but in the middle of the afternoon. Encountered a few classic cars downtown, which was nice. Got my sights set on Gallup New Mexico for the evening. Pull into Gallup just before Darl, Gallup is a super long town, secure a room a run back through town. The El Rancho Hotel is in the center of town. Many old movies have been shot there. Checked it out, few snapshots. It’s bedtime again. Those long sightseeing days will wear you out!
Next morning roll into Arizona, first stop Holbrook. Breakfast, then just west of town the “TeePee” Motel. The rooms are teepees, with old classic cars parked in front. Next stop Winslow, Everybody heard the song by the Eagles, “Take it Easy”, Standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona such a fine sight to see. The corner has a flatbed Ford on it and a statue of Glen Frey. I pulled up to the corner with the song cued up, “Take it Easy”, Might as well make a grand entrance?
Local brewery across the street, how convenient. With big picture windows, you can observe the comings and goings of the people. I’ve still got miles to make, Flagstaff is the next stop. Route 66 runs parallel to I-40. Secure a room, right across the street from a Texas Roadhouse. The walking distance is great. The motel was kinda in a sketchy area, didn’t get much sleep that night!
Next day, made a side trip to Sedona, what a beautiful ride. Rode on down through Cottonwood and to Jerome. Jerome is on the side of a mountain, the view is incredible. Did breakfast, what a cool town. You can see for miles from this vantage point.
Make a loop through Chino Valley, and head back north, Destination Williams. Make Williams, secure a room, high traffic area, first things first. Survey the town, nice brewery on the corner. Lots of gift shops, and Route 66 diner at the end of the street. Several museums. Train depot for trips to Grand Canyon. Several old gas stations were restored. Next morning roll to Seligman, Probably one of my favorite towns on Route 66.
Rain rolling in, not to worry, in the dry at a local gift shop\bar. Watched it rain for a couple of hours. Time to roll west, 10 miles out of town, the rain stopped. Run out through Hackberry, Peach Springs, and on to Kingman. Good museum in Kingman, Some of the scenes from the 1940’s movie “The Grapes of Wrath”. Make my way to Oatman, the town where the donkeys, roam the street. Left to fend for themselves, from mining days. They are quite tame, always looking for a handout. One bar has money hanging everywhere, said to be around one million there!
Time to move on, Continue down Route 66 to Bullhead City. This is the end of my Route 66 ride. Time to do some side trips. Turn south to Lake Havasu City, Home of the London Bridge. The bridge spans the Colorado River at this point. Do my tourist walk along the river, and take a few snapshots. All good. Time to move on, I backtrack to Bullhead City and secure a room. Laughlin is right across the river. Check the casinos for a little action, not much luck. Rest time at the motel. Time to move on, Continue down Route 66 to Bullhead City. This is the end of my Route 66 ride. Time to do some side trips. Turn south to Lake Havasu City, Home of the London Bridge. The bridge spans the Colorado River at this point. Do my tourist walk along the river, and take a few snapshots. All good. Time to move on, I backtrack to Bullhead City and secure a room. Laughlin is right across the river. Check the casinos for a little action, not much luck. Rest time at the motel.
Next morning roll to Las Vegas. Meet up with “Roadrunner”. We ride to Hoover Dam, Lake Meade, and Valley of Fire Park, just north of Lake Meade. Put this on your “to-do list” Incredible mountains and amazing colors in the rock formations. We part ways north of Vegas, I run north to St George. Check into a room, for some much-needed rest. Next morning, Zion Park, here we come! You are between the mountains, Seem to be part of the park. A lot of twisting and winding turns, all beautiful.
I continue east and intersect hwy 89, head south on hwy 89 to Kanab. Continue on hwy 89 to Page. This ride is called the Grand Staircase, miles, and miles of scenic mountains. Page is the site of the Glen Canyon Dam. Water is very low! Lake Powell is almost like Lake Meade.
I turn south in Page and run back to Flagstaff. That’s a long 120 miles to Flagstaff. Flagstaff, connect I-40, and head east. Make Winslow, got to stop again. I love that downtown area. Make another stop at the local brewery. Met a guy that just road through southern California, and said he paid over 9 bucks for gas! Another reason to stay out of California!!
Make it to Gallup for the night. Secure a room and ride to the El Rancho Hotel down the street. Meet some interesting people at the bar. Hang for a while, 11 pm, time to roll. Next morning, time to roll toward home. I-40 east. Ride I-40 to Clines Corner. I take hwy 285 to Vaughn. Take hwy 60 to Ft Sumner and on to Clovis. grabbed lunch in Clovis. The waitress said covid took out the local Harley dealer. Too bad.
Connect hwy 84 and run through Muleshoe, Littlefield. At Littlefield catch hwy 385 to Brownfield. Connect with hwy 137 to Lamesa. Enough for one day. Motel time. The next morning, roll out around 8. Homeward bound! Run through Big Spring, San Angelo, and Eden. Turn south at Eden, down to Junction. Catch I-10 to Home. Most incredible trip 12 days on the road, approx. 4000 miles. No breakdowns! All good.
Like I always say live life to the hilt never know when it’s your last trip!
RIDE FREE AND RIDE OFTEN!
“DAD”
Nice Ride Article