national route 66 museum: elk city, oklahoma

route 66 is the mother road. it's 2448 miles long, runs through 8 states and 3 time zones, and goes from chicago, illinois to santa monica, california. and it was our goal to drive on route 66 for at least part of our trip. it turns out this is quite a difficult goal because so much of route 66 has been replaced by interstates. but we did it; we drove on at least little bits and pieces of it in six of the eight states it passes through (we missed illinois and california).

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

since route 66 was such an integral part of our trip, we decided to stop in to see the national route 66 museum in elk city oklahoma. they have an amazing set up; there are four official buildings that document the people who lived, worked, and travelled along route 66, as well as many other store fronts and buildings that have exhibits as well. the museums had everything from vintage cars and route 66 memorabilia to old rodeo gear to exhibits on old farm equipment. it was a fairly comprehensive look at the glory of route 66 in its heyday, as well as it's decline with the construction of newer, larger highways. 

i especially enjoyed this old school house; it was set up just like the kids were out to recess. unfortunately, you couldn't go inside -- i would have loved to see what books were on the shelves, to sit in those old desks, and remember a time that was both easier and harder, and imagine what life might have been like, for the kids and the teachers.  

i love love love these types of windmills; they're what i think of when i think about farming. this one was one of many that the museum had displayed, but they're still all over the country. for me, these windmills are so stoic and regal -- they preside over the crops, help to water them, and tell the farmer where the wind is coming from; they're invaluable and beautiful.

in the last building, a huge barn dedicated to farm equipment and the agriculture of route 66, an older gentleman was manning the front desk, and he asked all of his visitors to put a pin in his map -- the yellow one on the T in washington is mine. it was awesome to see that people from all over the world have come to elk city, oklahoma to learn more about the abandoned, but not forgotten, mother road, route 66. 

road trip -- louisville, kentucky to tulsa, oklahoma -- day 3

 

funny story -- we were so bummed about our failed "welcome to kentucky" sign that the next morning we drove across the indiana state line, turned around and drove back into kentucky. but isn't this sign so much better than the last one? totally worth it.

 

we took a pit stop for lunch in new harmony, indiana, and were pleasantly surprised by how cute of a town it was/is.

  

 

i mean, who even knew towns like this existed? how awesome.

  

 

we felt it was obligatory to hit some of the route 66 stops along the drive. when the guide book said that we could see a replica of stonehenge somewhere in missouri, we decided to stop (plus we needed gas). but this was not quite what we had in mind. still, you can't blame us for trying!

another route 66 must was driving through kansas. we could have driven on the main highway and bypassed kansas altogether, but we decided to take the long route. because neither of us had been to kansas! and now we have. success. 

 

ps. we might have done the same turn around at the state line to get a good "welcome to kansas" sign. it's very important to have good signs. 

the gateway to the west: gateway arch in st. louis

i've never been to missouri before. in fact, i've never been to most of middle america: missouri, kansas, oklahoma, nebraska, iowa, arkansas. so i was excited to go on this road trip; i knew that i would finally get a chance to check out some of these states. but nothing prepared me for driving from louisville, kentucky through indiana and illinois, crossing the mississippi (!) and staring up at the gateway arch. 

gateway arch fun facts: it stands 630 feet tall and is 630 feet across at the base. the legs are 54 feet at the base and the top is 17 feet across. and it's taller than the washington monument in dc by 80 feet. 

every time i looked up at the arch i was convinced that it was moving or swaying in the wind. it was kind of terrifying. 

but according to the arch facts website, the arch doesn't sway, although it's designed to. in fact, it should be able to withstand 50 mile an hour winds before swaying. 

  

unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time in st. louis -- we had to drive all the way to tulsa, oklahoma that night -- so we didn't get a chance to go up the arch. we asked the people at the desk if we could go up the arch quickly and then come back down, but they said we had to go through the whole museum tour, a 45 minute affair we were not interested in. bummer city, but it gives me a reason to go back. because let's be serious, there must be more to st. louis than just the arch, right? 

the land of mint juleps and fast horses: churchill downs

when you think about louisville, you should think of two things: the big bat at the louisville slugger museum and churchill downs, home of the kentucky derby. unfortunately, we weren't in louisville for the kentucky derby, but we still couldn't resist driving by and snapping a few pictures of the iconic spires.

  

in front of churchill downs and the kentucky derby museum, stands a bronze statue to barbaro, the 2006 kentucky derby winner, and underneath the statue, barbaro's ashes are interred. two weeks after winning the kentucky derby, barbaro, thought to possibly be the next triple crown winner, shattered his leg while running the preakness stakes in baltimore. the statue was built to honor barbaro and give his fans a place to visit. the coolest part of the statue is the fact that all four of barbaro's legs are off the ground -- he is being held up by the large bronze rail that he runs along!

2013 -- week 26 -- a fun weekend in the sun & june day in the life

finally a weekend we aren't travelling! don't get me wrong, i love to travel; i love exploring new, and familiar, places. i love checking out a new place and seeing all of the cool things it has to offer, to see the things that others love about it, and to experience it all for my self. but i also enjoy seeing the same place over and over again, each time a little differently, noticing things you've never seen before, and appreciating the familiarity of it all. so in that vein, we decided to stay home this weekend and explore mt. lemmon once again, but this time in a whole new way. 

 

the first time rcg and i went to mt. lemmon we hiked up the aspen trail. it was a medium size loop and i think we hiked for three hours or so. this past weekend we went back to the aspen trail, but this trip was so different! instead of taking our time and hiking the whole trail, we stopped at the top of the trail, where a couple of different trails converge, and we went climbing instead. we went with a bunch of climbers rcg's met and become friends with at the bloc so we had a nice group of people with us. and there was a climbing instructor with us as well, so the next time we want to go climbing we know all sorts of fun routes, or problems, to climb! it was a true sunday funday -- fun climbing, fun people, and sunshine.

the rest of the day was spent lounging about, listening to the wind, the monsoon (our first of the season!), and music at armory park's porch fest, a new event in our neighborhood with food trucks and local musicians jamming out on porches. it was kind of really cool.  

what did you do on the last day of june? anything fun?