It’s Not Me, It’s Him, Right?

Day #5: We Go Rogue

First off, a sad part of irony I forgot yesterday.  We were eating at a somewhat 50s-themed diner in Weatherford, Oklahoma.  You know, Oklahoma, “Native America”.  This maybe a good time to make sure whatever music service you are using doesn’t play “Running Bear”.  Just a suggestion.

After four days of doing this, we have come to a revelation.  This is actually a bit boring.  And once you get past Tulsa, it’s pretty barren, and most of US-66 is frontage road to I-40.  So, we’ve made a decision.  We know this is going to disqualify us from any Route 66 medal qualification, but we would rather travel leisurely than rushed.  So we’re cheating and using the interstate, but still going through the major towns.

So other than occasional photo-ops at rest stops, there’s nothing really to talk about until Amarillo.  We eat at The Big Texan, a kitschy place that is famous for offering a 72 oz. steak for free if you can eat it in an hour.  We found out that in addition to the steak, you must eat a baked potato, a salad, a roll and three pieces of shrimp.  As we were seated, another gentleman wanted to try this, so they seat him on a stage and start the clock.  As we were leaving, he had 6 minutes to go and pretty much no shot to finish.  He still had a significant amount of steak, although he had finished everything else.  For the record, I finished most of my BBQ sandwich and corn in 16 minutes.

Continuing on in Amarillo, I happened to find the only credit union in the country without an ATM.  After finally finding one with an ATM, we then moved on to the Cadillac Ranch.  For the uninitiated, it’s pretty much where people who are normally law abiding can spray paint anything: old cars, the ground, a poodle.

Unfortunately, my luggage became nonfunctional.  Amazingly, the towns we’ve been in lately have been too small even for a Walmart or a Target.  So until I can get to a town that has a store to purchase said product, I’m reduced to using a large pillowcase I had brought for dirty clothes.  All I need is the stick and I will have a complete bindle.  If that’s not the true Route 66 experience, I don’t know what is.

There’s really nothing much else to speak of, we’re presently in Santa Rosa, NM, about 90 min. east of Albuquerque.  This is 60 miles more than we intended to drive today, this allows us to be a little more time in ABQ tomorrow, where we plan to go to an Isotopes game and have a fine meal at Los Pollos Hermanos with my long lost buddy Saul Goodman.