The Photos

Our Trip

Wednesday, June 9, 2004

We started out Wednesday afternoon about 2:00, intending to drive no later than 10:00.  We would take the Interstate until St. Louis, then 66 until dark. Then we'd take the Interstate again until 10:00.

We arrived in St. Louis around 6:00 and went to Ted Drewes, of course.  We both had mini concretes (we're trying to practice moderation!).  After continuing down Chippewa, we merged onto the Interstate, exiting at Eureka (the Six Flags exit). We hoped we might stop at Monroe's Diner in Pacific, which was to be reopened under new ownership and a new name, but it was not yet open.  We had a really nice relaxing ride through the Ozarks. By 9:00, we took the Interstate to Lebanon and stayed at the Munger Moss.  Pat has stayed there before, but I'd not had the opportunity.

We had a nice talk with Ramona Lehman that evening, till about 11:00 or so!  She indicated that John and Lenore Weiss were staying there that evening as well, and in the morning, she was going to take them on a tour of their new Lebanon-Laclede County Library, still under construction, but due to be open in just a few short months. After a long day, we called it a night!

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Since we were going to take our time to Tulsa, we were able to accept Ramona's kind invitation to tour the library. The next morning, we met up with John and Lenore, and Bill Gwodz and his wife traveling with them from Illinois. The library is housed in an old K-Mart (very hard to believe, since they redesigned it so beautifully!!).  It was funded solely by private donations and is just magnificent. After September, definitely consider stopping in, because it is also going to house a Route 66 museum, which looks like it's going to be really terrific when it's through.  There is a large wall across the back which has a great Route 66 mural of landmarks and icons, which are all hand painted by both local and foreign exchange students. The students were all taught the history of Route 66 and the icons they painted, so it was done with knowledge and passion about their subject.  They'll also have a Route 66 resource area with books and videos, a Route 66 gift shop, and a diner serving light foods and drinks.

After lots of hugs, we continued our journey down the Mother Road: destination Tulsa!  We ran into some heavy rains in Missouri, which slowed us a little. We stopped off at Bradbury Bishop Deli in Webb City for a cherry coke. We'd been by there before, but it was closed at the time.  Pretty neat place, with a cool soda fountain and Coca-Cola theme.

We continued on the road and it started to lighten up as we entered Kansas. Of course, we stopped at Eisler Bros, where we met up with John and Lenore again. If you had read my story from my August 2000 trip, you'll know I wish I'd known about Eisler Bros. and would have wanted to have a sandwich there!  I've been there many times subsequently, and we've made lots of souvenir purchases there, but it was always at an odd time to eat, so still no sandwiches.  But this trip was perfect timing for lunch, and we bought our sandwiches.  It was too wet to sit and eat, so we brought them with us and would figure out a place to stop and eat.

Just up ahead, we met up with John and Lenore again at the Marsh Arch Rainbow Bridge and stopped for a chat. John told us about an upcoming car show in Litchfield, Illinois we're interested in attending, hopefully. We continued on our way, and wanted to stop and have our sandwiches.  It was still a bit wet out, so we stopped at an unglamorous McDonald's parking lot and ate our lunch.

The rest of the trip to Tulsa was fun, but uneventful. We stopped at the Little Cabin Pecan Company in Vinita, where some young entrepreneurs were selling snacks and drinks, so we contributed to their fortune! I bought a ceramic snowman for Amber to add to her collection.  We arrived at the Adam's Mark Hotel around 5:00 or so and checked in. We headed down to the festival area and started meeting up with friends, the first which was Ken and Melissa Turmel. We stayed around the Artists and Authors area for a while, then walked around the rest of the festival before heading out to get something to eat.  Wanting to make every attempt to eat well, we headed over to Wild Oats' Natural Market (the same chain I shop in Indy) and picked up some groceries and dinner.

My eating well, however, was not going to exclude a few drinks, so we met up with Ken and Melissa, their neighbor Kenny, and Scott Piotrowski at the hotel lounge for a while.

Friday, June 11, 2004

I managed to have a good workout at the hotel this morning (something I didn't accomplish any other day during the weekend!), then we headed out to the festival. We met up with more friends, Ron and Emily, Jim Conkle, Mark Potter, Dave Clark, Jim Ross, Shellee Graham, Jerry McClanahan, Guy Randall, Laurel Kane and her daughter Sarah, Ron McCoy, Fred Zander, Marian and Ken Clark, Mike and Sharon Ward, Windy City Road Warriors Dave & Carol and their kids Fred & Ginger, Helen Baker and her husband Harry...

We wandered around the festival for a little bit, and caught a little of Michael Wallis' wonderful storytelling at the Bowery, before getting our tickets for the great musical, Route 66: A Celebration of America's Main Street over at the OSU campus, joined by Jim and Shellee. We saw the Route 66 photography exhibit and then caught the show.  It was really terrific.  A cast of 9 enthusiastic college students from Northern Arizona University sharing stories and songs and information about the Mother Road.  The first half is light and fun; the second half is a bit more serious focusing on the hard times the road has seen. They first dramatize the plight of the migrant workers on their way to California during the Dust Bowl era.  Later, the road itself, and the businesses who started to come upon hard times as the road became a victim of its own success and the Interstates bypassed them. As images were flashed on a large screen behind them, the young actors recited speeches and dialog from many Route 66 business owners about their feelings about the coming of the Interstate. Particularly moving was the dramatization of a speech by Ron Chavez, the owner of the former Club Cafe in Santa Rosa.  The show didn't seem very well attended, which is a shame, because it was a very professional and fun show, but yet informative and serious also.  If you ever get the chance to catch this show, please do so.  You won't be disappointed.

By this time, we headed back to the hotel to get freshened up for the Steinbeck Awards banquet.  We saw some more friends at the reception and banquet, including David and Mary Lou Knudson and Sonny and Sue Preston, Jane Dippel, Fran Eickhoff and Marge, as well as Carolyn Hasenfratz.  This was our first time attending the Steinbeck Awards, so it was pretty exciting for us.  The food was great and we had a good time!  The entertainment was wonderful also, they had demonstrations of various Native American dances and many of the guests joined in on the fun (see pictures).  There was also a good performance by Chuck Cissel, a local jazz musician and singer from Tulsa who performed a number of tunes, including many from Nat King Cole.  Of course, he finished his performance with a rousing rendition of what else, Get Your Kicks on Route 66.

Joy Avery, the granddaughter of Cyrus Stevens Avery, was presented to a key to the city of Tulsa by the Mayor. Cy Avery was a Tulsan who was the driving force behind the route which would become Route 66.  Emily Priddy presented her handiwork to the Scissortail Group (the public relations/special events consulting firm), who coordinated the event, in the form of a hand made neon rendition of their logo.  Very cool!

There were two impersonators giving speeches, one of Cy Avery (his family must have gotten a kick out of that, so to speak) - and another of John Steinbeck. Michael Wallis gave a wonderful and moving speech, with a nice tribute to Juan Delgadillo of the Snow Cap in Seligman. The Cy Avery Award was presented to Virgil Smith, who restored a neat old Valentine Diner, which is at the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton. We were there in January, but the Museum was closed for New Year's weekend, so we didn't get to go inside, but we peeked in through the window and got some pictures.  Click here for photos.

Then the time came for the Steinbeck Award. Mary Lou presented the Award to Bob Waldmire - congratulations!

After the banquet, we went to David and Mary Lou's room where the festivities continued. We got to meet Swa Frantzen for the first time there, along with all our other friends before calling it a (late) night!

Saturday, June 12, 2004

We woke briefly at 7:00, but managed to sneak in another couple of hours, waking at 9:00. Pat went down to the festival to visit the local Corvair show which was a few blocks from the 66 festival.  I was very tired and needed to rest more, but I finally made it to the festival around noon and met up with Pat. We walked around the festival for a while, and spent more time visiting with friends at the Artists and Authors area.  We met up with Linda Drake, with whom we'd met once during our honeymoon on 66 two years ago this weekend.  We also met Kip and Quinn, Bob Crocodile Lile, and Russell Olsen, who did a terrific book of photographs, "Route 66: Lost and Found." Pat had picked that up during a trip to Tulsa back at the end of March and it's great. I made the mistake of looking at it before work and couldn't put it down to get ready for work!  LOL  We also met Dave Sanger, who did the two great Route 66 CD's The Songs of Route 66: Music for the All-American Highway and More Songs of Route 66: Roadside Attractions. We picked up a copy of the second CD, since we only had it on cassette. Between Pat and myself, we have 4 copies of the first album on cassette and CDs!  By 4:00, or so, we decided to head back to the room to rest up before heading out to find a place for dinner.  We had eaten at the Metro Diner before and it was pretty crowded. In addition, we wanted to keeping with our attempts to eat well, we went back to Wild Oats for dinner. I felt pretty good about doing that (because I knew at some point I was going to splurge a little!), and afterward we decided to have dessert.  We wanted to get some ice cream or a milk shake, and I remembered Jane Dippel saying that Tally's Cafe is very good. So we stopped by there and had excellent milkshakes. We'll be stopping by there next time we're in Tulsa for a meal.  We'd also like to try the Corner Cafe.  They are both on 11th Street (Route 66).

We headed back to the hotel and stopped by the lounge. Jane had spread the word about having a get-together in the lounge and there was a pretty big turnout.  I had a really nice time getting to know Dave Clark's other half, Carol - she's great! We talked nonstop for hours. Other attendees included Ken and Melissa, Sue & Sonny, Linda & Rocky, Swa, Mark Potter, Carolyn, Kip & Quinn, Denny Gibson, Bob Waldmire, Jane & Fran, and Mike and Sharon.

Sunday, June 13, 2004

Sadly, this day had to arrive and we knew the whole festival would go by fast.  We did have the E-Group breakfast to attend this morning and that was a fun time.  There was about 50 or so people there from the e-group and it was nice to see everyone together.  We met a few new people at the breakfast, Larry Davidson and his wife Anne, and Rich Cunningham.  We also saw Dona (MistyOwl) again - we hadn't seen her in two years, so it took a moment to recognize her!  Thanks to Mike Ward for our e-group name tags.  Helen Baker and Mike Ward had some door prizes to give away and I won a Route 66 pocketknife - cool!  Pat won a Route 66 postmarkart, generously donated by Ken Turmel...but since we have two of Ken's postmarkart already, Pat requested that another name be drawn, and Mark Potter won!

We checked out of the hotel, then went down to the festival to say the last of our goodbyes - till next time!  We're hoping to be able to make it to San Bernardino next year, but it's too soon to tell.  We sure hope so!  We walked down to the festival and stopped to check out the "Center of the Universe" where you can stand in a spot and talk and your voice resonates around you with an echo.  It sounds like you're talking on a microphone or a PA system.  Very interesting...there has to be a trick to it, but unlike the "Mystery Spot" or "Wonder Spot" I can't figure it out!  I also stopped by Bob Waldmire's booth to pick up some herbal vinegar and Cozy Dog flour. Each time I met Bob he was pleased at my vegetarian variations on road favorites (vegetarian chili, and vegetarian hot dogs). I'm not completely vegetarian, but I have cut back alot and I like alot of meat substitutes (veggie burgers, etc.). Last year at the festival in Springfield I bought a big jar of Bob's Route 66 chili mix. At work the following month, we had a chili cook-off and I made a big crock pot of Route 66 Vegetarian Chili. I set up my display with Route 66 postcards and stuff.  I didn't win, but it was still great anyway.  So, I'm hoping to make regular and veggie Cozy Dogs!  We'll see how my efforts turn out.  I'm sure we won't give up our periodic journeys to Springfield just to go to the Cozy Dog! 

We also met up with Tom, an acquaintance of Pat's he met in Carthage at the reopening of the Drive-In. Tom was at the festival with his son Will. Tom ran a small business of Route 66 clothing and has made some neat t-shirts and sweatshirts.  He's going to be trying to get back into the business, so look out for "Tom's 66 Stuff."

We left the festival and headed a little west on 66 until we got to the 11th Street Bridge, now dedicated as the Cyrus Avery Memorial Bridge.  We then turned back and headed east on 66.  We stopped by the Blue Whale, and it was very nice to see the area there so active and busy!  It was a far cry from my first trip in August 2000 when it was run down, deserted and uninviting.  I had read in Michael Wallis' book that there were signs threatening folks to be shot and Amber was afraid to stop!  I managed to take a picture, but we didn't really stop.  Now, the tables are all cleaned up and painted, you can eat there...the restrooms have been refurbished, and there's a gift shop, and people selling snacks.

We stopped to eat dinner at the Hi Way Cafe in Vinita, stopped by Laurel's station in Afton, then meandered our way through eastern Oklahoma, through Kansas stopping at the Marsh Arch Bridge again.  A large crowd of bikers went through, crossing the bridge then two others came up a few minutes later and stopped by. We chatted for them a bit and continued on our way. We were going to stop for a cherry coke, but Eisler Bros. had just closed. We continued into Missouri through Joplin, Webb City and Carterville.  I wanted to see if the diner in Carthage had reopened.  It was originally the Gooseberry Diner, and I was looking forward to stopping there on my first trip, but it had closed. Then it became the Carthage Diner, but it again closed.  We went by and this time it was open!  The most recent incarnation is "Iggy's Diner." We had already eaten, but we had wanted a cherry coke, so we decided to stop by and support the business.  We ended up with huge 44 oz. drinks for only $1 each! It was Pepsi, not coke, but I'll not hold that against them.  :)  Pat's Pepsi and I'm Coke, so he was pleased!

We made it as far as Springfield, Missouri and stayed at the Rest Haven.  We had a great time (again) photographing that beautiful neon sign.  We took so many neat photos, we probably won't need to take any more!  We did some different shots including my car (I know it's a new Corolla, but I'm proud of my purchase accomplishment - a whole different story about the method I used to start a car dealer "bidding war" and ended up with a very good deal on the car - $381 below invoice, and no additional costs, charges fees, etc.). So, we took some neat photos with the neon sign reflecting in the windows and mirrors. We went down to the classic Steak n' Shake to have a shake (and it was soooo good with hot fudge and whipped cream!), and took a few pictures there. We went back to our room and by 11:30 settled in. There was a totally bizarre and bad horror movie on HBO or something which Pat managed to watch through.  I saw about 15 minutes and fell asleep.

Very cool wooden models of Route 66 landmarks & icons by Harold Hatfield