106 Amarillo by morning

 Nov 24 Monday morning we sent few emails back and forth with the motorcycle couple in Amarillo

telling we should be there in a couple of days.  Ruthie got nervous thinking we would be there the evening before thanksgiving and didn't want to be an imposition.  A little later she figured out it would be Tuesday evening and decided that would be okay.   With that settled we started packing up to leave Vinita.  Just for fun we spread out all the information Dean Crazy legs had given us.
     Due to poor signage we missed the first turn in Foyil to see the Totem pole park.  However it was fortunate, it brought us directly in front of a marble monument honoring Andrew Payne.  He entered a footrace held in 1926, 3,423 miles from los Angeles to New York city much of it on the then new route 66 highway.  His goal was to win the $25,000 prize to pay off the mortgage on his parents farm and marry his sweetheart.  After 573 hours of running he did both.
      A good example of the oddities that drew families to vacation the famous road Totem pole park is an example of folk art created by Ed Galloway during eleven retirement years to celebrate native Americans.  Over 28 tons of cement and 90 feet tall the artwork is very detailed.   At one time he had handmade fiddles, furniture and portraits of US presidents until they were stolen in 1970 and never recovered.  I hate thieves, hope darkness followed them all their life.  (just venting).     On a brighter note Ruthie commented how the trees seem to retain their leaves after turning down here.
     Fittingly 66 goes thru Claremont Oklahoma near where Will Rodgers was born, sometimes called the "Will Rodgers Highway" he was one of my boyhood hero's.  It was probably his horse riding and trick roping prowess that originally gained my attention.  Then somewhere along the line I came to recognize his wisdom, spontaneous wit and his ability to use it to put politicians and people on the wealth podium in their place.  It would be great to have someone with his common sense in politics today.  A Cherokee lad his trick roping act took him to a  vaudeville routine, with the encouragement of his wife he started chatting and wisecracking with the audience.   The rest is history, humorist, radio and political commentator, newspaper columnist, 71 movies, he was loved by Americans and one of the best known people in the 20's.   Over 52 rope tricks some of which they claim have never been duplicated.  Do your self a favor and look up some of his roping skills on YouTube.    I've got to stop, I guess like my father admired Carl Sandburg and Abraham Lincoln this is my guy.   A couple of his quotes before I move on.  "There is nothing as stupid as an educated man if you get him off the thing he was educated in."  Or live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip and on the base of his statue "I never met a man I didn't like."  Oklahoma had paid homage to their native son with a building and complex impressive enough to be a Church or college campus but it was time to move on.

     I still had the round barn in Arcadia on my list.  At one time one of the most photographed landmarks on route 66 I had an infatuation with round barns.  Having visited some in Vernon county in nearby Wisconsin I was interested in the architecture.   Wisconsin farmers were supposedly taught the skill by a slave from the underground railway.  Either we just missed the closing time or a sign asking for help with support for the barn might mean it did not open at all today.  Interstate 40 has hurt a lot of attractions along the route. We also missed the largest soda bottle in the world.
    It was almost dusk so we spent the evening in Edmond Oklahoma.  A few emails back and forth and we were all set for tomorrow evening at Bill and Betty's in Amarillo.   They said to let them know and they would open the garage door so we could drive in.  How accommodating.  One more from Betty asking about dietary restrictions we have.  I apologize I don't even know these people but here is the reply.   I don't care for those salty little fish.   My  4 year old grandson doesn't like couscous and my 2 year old granddaughter doesn't like John Wayne although I think we've got her convinced that he's Okay,  Ruthie isn't fond of Hush Puppies.  Why do I do that?



Beutler's "Commotion" ten straight trips to the National finals rodeo!

     Tuesday Nov 25th we left Edmond Ok with the intent of getting to Bill and Bettys a little after 4pm, we dressed warmer today as last night at 48 degrees the ride had been a little cool.  Today was not suppose to climb past 53.   Heated liner, heavy gloves we were on our way.
    Betty had suggested we stop at the National route 66 museum in Elk City OK.  Since it was billed as the National museum I figured we better not pass this one up.  Betty was right, we spent over two hours here.  A great representation of life as it was in the heyday of 66.  The old town section also had local history weaved in with the road history.  As a bonus the second floor was devoted to the Beutler brothers.  They were local rodeo stock producers just north of town.  With national prominence the entire family was devoted to the rodeo industry.  To many things to see we stayed to long, not wanting to make a bad impression

Our Amarillo hosts.

on our hosts we jumped on interstate 40 that follows pretty closely the path of the mother road across Oklahoma and Texas.  Deciding that we would rather be prompt then see the leaning tower, the largest cross or even  the rattlesnake sign we pushed the trike a little harder.  Picking up the pace we were pushing 85 miles per hour now.  .  The road seemed to rise as we traveled with views of the horizon that stretched for miles.  Ruthie took a few pictures but it is hard for the camera to capture the panoramic feel of the sights we saw.  As we crossed into Texas the speed limit rose to 75 and with the allowance for speedometer error in our favor put us right close to the 80 mph mark  We were making tracks, literally, when I called Betty as I had promised to give them an hour warning.  She had been tracking us on her computer, spaghetti was warming and they would have the garage door open so we could park beside their white Gold Wing.  I had warned them that our rig was pretty long.   Luck was with us as we flew by Groom Texas, our sites were close to the freeway and Ruthie snapped shots of the water tower and the tallest cross as we flew by,  It might be called speed tourism.  We will slow down tomorrow.

     Arriving at Bill and Betty's in Amarillo we found they were as warm and friendly as their correspondence had suggested. Willing to keep their car outside and leave our trike in the garage we moved in for the evening.  The club only suggests a place to stay and breakfast in the morning.  They had went beyond and prepared a wonderful dinner for us.  ( my grandson 12 year old Spencer would be proud, I called the evening meal "dinner, not supper.". While we are on Spencer I should document a little jab he poked at me this summer.  I heard he liked to write so I mentioned that I right a blog of our trike travels, his response. "a blog, isn't that one of those things people read so they can sleep?  )  We felt like royalty, the dining room adorned with beautiful antique furnishings, carnival glass dinnerware spaghetti hot casserole fresh baked crescent rolls and fresh fruit.  After dinner we moved into the living room, somehow (probably Ruthie) Betty found out I like to read directions and

Sometimes its hard to get the shot going this fast.

Bill & Betty

learn new things,  Out came her new multifaceted cannon camera with lenses and a remote.  While we are at it lets see if her old camera would take a picture with a timer.  She had been told it wouldn't and that's the reason she purchased the new camera,  Okay I said that wrong,  Bill had bought the new expensive camera for her except he didn't know it.  We found this verbiage several times in the conversation.  Bill is a wonderful purchaser of nice things for Betty, except he doesn't know it.  Sure enough soon we were taking timed shots with the old pocket camera and with the new cannon using a remote, nice feature.  Bill retired, had taught at Eastwood Elementary School his entire career and said it was gratifying to now meet some of his former students in business situations.  Bill had rode a

Honda Silver wing motorcycle to teach at school for 16 years.  Meeting later in life after losing their spouses they soon purchased a 1994 gold wing and a passion was created.  They are active in the local Gold Wing club, Betty is the keeper of the scrapbook for their group.  Their cycle tires have touched all the continental US states.   On a 12 day trip as they returned to their home Bill jokingly remarked that they should continue on to Albuquerque,  Betty was all for it, they went home.  (sounds like somebody I ride with.). Some hints on a couple of sites to see and we were on our way,  If we stop here again I'm going to make sure my trike doesn't carry the dust, dirt and road grime form 5 states into their garage.  Wonderful people, we will think of them often.  Betty even snapped a picture of us as we pulled away.