Day 21 Neosho MO to Guymon OK

Finally, a crisis free day!

We got an early start with some discussion about the best route home.  We finally agreed on northern route, continuing on US 60 through western MO and the northern half of OK.  We thought about sticking with US 60 all the way home (it eventually turns south and passes by Estancia, just a short distance from home) but it had a few problems.  It goes through big city Amarillo and wastes some distance as it drops well south of I-40.  We decided to stick to the northern route through the OK panhandle and on to Clayton, NM.  This avoids all the major cities, travel on I-40, and more congested truck traffic. And its shorter.

Original unrestored Rt 66 gas station

US 60 enters OK with a fairly brief section of Old Route 66, running parallel to I-44.  This section had many Rt 66 architectural remnants.  Too bad most of these are now ruins, not sure how long they will last.

US 60 is the road less traveled through OK.  We really appreciated the lack of traffic and congestion all day.  The relatively small towns of Bartlesville, Ponca City, and Enid are all on this route.  They were parts of the  Chrome Glidden Tour that Bill went on in June.  This area is rich in US western history. Indian settlements, the discovery of oil and oil barons, homesteading land rushes, wild west shows and Route 66 have deeply imprinted this area. The worst part was we had little time to linger, just enough to see a few physical remains flash by the window. That included many Indian casinos, oil pump jacks, and ancient main street store fronts.

Many elaborate store fronts, this is typical

We racked up quite a few miles today.  The LaSalle had no fuel supply problems, though we did run the electric pump most of the day. We did gas up ethanol free, there is a local rebellion about ethanol here and many stations offer "100% gasoline" for about 25 cents more per gallon.  I hope that trend spreads to the rest of the country. Weather was great until black thunderheads loomed ahead just west of Enid heading into the panhandle. Nance managed the drive through this storm with Bill adjusting the vacuum wipers and defrosting by rag.  There was no hail, but it sure looked like hail was coming.

We finally pulled into Guymon OK at dusk, tired and ready to retire.  We enjoyed ice cream and dinner at Braum's, and slept well in a clean Comfort Inn.  If all goes well, we should be home tomorrow.