Central Oklahoma to Amarillo

Today was more of a slow nostalgic drive across familiar terrain.  I like driving Old Route 66 as I always see new things.  Oklahoma has the longest stretch of intact historic route, but that doesn't mean what is left is worth seeing.  At least the weather was nice and I had no traffic concerns.

I took it easy today, driving the designated route along OK66, which follows I-40 a few miles north of the interstate.  I saw things I had never seen before on Route 66: the rusty, dilapidated blue whale in Caloosa, the round red barn in Artesia, and the various old buildings along the way.  I didn't stop to photograph much (I should have!), but noted to explore these sites in the future.

The area around Oklahoma City isn't all that exciting: flat land of prairie grass and cattle farms.  I took the opportunity to explore more of Route 66, stopping at Fort Reno, a former cavalry post in the 1860s that once housed German prisoners of war during World War II.
http://www.fortreno.org/history-2/

My walk today was along the Bluff Creek trail north of Oklahoma City.  It's a paved one-mile loop with alternate paved routes to divert from.  I walked around, changing direction and exploring the mountainbike trails, until I racked up just over three miles.  It's not much, but it's better than not walking at all while driving across the flat Plains.

I continued on I-40 west, alternating with Route 66 that deviated into the forgotten towns along the interstate.  McLean is one such example.  It's a small town with nothing but abandoned, sun-bleached buildings and rusty cars in overgrown yards.  Stray cats scrambled across the two-lane highway.  I stopped to feed them some of the food I have in the car.  Not that that created a weight loss for the vehicle.  A young black female happily devoured what I poured out for the colony, with another young black cat watching from the distance but never approaching the food while I was nearby.

I ended up stopping in Amarillo for the night, getting a cheap room at the Camelot In right off the interstate.  The kingsized bed was only $42 for the night, which includes a $5 fee for Zeke.  The room was decent.   Service was top-notch with a peppy young gal happily showing me how to operate the keyless entry. I showered and stopped in at the Long Wooden Spoon brewery run by Jarod and Kim Reed.  They recognized me from last year, but were distracted with their four-year-old granddaughter that Kim said they now have legally adopted. I had a flight of four of their beers and stayed until 9:30, saying good-bey to the Reeds for yet another year.

I enjoyed sleeping prostrate for once, sleeping in a cool room without any outside noise waking me during the night.  Despite being just outside the interstate, the traffic was never bothersome.  I slept soundly.