Day 5

13th May 2006

Clinton OK – Amarillo TX

27866 – 28056 (190 miles)

Off at 8am after breakfast and a few miles down the road we stop off at Elk City another museum on the history of the area, we arrive before it is open. It has two buildings dedicated to the history of route 66 and the rest of how the area was developed.

Out on the route again we arrive at a part of unused road of the original route. We stop for photo opportunities and a ride up and down on the road; the road has grass growing through it and bushes overgrowing the section. After our ride, we were back out on a later alignment the road is snaking across towards the state of Texas. We pass our first snake today it was a Common Prairie Rattlesnake. We leave Oklahoma and arrive in the town of Shamrock Texas, Oklahoma looked big but Texas is starting to look bigger. Texans go for a different type of oilrig in the field they seem to cover the pumps up and no moving parts can be seen. With our first stop in Texas for dinner and the portions, seem to have bigger, if that was possible.

After lunch, we paid a visit to a 1930’s art deco petrol station that has been restored to its original beauty, and very impressive it is. It looks fabulous with twin towers one smaller than the other and everything you would expect for that era too good to be a petrol station.

As we travel along, we are seeing more and more derelict buildings where people have just upped and left everything. There are advertising signs from the past still left in the windows of diners and a number of abandoned cars and trucks going all the way back to when the road was first brought into existence, it is an amazing sight to see all this history just left at the side of the road to rot.

We stop off in McLean to visit the Devils Wire (barbed wire) Museum, who would think that there are 450 patents for the stuff, thought only 50 types are commonly used. This tamed the West and brought an end to open ranges.

Just down the road is a Philips 66 petrol station, it is very small one roomed building, with aging petrol truck parked at the side, whilst there we saw very little traffic and you could well have been back in the 20’s or 30’s.

By travelling down the roads, we are showing how much the old road is still in existence despite attempts to kill it off. However, mainly single carriageway roads and parts paved over with highways we are keeping very close to the original route. Some parts are well maintained, whilst other parts are not.

Oklahoma was big but Texas looks even bigger and the road just travels on and on out of sight. It has been a good days riding, we stopped to get a view of the big country and hopefully the photographs when linked together will give some idea of the vastness of it all. We must have been looking over 50 miles or more to the horizon.

The bike is great to ride; it is comfortable for mile after mile, hour after hour of riding. Though it shakes rattles, rolls, the gears are clunky, and you have to take the key out or they will be shaken out, IT IS GREAT. So far, we have covered over 1200 miles and it is still as comfortable as day one.

Tonight we went out to the ‘Big Texan’ for a meal; we had a ride to the restaurant in a Limo with Texan Longhorns on the bonnet (or hood if you want to be American about it). This place has a challenge to anyone willing to take it on, eat a 72oz steak together with side salad and jacket potato within an hour and you get it free. On arrival a woman was halfway through her attempt at this feat, and oh yes you have pride of place in the restaurant to eat it so everyone is looking. She failed and did not look too good as she made her way out carrying her doggy bag. Then we had a young lad have a go and not only did he do it, he done it in half the allotted time and his prize for eating all this was a huge chunk of fudge cake. Just thinking about it makes me queasy.

Tomorrow’s start is 8am and it is likely to be a long day, we also have a time change and gain an hour.