Amateur Radio in Northwest Arkansas
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Amateur Radio in Northwest Arkansas
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Here are tales of our travels as we explore the original Route 66. |
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On Friday, March 14, 2008 we began our first exploration of Route 66. It was a small beginning, but it was a beginning! We drove from Springdale to Tulsa on Highway 412. Historic Route 66 joined 412 at Exit 241 coming from the north. We got off on Admiral Place, which was once Route 66. We had lunch at Hank's Hamburgers just a couple of blocks east of Memorial Drive. Hank's has been in business since 1949! We joined the lunch crowd and had wonderful hamburgers, fries and onion rings. The woman who took the order said that she and her husband have owned the restaurant for 5 years and that they used to come there to eat when they were dating! Now that's loyalty. I heard of the place when it was visited by Al Roker (Roker on the Road, Food Network) a few years ago. I took a photo of the place with the XYL standing next to our Saturn SL2. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in Tulsa before going on to spend the night in Owasso, Oklahoma just north of Tulsa. The day had been beautiful and we were comfortable in short sleeves. About 11 PM a huge storm front came through the area and it rained heavily most of the night. The next morning when I went out to load some things in the car it was gray, blustery and cold! We drove on to Claremore via some back roads and we noticed massive damage to trees all along the way. We found out that it was because of the severe ice storms earlier in the year. We were awestruck by how widespread the damage was. In Claremore we visited the Green Country Hamfest, which is the largest in the four state area. I spent several hours roaming about the place talking to friends, making new friends, buying trinkets I needed for my shack and checking out the vendor displays. In the afternoon we went south on Historic Route 66 and stopped for lunch at the Rib Crib. We managed to waddle back out to the car and travel on south. We visited the Big Blue Whale in Catoosa before driving home.
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Friday, July 18, 2008 we continued our explorations of Route 66. We drove to Oklahoma City via I-540 and I-40. The weather was sunny and bright, but A/C was definitely needed for the journey. We stopped for lunch at the Pig Out Palace in Henryetta, OK. The noon buffet was excellent and we stuffed. You do those kinds of things on vacation you know. :-) Arriving in Oklahoma City at about 4:00 PM we checked into the hotel. HamHoliday (Why else do you think I would traveling around in the heat of July?) opened at 4:30 at the OK State Fair Grounds so I decided to attend early and pick out some bargains. There were already a lot of vehicles in the parking lot when I arrived, but I figured I could find something I liked. When I got inside the pavilion I noticed something was amiss. As I walked around I noticed that there weren't many of the big vendors there that I saw a couple of years ago. I found out the biggest vendor (not mentioning names) had received a visit by a fire marshall who told him he couldn't bring his sales trailer inside the pavilion because it didn't have a fire sprinkler system. A 24 foot luggage trailer needs a sprinkler system? Needless to say the vendor turned around and went home. Another medium sized vendor had simply sold the business and retired. There were only a couple of small vendors there selling coax, antenna wire and a few antennas. Among the trading tables I found little of interest except for a good, used Hamkey straight key which I bought. I was very, very disappointed with the whole thing. I did not go back on Saturday. Saturday the 19th we left OK City via Route 66 stopping first at POPS (Photos) near Arcadia. The sign indicated that they had more than 500 kinds of pop (soda or whatever you want to call it) and I bought a t-shirt and some post cards. You might be a tourist if you spend 15 minutes standing in front of cooler looking at the labels of pop bottles. Next we stopped at the Round Barn in Arcadia. It was built in 1898. Restoration was completed in 1992. Why would one build a round barn? I don't have a clue and I didn't bother to ask. The place has a few exhibits and the usual curios, but no air conditioning. The XYL and I were about to go through meltdown so we didn't stay too long. Heading on east we cruised downtown Luther where I took a photo of the Luther Police Department store front. As we crossed the railroad track headed back to the main highway I noticed a lone railroad passenger car seemingly abandoned on a siding. The AMTRAK logo was clearly visible, but faded and hard to read. I wonder how it ended up there all alone and abandoned. In Chandler we stopped at the Chandler Route 66 Interpretive Center, which is housed in a restored 1930s WPA-era native stone National Guard Armory. It took two years to build the armory and all of the native stone was cut by hand. A series of two short movies can be seen from various viewpoints. Really. One view point is from the seats of a World War II jeep! Another is from the seats of a 60s vintage Mustang. Two more are from lying on a vinyl plastic covered couch. The screens are up and above the seating positions. It's really quite original way to see things. The main armory floor is a large open space with a stage. A local craft fair was going on in this area at the time we were there. It was into the afternoon, we were hungry, saving our appetites as we drove into Stroud. We were headed for the Rock Cafe, which has been there since the 1930s. The crew researching Route 66 for the Pixar movie CARS stopped here and the owner's wife was supposed to be the model for the character of Sally the Porsche Carrera. As we rolled up we went into shock! There was nothing left but the stone walls. The building was a burned out hulk. What a bummer. Read more about this cafe. I'll write more in a day or two.... H |
