Route 66..day 1 (Springfield MO to Claremore OK)

I have always wanted to drive this road.  Maybe it is the intrigue of cultural history.  Maybe it is the collective memory of families and friends driving thousands of miles (2541) of asphalt to visit one another.  Maybe it is the freedom of movement I feel and the connection to drivers from the past who also enjoyed the rush.  Or, maybe it is what Matt knows to be true of The Mother Road; it is FUN!

I knew this would be a bit of an adventure.  Route 66 was never a long continuous thread of highway…It is even more fragmented now--

 Sometimes it is a Byway…

Sometimes it is a short Historic Route…

Often it is linked to other highways and/or interstates…

 And sometime, it is a road unto itself.

We started The Road in Springfield, Missouri.  Our goal was to see some icons of the past.  Matt has made a game of it--searching for old unrestored and refurbished buildings and signs.  Route 66 is also known as a road that capitalizes in the unique…

I wasn't sure how to categorize our pictures from this experience, but I have decided to display them chronologically.  As we moved west, this is what we saw--

Giant cup!  Once the largest paper cup manufacturing plant in the world…it is now closed.

Awesome and inexpensive breakfast!

Built in 1923--The Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque

Opened in 1926 as a movie house

Just a beautiful and unexpected play of ice

Restored Phillips 66 Filling Station

Totem Pole Park--"The World's Largest Totem Pole" 90'high

Of course, we also visited all of the history museums.  (Yes, Matt still loves them!)  And that, was day one.