Our fifth day on Route 66 and it was the busiest yet!

We got an early start and left our comfortable bed and “best hotel wifi ever” at the Rail Haven Motel in Springfield, Missouri and set out with a goal of reaching Tulsa, Oklahoma before dark.

While we had seen a lot of quintessential Route 66 sites on our first four days, today is when the route really seemed to hit its stride.  Not only were we seeing interesting sections of the road such as the “Sidewalk Highway”, a nine-foot wide stretch of pavement, we also got to see some great roadway infrastructure such as the Rainbow Bridge in Kansas and Allen’s Filling Station in Commerce, Oklahoma but we also got to see where Disney’s writers got a lot of inspiration for Radiator Springs when we visit “Cars on the Route” in Galena, Kansas.

And, most importantly, this is where we really got to connect with some of the people who make Route 66 shine.  We meet the late Gary Turner’s son-in-law George at Gary’s Gay Parita Sinclair Station and we meet artist Lowell Davis — a man with a passion for his old hometown of Red Oak  so strong he bought most of the buildings and moved them to [what was] an empty corn field so they would be preserved.

And, by this point in the trip we were really getting into the routine too.  You can see us really starting to enjoy things on a deeper level, especially when we hit the Blue Whale of Catoosa which was really high on both of our lists of places we were most excited to see in person.

I can’t speak for Emily, but it was about this point in the trip where I started to feel like we were connecting with Route 66 in a different way.  I’ll say this multiple times over the course of the trip, but driving Route 66 changes you in a way that is hard to describe.  I think at the five day / almost one-third done point, I was starting to notice it, even if I couldn’t — and still can’t — describe it.  I think you’ll see my try and articulate it in words when visiting the ruins of the Avon Motel.

Anyway, that’s all for now.  I know this video runs a little long for the typical YouTube audience, but I think you’ll understand why when you see how much it covers.  Hope you are enjoying the series and I’ll get working on Day Six now.  Cheers!