From Foss State Park near
Foss OK
To Shamrock Inn, Shamrock TX
Distance traveled:
79 Interstate miles
+
unknown miles for route 66 byways
In
the middle of the night I woke up feeling chilly so I turned off the fan and
got into my sleeping bag and fell asleep again.
Then I woke up again, this time to a beautiful sunrise over Foss Lake
and the sounds of mourning doves cooing.
It was so pleasant to just lie there and enjoy the last of the lingering coolness of the night. Then I got up and walked about enjoying the beautiful morning air.
When
Christy woke up we enjoyed breakfast together and then it was time for me to
pack up my gear and head on the road. I
did not get on the road until 10 am but all is good as I need a couple of slow
days to rejuvenate from the hectic schedule of the past few days. I have decided that trying for 200 to 250
miles per day is too demanding and I am scaling back to 150 to 200 miles per
day instead. Today I want to do even
less, and settle in for the evening early so I can get some catching up done on
my photo project.
 |
| A section of original road with the infamous "half curb" |
After
leaving Foss State Park I found the old route 66 in the remnants of the town of
Foss. This part of the original route sports the "half curbs" that were designed to keep autos on the road. Problems with this innovation were that they often contributed to tipping the cars over and by keeping the water "on the road" the contributed to significant roadway flooding problems so sever that cars had to stop on the high points of the road and wait for the flooding in the valley to subside before traveling on.
The route here basically follows
beside I44 like a service road. My first
stop was in Elk City. Here I found a
pleasant park and just sat and enjoyed the water fountain and then had my
lunch.
 |
| a truck all geared up for traveling west |
After that I stopped at the Elk
City route 66 museum where I spent a good long time because there was so much to see and enjoy. I especially enjoyed all the different vintage cars on display.
At the museum I had my question about Phillips 66 answered, it was a story covered in one of the audio displays.
In 1927,
Phillips's entry into retailing presented it with the problem of finding a
brand name under which to sell its gasoline. According to company lore, the
solution presented itself as a Phillips official was returning to
Bartlesville in a car that was road-testing the company's new gasoline. He
commented that the car was going "like 60." The driver looked at
the speedometer and replied, "Sixty nothing ... we're doing 66!"
The fact that the incident took place on U.S.
Highway 66 in Oklahoma near Tulsa only strengthened the story's appeal to
Phillips's executives. The company chose Phillips 66 as its new brand name,
one that endured and achieved classic status. [4]
The first Phillips 66 service station opened November 19,
1927, in Wichita,
Kansas.[5] This station has been preserved by the
local historical society.
|
Also at the same location there was included with the same entry fee, a history of Elk City as well as a history of farming and agriculture.
In the Farm and Agriculture building there were lots of interesting displays and I left pondering if we lost all modern technology overnight, would we as a people be able to recreate the ingenuity of past generations for creating the tools necessary to farm without gasoline powered equipment?
I found the barb wire display very interesting. I did not realize that there were so many different versions of barb wire. Barb wired changed the west. This was something that I learnt that I did not know before.
Before the
invention of barbed wire, the lack of effective fencing limited the range of
farming and ranching practices, and with it, the number of people who could
settle in an area. Wooden fences were costly and difficult to acquire on the
prairie and plains, where few trees grew. Lumber was in such short supply in
the region that farmers were forced to build houses of sod. Likewise, rocks
for stone walls—commonly found in New England—were scarce on the plains.
Shrubs and hedges, early substitutes for wood and rock fencing materials,
took too long to grow to become of much use in the rapidly expanding West.
Barbed wire was cheaper, easier, and quicker to use than any of these other
alternatives.
Without
fencing, livestock grazed freely, competing for fodder and water. Where
working farms existed, most property was unfenced and open to foraging cattle
and sheep. Once a year, cattle owners, unhindered by fenced property lines,
led their herds on long cattle drives, eventually arriving at
slaughter-houses located near urban railheads for shipping convenience. The
appearance of barbed wire meant the end of both the open range and the
freedom of the rancher and cowboy, an event lamented in the Cole Porter song
"Don't Fence Me In." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhku60qI2xQ)
More information:
|
Today
I took a moment to reflect how far west I have gotten and how the landscape is
now gently rolling and there are so many fewer trees! The air has changed! I can smell and taste the dryness! You inhale and smell the scent of dry sand
and you can taste the changes in the air on your tongue. Taking a moment to savour it, you realize the
air tastes different!
The
rest of the afternoon I combined sections of old route with sections of I44
travel. Always the old route was right
beside the interstate so I was seeing the same scenery regardless of where I
drove.
 |
| vintage remains in Texola |
For the final section throught Texola I stayed on the old route. Some very interesting remains in Texola, which now appears to be mainly a ghost town.
I crossed the state line into Texas on the old route to the border. Shortly after crossing, only a dirt road remains.
So I turned around and used the interstate
to the town of Shamrock Texas where I found some vintage remains and several old era motels. I chose one of these for the
night.
I
used the evening to catch up on photo editing and to plan my travels for
tomorrow.
Renate Dundys Marrello
2014 – 08 – 05
Photo link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154533726955341.1073741913.709160340&type=1&l=338471169b
No comments:
Post a Comment