Ghost Towns

When the superhighway I-40 was constructed in the 1950's and 60's to replace much of Route 66, several towns were by-passed and as a result, left to reinvent themselves and their economies.  Unfortunately, many were unable to support life without the traffic from Route 66 and quickly dried up.  Our path has crossed many such towns.  Ironically, these places didn't start to attract visitors again until after the inhabitants left.  I still don't think they receive that many visitors.  Given the eerie feeling these places evoke, I tried to spruce them up with some vivid HDR photography.  Here are the results:

Foss, OK

Texola, OK

Shamrock, TX

Glenrio, NM

San Fidel, NM

Two Guns, AZ

Texas… Skip It

There are really only four things that need to be covered about the panhandle of Texas:

1. They have BBQ and they are proud of it.  I tried it, eh…
2. Some eccentric rancher has buried 10 old Cadillacs in a field and calls it public art.  I guess it is since any Tom, Dick or Harry with a can of spray paint can profess their love, paint their initials or promote their moronic blog on the cars.
   
   
   
   
3. If you can eat 72 ounces of beef in one sitting, you don't have to pay for your meal (although you should probably have health insurance).
   
4. There is nothing else to say about the panhandle of Texas.

Oklahoma, a list of observations

1.  There must be an Indian casino at every exit. 
2.  Oklahoma must have the most entrepreneurs per capita of any state since almost every vehicle in the state is a "commercial vehicle" - indicated by the stickers on their bumpers.
3.  Traditional traffic lane designations do not apply in Oklahoma.   The best I can tell, the left lane is for everyone and the right lane is for passing while never exceeding the speed limit.
4.  Roadkill must be a sport in Oklahoma, or the state hosts the least intelligent animal populations in the world.  The buzzards, however, are cleaning up.

Farewell Oklahoma, until we have come back through.  Ugh!

The Start to a great trip...Oklahoma REALLY!?!

So...we start our trip at the most annoying time of the day, early morning....we are all exited...then...we get to Oklahoma...NO WONDER THE INDIANS GAVE IT TO US...that's all I'm saying...

Ah, The Corolla

Let the roadtrip begin!  Just picked up the no-frills rental.  It feels like I'm driving on marshmallows.  It needs an alignment (with only 7k miles on it, what did the previous renters do in this thing, an off-road rally?), it has two, maybe three horsepower, and I'm pretty sure it has shrunk since the last time we rented one.  It's no family truckster, but I guess it'll do.  We may not make it out of Los Angeles alive.  Cue Holiday Road...