Day 7 07Jun: A look out the window in the morning said we were in for trouble. Very dark skies and windy. Checked the TV for local weather in OKC and a big storm was coming with winds, 2” hail and maybe a few tornadoes. The weather girl said this all calmly. Just another day. My astute eye noticed that the weather was NW and heading SE. Since we were already om the NE side of town we were actually clear of the worst. We headed out and rain stopped and although overcast nothing bad. Our first stop was Pop’s. A gas station/café/store with over 700 flavors of soda pop…all in bottles. It has glass walls so bottles are displayed on glass shelves. Makes for an impressive sight. We bought a collage of flavors in a 6 pack. Of course it had a Route 66 staple…..a oversize whatever…in this case a pop bottle. Next up and just down the road is the round barn. It was too early in the morning so we couldn’t enter but hey it’s a round barn. Ur next stop was Tulsa. On the way into downtown was a city park which showed off a 2-4-2 oil burning steam locomotive. This thing was huge. I’m sure it made a great sight chugging through the US but not for very long. It was built in 1942 and retired in 1950. Its disappearance a product of diesel/electrics locomotives. Rising high above was a real oil derrick which was once the tallest in the US. Although not a great neighborhood Route 66 through Tulsa shows off many 30s art deco style buildings. On to Catoosa, OK and the Blue Whale. Another icon of Route 66. This whale was built by an retired zoo employee who had a pond where his kids and their kids swam and played. He just wanted a place for the kids to play so he built an Ark (now falling apart) and this whale to slide and jump off of into the pond. This would be a law suit lawyer’s dream. Shallow pond, high jump from tail, steel ladder inside to climb to second story inside whale with safety of no concern. The family noted that no one ever sued, was hurt, nor bitten by a snake. Next up was a nice restored gas station from the 1920s in Baxter Springs, KS. Pic opportunity. And again close by is Rainbow Bridge. This is the last of its type of design on Route 66[MG1] . No longer used as part of Route 66 you can still drive across it…one way. Lastly was Galena, KS. Here were a couple old gas station paying homage to CARS the movie. As with most Route 66 sights to see these were all free. No greedy ticket selling…just have a look and enjoy.
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