Route 66 in Oklahoma (plus more)

Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Joplin, Missouri, United States
Our day began with breakfast at the hotel. Not too good but good enough to get us going. We were up and loaded about 8:30. We headed for the Oklahoma State Capital with a quick stop at Starbucks.

The morning was cooler as the thunderstorms the day before had taken some of the heat with them as they left . Even so it was about 50 degrees and was supposed to reach the mid 70s today.

The Oklahoma State Capital Building is very impressive. After just having toured the Texas State Capital we all agree that the Oklahoma Capital Building is better. Sorry Texas. Construction began in 1914 and completed in 1917, and then competed again in 2002. See the original capital did not include the beautiful dome that was added in 2002. When the capital was originally built the state did not have the money to add the dome. It was "domeless" for nearly 90 years. Private company and citizens donated money to complete the dome. The capital building in itself is beautiful but it is also filled with incredible paintings and sculptures. We toured both the house of representatives and senate chambers. It was now nearly 10am and time to head to our next stop.

Just about 10 minutes to the northeast is the National Cowboy Museum. We took the full tour but really you could spend hours looking at the displays and artwork . Thousands of paintings, sculptures and exhibits that tell the story of the old west. Both the cowboy and indian are depicted in art and displays. Massive paintings and sculptures along with a historic guns. The museum is considered on of the top 10 museums in the country for it's content and presentations, right up with the Smithsonian museums in DC. Well everyone is getting hungry as it is nearly noon. Time to find some food and continue the adventure.

About 20 minutes northeast we turn onto Historic Route 66 and stop at "Pops". Pops is a modern day Route 66 cafe. It is part gas station, part cafe, part soda fountain. They sell over 500 different brands/flavors of soda and have a huge soda bottle and straw out front of the shop. At night the soda bottle is lit with LED lights to allow it to change colors. Just a mile up the road we stopped at the Round Barn.  "Why a round barn?" you ask. Well the builder believed the round walls and domed roof would be able to evade damage from a tornado . It did not work! The barn was struck by a tornado and required extensive renovations to be in the present day condition. Even so it remains a Route 66 roadside attraction. 

We continued driving through several small towns on old Route 66. In one town we found a Route 66 "interpretive center". It wasn't quite a museum but did have lots of old photos and videos of Route 66. It was a quirky Route 66 stop, but then many of the Route 66 attractions are a bit quirky. Time to puts some miles behind us so we hoped onto Interstate 44 headed for Tulsa. We drove right through Tulsa but made a stop in Claremore, Oklahoma about 15 miles east of Tulsa.  

Claremore is home to the Will Rogers Museum. Claremore is also home to Rogers State University which is named after Will Rogers. Claremore was Will Rogers home town and where he planned to retire. In fact the property where the museum was built is the very land that Will Rogers purchased to build his retirement home on . Unfortunately he died in a plane crash during a trip to Alaska in 1935. Will Rogers was an actor, author, entertainer, good will ambassador for the US and of course a roper. He often practiced his roping for an hour each day. He is famously known for saying "I never met a man I didn't like".  
 
Next stop Joplin, Missouri. (one last note on Oklahoma - the dirt is very red in Oklahoma).

We arrived at Joplin about 6 PM. We found a wood fired pizza place for dinner and while it was OK - it was not even close to our beloved Veraci Pizza in Spokane. After dinner we drove through the destruction zone of the EF5 Tornado that struck Joplin last May. It was amazing to see the width of the destruction (easily a 1/2 mile or more) and the length (at least a couple miles). Entire neighborhoods are gone, commercial buildings are gone or still standing with extensive damage. The Mercy Hospital still stands awaiting demolition but shows extensive damage. A new hospital is being constructed a couple miles away next to Interstate 44. The high school is now piles of rubble being trucked away. A church across the street is being rebuilt, down the block a steel cross has been erected on a now vacant lot. Street signs are still bent, trees are stripped of limbs and leaves. The damage just goes on and on and on. Nearly 200 people were killed and over 900 were injured in the tornado. Nearly a year later the cleanup and rebuilding continues in Joplin.

Time to review tomorrows itinerary, Kansas City here we come...

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