Day 15 Kodak Moments

Day 15 - The Return Trip West

Today was a travel day. We are on our way home from Branson. We traveled north a bit and then ended on on Hwy. 54 through towns like El Dorado Springs, Kansas, population 3,775.

We drove into an awful storm in Kansas, complete with downpours, black skies everywhere, thunder and lightening. Normally, we don't have much lightning at home, so it was a bit unnerving to say the least with the lightning striking right in front of us. I think we expected it to last all day and it would have been a long day, but we ended up with warm weather and blue skies this afternoon.

Traveling through Kansas was very interesting, with lots of pretty farmland, cows and some oil wells. Our route is mostly off the Interstate highways, which makes traveling less stressful with not having to deal with all the trucks.

Mechanical difficulties? Not really...possibly a windshield wiper switch later, but other than that, every car ran fine. Another long day tomorrow...we are trying to make it to Denver, Colorado.

Adios for Friday from Pratt, Kansas.

Kathy

Day 14 Kodak Moments

Day 14 - Branson

Day 14 is beautiful, sunny and a warm 80 degrees. We are enjoying our stay in Branson. It is hard to describe to people: warm people, patriotic, God loving and yet a busy touristy town. We haven't even begun to see "everything", but are having a great time.

Ted and Joan loved their show "SIX" last night and of course had ice cream for dinner!

Today is Thursday: laundry and car washing day. Aren't we exciting. We followed that up with yet another trip to the Branson Landing Mall...you guessed it Bass Pro again. I won't tell you who was shopping this time. We followed that with a lakefront lunch at the Macaroni Grill, complete with fountain show and a small riverboat going by.

Tonight we went to a new Branson show, called "At The Hop", which featured fifties music and was a very good show. Not even ice cream for dinner tonight as we ate a very late and leisurely lunch.

Tomorrow morning we head for home, keeping Brian and Nancy and their family in our prayers.

Kathy for The Route 66 Crew

Day 13 Kodak Moments

Day 13

Today's post will be a bit shorter than usual since we are still in Branson. We woke to sunny skies and the temp was about 70 today. We walked a few blocks to the new Branson Landing Mall, which is right on the lake and is very nice. First stop was Bass Pro for shopping, then lunch at the Fish House right on the water. We are so blessed on this trip. Ted, Bob and Gary took off for the Auto Museum and the ladies took the '55 to where else? The Quilt shop.

We had a little down time today and then got ready to go to our show for the evening. Ted and Joan went to SIX, an acapella group and I will have to let you know tomorrow how that went.

Gary and I have never gone to a less than excellent show in Branson. We double dated with Bob and Donna in the '55. It seems to be a little harder for all of us getting into the back seat of a 2-door! We went to the Pierce Arrow show. Ever heard of it? We hadn't either, but it was recommended and was a terrific show: a combination of country, comedy, oldies and Christian music. Branson is known for being very patriotic and the group wasn't one bit shy about sharing the gospel message.

Dinner for the Blockers and Obrists tonight ended up being at Coldstone Creamery! More tomorrow.

Please continue praying for our friends, Brian and Nancy Brown as she is seriously ill with cancer. It is hard for all of us to be away while they are struggling, but we are doing the best thing, which is to pray for all of them.

Kathy for the Route 66 Gang

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Day 12 Kodak Moments

Day 12 - Last Day on Route 66

Today was a day filled with variety in many ways. We managed to "get out of Tulsa, OK. during the morning rush hour. Ted was our fearless leader and did a good job at navigating. We traveled from Tulsa, to Catoosa and into Claremont, OK. This was a small town full of a surprise for us: The Will Rogers Museum. You young blog readers may not know that he was a world-famous actor, cowboy trick roper, columnist and humorist, who was killed in a plane accident in 1935. Our group had the best time and loved interacting with the volunteers and learning about his life and career. One volunteer woman came out and took photos of our cars for their monthly newsletter.

We traveled on Route 66 to towns like Foyil, Bushyhead & White Oak, which contained numerous junk yards filled again with more project cars, old motels & abandoned gas stations. West of Miami, OK., Ted & Joan's Chevelle started making a howling sound. Hmm...a stop by the side of the road, a parts house for a belt lubricant. So, what's your guess? A belt or an alternator? The guys didn't know for sure and there just happened to be a Chevrolet dealer in town so rather than guess at the problem and get dirty, Ted had the dealer's mechanic fix it before we finished our Sonic burgers. Did you know that Sonic Burgers have waiters/waitresses on roller skates just like in the old days? It just took five of us to figure out how to order since we walked to the restaurant and they have no inside dining area. So, did we stand our in the wind and eat? No way...we all ate in the Chevy dealer waiting room!

Of interest to us: gas is about $2.65/gallon here!

We decided to leave Route 66 here as the road takes more than a couple of detours. So, we took the scenic route east and then south to Branson, Missouri. We are here for a few days to see the area and take in a show or two. Bass Pro and the quilt shops are nearby as well! This should be a good break from our early mornings as we all plan to sleep in tomorrow...maybe even Bob, our early riser.

Good night from the Best Western in Branson!

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Day 11 Kodak Moments

Day 11 - April 26, 2010

Well, we might have hit bottom with the motel accommodations last night. We stayed at a Ramada Inn that was less than desirable in the town of Clinton, OK. Guess we can't win them all, but we survived. The best part of Clinton was the Route 66 Museum, which was very well done. Check out the pictures. It was well worth the stop.

Gary couldn't stand it and had to hit the two-bit carwash last night while the rest of the gang went for ice cream. Can you tell where priorities are?

We drove on Route 66 for a bit today and totally missed the sights in Weatherford, OK, even when we drove right through the town. I don't know how that happened, but we stayed on '66 and saw some beautiful Oklahoma scenery. The weather was cool and a bit windy, but Bob still had on shorts!

We had two destinations in mind today and one of them was the Oklahoma City Memorial. Ted navigated us through the city, which has about 560,000 people. The Memorial was very moving and was a tribute to the 165 people lost in this terrorist attack. They called it terrorism, but was nothing short of evil, with even 16 children among those lost.

One of the highlights of our trip today was a stop in Shawnee Oklahoma, where a number of Bob's relatives are buried at Garden Grove Cemetery. Bob can't wait to show the pictures of the gravestones to his Mom and family. Ted stepped out and went across the street to the Baptist church and found a gentleman working there who either knew of or knew some of Bob's relatives. We went down a red dirt and gravel road later to find a relative still in the area, but he wasn't home. That might be another trip for Bob to visit the area later.

Buenos noches from the Best Western Tradewinds Central Inn in Tulsa, OK.

These are especially for Jack from the guys!

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