Caddo County

At some point we had to cross the country. The southeast was awesome, but we still had tons of destinations in the west. The problem with the part in between is that it's mostly boring...or so we thought.
We chose Route 66 to get from Oklahoma City to Amarillo, Texas, where we would leave Route 66 and head south.
Oklahoma is the state where most of the historic Route 66 is still more or less intact and drivable. Many other states got rid of the old road after the "new" interstate system was established sometime after World War II. For a while, the road could still be used, but as the years went by, maintenance became too much of an issue and many states just cut the expenses and closed the road. The road really wasn't what we expected. Sometimes it was horrible to drive on, but we weren't in a hurry and drove slowly from one sight to the next. Birte had found a homepage with a lot of sights along the way, so the time passed quickly and we even had to skip some things.
Near Erick, Oklahoma, we turned on the radio to listen to local news and music. After only 2 minutes the music was interrupted by a regional thunderstorm warning. People were advised to leave open areas and not to drive, as high winds, rain and lightning were expected over the next hour. The storm was currently on its way to Erick. Well...shit. We still had a few miles to go and weren't planning on stopping in Erick, but we figured we should probably take the advice seriously since thunderstorms in the US, especially in the Great Plains, can be severe. The website listed a small "Curiosity Shop" for Erick, close to Route 66. This would be our shelter.

Inside the store sat a bearded old man. Everything was crammed full of stuff, be it instruments, memorabilia, signs, lamps and whatever else. We talked to the guy about his shop and about music. Then suddenly he grabbed his guitar and gave us a 15 minute private concert. It was amazing. What a wonderful coincidence that the storm led us to his shop!

The overall experience of driving Route 66 was great. The road was mostly empty because everyone uses Interstate 40 to get from A to B, so we could stop whenever and wherever we wanted. Many of the towns along the way were deserted, which gave it a spooky horror movie feel, but every now and then you would find a nice little gas station left over from another era.

I have a video of our private guitar concert in Erick, but Findpenguins won't upload it for some reason...if anyone wants to watch it, let me know and I'll send it via WhatsApp.Read more