Route 66 & Beyond: The Western Wind

In Oklahoma City our route has changed a little. Instead of going directly to Albuquerque, we reserved one night for Amarillo. Oklahoma City itself has a lot to offer and requires more time. Before leaving for Texas we spent that morning with Elyse Poland learning about Indians, oil industry, tornados, cowboys, terrorism...

Elyse set aside couple hours to show us around. Again, we couldn’t have better guide. Elyse is educated in religion and history. She is local. Even more – she is a Native American. I was excited about this fact since I hadn’t met as many American Indegenious people in the U.S. as I had in Canada. In 1889 the city experienced Land Rush since they opened it for white settlement. Before that it was set aside “for eternity” as Indian Territory. Descendants of these people (mainly Cheerokes) still live in Oklahoma today. According to few estimates over a quarter of Oklahoma's white (and black) populations have a certain degree of American Indian ancestries. Some declare it openly like Elyse. Her father told her to do so when she was a little girl. Having native roots can also benefit you in some way. You can get for example lower fees at the university. Due to curiosity Elyse sent her application to Harvard. She was enrolled. They offered her the best deal comparing to other schools when it comes to the discount in percentages. Still, it was too high.

What about her connections with Poland, the origins of her last name? It is hard to tell. "We found that our name actually gets its origins from Ireland. However, tracing even further, we found that the name was given to those who settled in Ireland hundreds of years ago from Latvia or Lithuania". The only connection she knows for sure is that her best friend is from my country and she visited her few times. They met when the Polish girl came to the U.S. for studying.

We spent most time in the Bricktown warehouse district. Streets were full of young students, adepts of agriculture schools. Oklahoma is one of the leading sources of beef in the country. The state ranks also among the primary producers of wheat.

After the breakfast we headed to the National Memorial. The outdoor symbolic memorial of what happened here in 1995. On April 19^th a U.S. Army veteran – Timothy James McVeigh detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building. 168 people were killed. Men, women, children... 450 injured. McVeigh was cooperating with Terry Nichols who also served shortly in the American army. They wanted to avenge the government's handling of the Waco siege and Ruby Ridge incidents. The Memorial in Oklahoma houses a shallow pool arrayed by a series of 168 chairs. Some of them are very small. These represent 19 children from the building’s daycare center. Nichols got life imprisonment, McVeigh was sentenced to death and executed in 2001. At the end of his life he would state his belief that the United States government is the ultimate bully.

The National Memorial

The National Memorial

The National Memorial

The last place we visited in OKC was Stockyard City with Oklahoma National Stockyards, the world’s largest stocker and feeder cattle market. Famous also for visits of George W. Bush, a big fan of cowboy culture. Unfortunately we didn’t meet him. Neither the cattle. The market is open only from Monday to Tuesday all year long. It was already Wednesday.

Oklahoma National Stockyards

Oklahoma National Stockyards

We hit the road again in the afternoon. With no rush. Amarillo is relatively close. We had plenty of time to use in Elk City. The host of the official National Route 66 Museum. A place designed according to John Steinback’s “Grapes of Wrath”. It is pretty small. You can also visit the Old Town Museum which is nearby.

National Route 66 Museum

National Route 66 Museum

We got to our hosts’ place in the evening. Jason and Rachael had a big team of three boys, then also some little friends made them a visit. Regarding their dogs and a cat, the house was full of life. We totally emphatized with the family atmosphere. People we met in the southern part of the U.S. were very hospitable. Besides, usually well-read as they are able to find time for books. They also have time for visitors. Our hosts devoted to us entire evening. The only complaint that they had was that we hadn’t tell them that we planned a dinner in Amarillo. “We would have waited for you!”. After putting their kids to beds we were seeping beer and chatting few hours. They told us about Amarillo itself, some events they host every year with friends... After the entertaining part we got some rest. Our friends did their best to accomodate us. As Jason wrote on his CS profile: I have 3 couches and an extra bed with your very own room. I have enough blankets to build forts, towels to dry an elephant, and as an extra benefit, running water that comes out of all the faucets. True.

The next morning we waited for Rachel till she prepared boys and then left for a breakfast. The kids colored their house. I don’t remember when I had so much fun. When I was getting ready in the bathroom two little sweet Jason-looking boys suddenly came into with announcements: “I wanna pee!”, “I wanna poop!”. With a childish, gibberish language. Execute immediately!:)

For breakfast we went together to the stylish old Route 66 diner recommended by Rachael. Hard bitten biscuits with gravy is a must in this part of the U.S. What they suggest for a dinner is obviously a western steak. Amarillo is another town strongly related to cowboys culture.

Our trip to Amarillo was mainly a trip to J&R’s place. We definitely agreed that their home is the best attraction in the city.

Texas itself doesn’t have many interesting Rt. 66 spots. The second largest state after Alaska has unique landscape though. Oh! And good soil for cars. Yes, this is what attracts hundreds of tourists every year. The Cadillac Ranch. Roughly a dozen Cadillacs buried nose-down in the plain. They are in pretty good shape since now and then some bands shoot here videos. However their has been “growing” here for a long while. The Ranch was created by the San Francisco artists in 1974. In charge of the project was Stanley Marsh 3, an eccentric Amarillo helium millionaire. He didn’t spend his all fortune for the venture. The cars were bought from the local junkyards, at an average cost of $200 each. Few years ago they were moved a mile west. Not by the strong Texas wind you feel while walking from the highway (although I would believe that). Mr Stanley wanted to avoid expanding Amarillo sprawl. He decided to dig the cars up and put them a mile west. Everything for art:).