Day 5

                We woke up today with high hopes and Starbucks. We started the day going through Oklahoma City which had a lot of neat stops and old buildings. We went by the capital and saw the Tower theater. The Tower was a theater back in the day and it still looks very period. My Father made the comment about how the car is starting to feel like home and I have to agree with him. The car is becoming a part of our day to day lives and it is becoming part of us. Through all of the miles it has been there and it is still going true. However, Oklahoma was not nearly as reliable as the car. The main problem was that sometimes there were signs, and sometimes there were no markings at all. When there are signs you depend on them and then there are no signs you get lost immediately. We spent an hour and a half searching for the road and a bridge that was used in the movie The Grapes of Wrath. We talked to a local who we hoped could aid in our quest and even she said that the locals get lost from time to time. One saving grace of Oklahoma is that it has the most original drivable road surface. It is fun to imagine yourself traversing the hills searching for a better life and a home like the weary travelers  did back in the day. We started this trip with the idea that it would be fun. It is very easy to overlook the severity and importance of the road when you are on it. We have  a home to go home to. The people that traveled this road were looking for work and a better life. I complain about being lost but for the first travels they were never lost, they had no idea where they were going. As  Steinbeck said, "... and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight." We fly west in comfort and style while they dealt with flat tires and sleepless nights. We covered one hundred and two miles today in seven hours. We have gone nearly double that distance in previous days. The early 66 pioneers would have rejoiced at that. I would like to say that we can connect to them somehow, but in all honesty, we have no idea what these early travelers had to go through.     

Facts Known By Few: In 1926 only 800 miles of route 66 were paved. Finally, in 1937 the entire road was paved end to end.

Favorite Food: Anything at Lucille's Roadhouse.

Two Favorite Songs:

1.       Just Another Nervous Wreck Supertramp

2.       Secret Agent Man Johnny Rivers