Route 66 Day 4 Tucumcari to OKC

 

I woke up at 8 and most everybody was gone, Dawn said it was a early morning for most people. I called Napa and they did not have a starter. They checked all of New Mexico and didn’t have one in Santa Fe or Albuquerque they might have it in Amarillo. I asked them how much for a jump box and he said 350. 350$$$ I said can I return it he said no. I said thanks but no thanks. I then called Bozo’s and he said he could do it if he could get parts but wasn’t sure if he could get parts. He suggested I go to Amarillo. I was on the forums for Garage Journal and 67—72 Chevy trucks and it was a flip for going back to Albuquerque or go to Amarillo so Amarillo it is. I called around Amarillo and the guy people led me too was a place Called Chauncy’s he said he could do it, and Napa didn’t know what the Hell they were talking about. He didn’t give me a price but the way he talked and sounded I figure he was a cool dude.

I bought some shirts and filled up my yeti cup with coffee which is awesome for this trip. I do wish it was bigger but it holds heat and ice for the day and that’s all I care about. I signed the guest registry and said bye to Dawn after taking a few more pictures and talking about Chicago where she is from. I hit the midpoint café and took some pictures. They were full so I didn’t want to stop and shut her off so I kept on going and took some pics of some cool old pumping stations. I also stopped along the way to Cadillac Ranch. I must say I am not impressed and with all the spray paint in the air I was getting high just walking to see them.

I left the truck running just in case and then went to go find Chauncy’s. Luckily he is right off the interstate and I was able to pull in. His mother in law is the front desk which is awesome. He was not there so she had me sit and wait. He came in talking on his phone saying “I made those fuckers donate to the cause. Its for their own good. It’s the ROP class and all they were going to donate was hats and t shirts. Hell no I donated a MIG/TIG welder by myself if I can do that they can at least donate welding gloves, hood etc” when I heard this I was smiling. It is as if Mom sent me to this guy!! Once he got off the phone she told me I was waiting for him and we started talking. I told him what was going on etc. he said sure not a problem, he just had to wait for one of his guys to get back from lunch. I started asking about his ROP class and he told me it was for welding and car repair and that he normally takes on one or two students/interns to help teach the new kids. I thought that was awesome. I told him I got out when Snap On had the Solus. He said they have so much stuff now days it literally takes a desktop to configure these cars and that he doesn’t even have a computer yet that will do the self driving one because of all the information it sends and receives. It is crazy.

After we get done talking one of his monkeys comes over and takes the keys he gets it to start but it took him awhile. I asked where a good place to get some famous Texas BBQ was and they said Tyler’s it was across the street but now its about a mile down. I told them great I will go get lunch and come back and see where things are at.

Everything is huge in Texas as they say and the helpings were definitely true. I got ribs and pulled pork. The server said these ribs look a little tiny heres a few more. I was like damn. The jalapeno cream corn and the green beans were delicious. As I was eating I was looking up on the Ipad where to visit and how much starters were etc. as I finished I called dad and told him where I was and that I was walking back to the shop to see if they had fixed it yet. I get back to the shop and Chauncy had just finished it. I asked his mother in law what the tab was and she said she didn’t know because they had just finished. Chauncy said it was not a 99 but a 98 motor and so he bought both starters because he wasn’t sure so that’s why. The bill came out to 380. I told him to round it up to 400 as I wanted to donate to his ROP class. He said really? I said my mom was a teacher and I only passed high school because of shop class, and if I wasn’t on a road trip with no tools or lift I would have done my own starter. He said THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I told him you are a good man. You are teaching kids work that cant be shipped over seas and that not everybody needs to go to college. On top of that your prices are fair and you seem to do great work just sitting hear listening to you diagnoise cars and help customers out was an amazing experience.

After I left I had to rush it to midpoint café as I know dad wanted me to get more pictures and maybe buy some stuff. I got there and the place was closed and locked, but the nice lady said that she saw me taking pictures of the midpoint line and the truck earlier and was sad that I didn’t come in. So she let me in. Once I got in I said I heard your pie is famous may I have a slice and when she asked which one I told her I don’t rightly know she said Burbon  pecan pie it is!!  I said perfect and started walking around the gift shop. They had some cool stuff mostly related to route 66 but they didn’t have any pin markers that said elevation or long lat for some reason. They had some casino chips with their name on it, stickers, and t shirts. So I got a bumper sticker, a coin, and the pie. As I was leaving this big guy maybe 450#s started talking to me about fire fighting since he saw the sticker in the back window.  Dude had really good eye site. He said he tried doing it. Donned his PPE and had a county record of 25 seconds which is blazing fast I told him. He said yea he never could get on because he didn’t get his EMT and some other things. I told him get back into shape volunteer depts. Always need help. He said yea he wants to and then we started talking about his AMC. I had to cut the convo short after about 15 min cause I still had to get to Cadillac Ranch. I thanked them for opening back up and off I went.

I shouldn’t have rushed going back. I walked all the way to the cars this time, but damn did I get high doing it. There were still a few people painting the cars just straight up tagging them with no rhyme or reason to it. Good for them I snapped some pictures and then went to the motel to look at the original painted ones. The store had some stuff but nothing that dad or uncle Ed would want. They suggested I go to the Big Texan Steak Ranch and that they should have some pin markers and other cool stuff.

On the way there I stopped back at Chauncy’s and told him everything was working great. I had stopped by Sams club on the way to midpoint to get a box jumper and it turned off and started right up! He said great I thought something was bad when I saw you. I told him nope, and asked if he had any stickers for the cooler as I wanted to show case them and put them on a blog of some sort as quite a few people have been asking me to start one on youtube or something. He said no he didn’t but he did have some t shirts. So he gave me a new t shirt that he gives to his grease monkeys to wear as part of their uniform. Better than a sticker if you ask me!! I asked him if he knew of any good key makers as I had lost the one that I had on my rear fender that I had just noticed he said no but to maybe try Home Depot as the truck key looks close to a old house key. They were down the block and on the way to Big Texan anyway he said.

I tried to get a key but no such luck I hope they have a place in Oklahoma City. Truck started right up in Home Depot. Went to the Big Texan Steak Ranch and the line was ridiculous so I just went to the gift shop and got some stickers. No pin marker for dad. I would have stayed to get dinner if I wasn’t so full from lunch and the line wasn’t an hr long. So off I went to try and make it to Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma city is about 4 hours from Amarillo and it was around 5 when I left there. I was hoping to make it by 10. At the town of Groom there is a water tower that’s leaning over. It is there version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I took a few pictures as if the truck was hauling it away or had hit it. There was a fence around the area so I couldn’t get to close. I stopped at Mclean Texas as they had the Devils wire aka barbed wire museum there. It’s a sad town 1 or 2 stop lights and stores closed up for good. I bet it would have been a great place in the 80s and 90s. I stopped in the middle of route 66 and took some pictures and there was not a car in site. Drove around and took a few pictures. Some places seemed to have closed because of covid… others because town just dried up. There was a diner on the main drag and you could see all they toys for kids to play with while their parents ate. It was really sad. There was one gas station there and it seemed like a few people were there but I didn’t need gas so off I went to OKC.

The next stop was at shamrock and I wanted to get a couple of pictures form the Udrop Inn and Tower Service Station. It was made famous because of the movie Cars (Ramone’s Paint Shop). It was really a cute station and the art deco design was pretty cool to see in person. They were closed by the time I had gotten there but the sunset was perfect for pictures. A few people asked if they could take pictures of the truck and I said sure of course! After walking around for a bit I got on the way.

Asked dad to get me a hotel room not to far from the interstate if possible this time as Alburqurque was pretty far. He had never stayed over at OKC but Mitch had and so he was able to tell him where some good spots were at. I pulled in around 10 and there was a nice lady working with her high school girls doing home work. I asked if I could park in the front as I was going to be leaving around 7 she said she would ask the night person coming in. I also asked for an extension cord so I could charge the jump box that I got at Sam’s club. I was able to get both coolers up without a problem and then when I moved the truck I think I left my YETI cup on the truck. I wouldn’t realize this until the next morning when I went to go get some coffee and it couldn’t be found. When I came back in I met the night guy he said I couldn’t have it in the semi circle as people were still coming in. He did have a cord for me to use and so I was able to charge the box.