driving through texas we decided to stop at shamrock, tx where we found a really cool old conoco gas station that had been converted into a office for the local chamber of commerce. i was still looking for old barns to photograph when we came to the oklahoma state line. the drive today was a total of 3.5 hours, but it took us 6.5 hours of leisurely puttin' down the asphalt ribbon. making several stops to take photos we enjoyed the local flavor across america's heartland. as we were getting close to elk city, oklahoma, we saw signs that beckoned us to visit the national route 66 museum, so there we go—off the interstate and on to route 66. if you ever get a chance to visit the museum and like a nostalgic look back at americana, this is a must see. it is not glitzy, but really a hometown look at america's "mother road". for you quilters, we saw a couple of quilts that people had made (one of which is shown here) and a miniature sewing machine collection that was donated to the museum. there was a building about transportation, a reconstructed "town", and a farm and ranch building that displayed agricultural collections and tractors. we whizzed right through, knowing that we wanted to end up in el reno, oklahoma tonight. then i found a great old dilapidated barn right along the interstate a few miles east of elk city. i took several photos with my canon xsi and one for the blog with my iphone. as we reached hydro, oklahoma, we spotted "lucille's", a famous landmark along route 66, so off we veered again to take photos. since we were only about 30 miles from el reno, we took off for our final destination for the day. it was so good to have dinner at the cherokee trading post's restaurant; we were finally back in the south and could get some sweet tea! that was the best "brain-freeze" i think i have ever enjoyed. well, i guess we got our kicks—on route 66...
