cross-country road trip version 2012, part 2

We set off from Sand Springs after a delicious breakfast of homemade bread and apricot preserves, complemented by some bird-watching out the window as we ate and chatted.  Since we had no plans to meet people at our destination for the night, this was the day we took the most side trips.  The first one was in Elk City, OK - we decided to look for a place to eat lunch and took the exit for National Route 66 (Business 40) through town.  Although we didn't seen anyplace we wanted to stop and eat, we did end up stopping at the Historic Route 66 Museum.  We didn't pay to go in, but just took a few pictures outside.

judy posing by the national route 66 museum

Since there was no satisfactory lunch spot, we continued on into Texas, heading off onto Historic Route 66 again into Shamrock, TX.  We stopped and took pictures of an old abandoned house, spotted an old, photogenic Conoco gas station, and were about to give up on Shamrock for lunch spots when I spotted Mitchell's Family Restaurant.  We stopped for burgers, mine a "mini" burger with onion rings, Judy with a bacon cheeseburger and tater tots - evidence that everything is bigger in Texas!

abandoned broken down house in shamrock

conoco station in shamrock - looks like one in the movie cars!

EVERYTHING is bigger in texas!  the left hand burger is a MINI burger...

With happily full bellies (those were some TASTY onion rings!), we continued along Route 40/66.  Our next detour onto Historic Route 66 occurred in Groom, TX.  There, we drove by the Leaning Water Tower and progressed through the town to the landmark known as the World's Largest Cross.  Apparently, there are four crosses in the world that are actually larger, but the name has stuck.

leaning water tower

world's (not quite) largest cross

at the foot of the cross

i don't know what version of the bible only has 6 disciples, but we made it 8...

We left Groom and headed toward Amarillo.  At the eastern edge of Amarillo we passed the Big Texan.  We had passed billboards since Oklahoma advertising a FREE 72 oz steak!  The deal is that it's free IF you eat the whole thing - that's FOUR AND A HALF pounds of beef.  In my book, the idea of eating that in one meal is just disgusting!!

72 ounce steak FREE (if you eat the whole thing)

We made a quick stop at Walmart in Amarillo to get some blue and gold spray paint.  Why, you ask?  Well, our next destination was Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo.  We arrived just as the sun was setting, making for some dramatic photos of the ten Cadillacs nose down in the dirt.  As graffiti is encouraged, we put our artistic skills to work:

sunset at cadillac ranch

there was a reason for blue and gold spray paint!

judy did her artwork on the first car, then i used her camera bag as a tripod for this shot

We drove to Albuquerque to the motel I had reserved, arriving late and tired, but having thoroughly enjoyed our day.  After a delivered dinner, we went straight to bed in order to get up before the crack of dawn - the next day was the day to reach California...