The Mother Road part 10. Tulsa, OK

Tulsa was a three-day stopover….. with a lovely Boondockers Welcome host. (Thanks LeeAnn and Jeff..😁)

It was an opportunity for a bit of breath catching and a wee trek back up the road to hit some of the stuff we drove by on the way into the city (the stuff you can’t easily stop to see when you have the big tin can hooked up to the back of the truck.)

The ongoing ‘attraction’ list of old motel signs and derelict or renovated old gas stations continues to defy my ability to snap pictures as we drive by….LOL..

We scoped it out in daylight and took a trip to the mother road Market. The market got great ‘must go there’ reviews but we found it a little disappointing….there were no ‘farmers market type vendors…it was mostly a large food court and the permanent vendors inside were peddling mostly tourist oriented tchotchkes……..

The first night we drove down to Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza to snap the classic replica neon signs that have been erected there. …. I actually managed to get this one as we whizzed by….

Arriving at dusk (we thought we were so smart….LOL) we had to wait for a bit for it to actually get dark enough for the streetlights to come on….

The thing that captured our imagination to see in Tulsa was the neon along the strip. It’s a long drive along said strip in Tulsa…there were quite a few signs of old signs that were no longer signs……and many more that have been preserved…or have survived.

The Meadowgold sign (it’s a cool one) has a whole story of its construction, almost destruction and its rescue and restoration here (click)

The trip out along the strip at night was a bit nerve wracking…….it was me driving along at less than 10kmph while the intrepid blogtographer walked, skipped etc. between neon, snapping pix before leaping back into the truck and off to the next set.

The traffic was mercifully light that evening and Tulsa has lots of street side parking areas allowing me to pull on/off the main thoroughfare without being too much of a nuisance….

…..and there was just so much cool neon……

…..and just a couple more…..

After that little adventure we tracked down an ‘Andys Frozen Custard’ in Tulsa…score…!!! I’m telling you …that stuff is amazing….

Next day of scouting took us out to the other Tulsa icon…..the Golden Driller.….

Just for scale…..I am on his foot….!!!

Our lunchtime wandering became an excellent excuse to stop at a little mexican restaurant on the edge of town. Most excellent food (selected mostly by pointing at pictures on the menu……my Spanish is not great…LOL)

Tulsa was quite restful….I think we were a bit dazed by the sheer quantity of ‘stuff’ we had seen so far……and we are not even halfway yet…… and our camp spot was perfect for a little quietness.

Time to move on……our next stop …Oklahoma City, but there are a few more route 66 curiosities along the way.

Sapulpa.

This time I managed to catch the Phillips gas station, The Tee-Pee drive in sign…and of course…the worlds largest gas pump…..!!!

Stroud.

Stroud was another town that had easy pullover parking for us to make a stop and wander the main street.

We parked right by the Stroud Trading building. It’s the kind of store that is hard to imagine if you are not standing in it…..if its vintage, and has anything to do with automobiles…I suspect that it is in there somewhere…… 😁…and probably very dusty..!!

Stroud is also home to the Rock Cafe (Cars connection……Sally Carrera character is reputed to be based on the owner.)

Not a big town by any measure….but some really lovely murals…..interesting little place. We thought amazing progress along the route had been made but as you can see from the sign below, we’d made it only around a third of the way.

Last stop before Oklahoma City….Chandler

As you approach Chandler from the east on Highway 66 there is a visitor centre on the edge of town, with a BIG parking lot where people with travel trailers can park and make some lunch…!!

The centre itself is a renovated armory…..cool building. If anyone wanted to host an event in the middle of rural Oklahoma…this place has a gorgeous hall…!!!