Welcome to our 50th Anniversary road trip....

After having stayed in a dirty, almost towelless, very poor room in the motel we had an uninspiring breakfast and left as early as we could.  Today we would visit the Route 66 Auto Museum.

 

After traveling 1000 feet, we arrived at the museum before the opening time of 8AM so I walked around the outside and took some pictures of the museum from that perspective.  Soon I heard the growl of something familiar….I turned to see a bright red ’47 Chevy drop top rumbling to a stop in front of the building.  A man got out and headed for the door while Linda asked if he was the owner.  He said yes.  Then she asked him if he would stand by his ride while I took his picture!  Nothing pushy about a redhead, nope!  Once inside the magnitude of the memorabilia was almost overloading.  Everywhere you looked was more artifacts of our American hot rod heritage.  I cannot adequately describe what I saw while I strolled around the lobby….you have to check out the pictures below. 

 

Linda noticed a picture with a whole bunch of people in it, like a family reunion picture.  The owner, James “Bozo” Cordova explained to her that it was indeed a picture of his family.  He went on to share with her how he had been born in a very poor area and at a young age decided that he wasn’t going to be a victim of society but rather make something out of himself.  He worked hard and along the way he built a collection of his life in hot rods that is worth much more than money….he is a willing custodian of our American Hot Rod history in this area.  James is easy to talk to and willingly shares his history with those that will listen.  If you are near Santa Rosa, NM you need to check out his museum….

 

We began the days road trip on I-40 heading East and after traveling for about 60 miles we went past Tucumcari and a bunch of old car lots.  They looked like towing company impound lots but just with old cars.  One of the places had a sign on the building that said “Mother Road Memory Iron”.  I guess it was a kind of museum but the barking & snarling dogs running around inside the 6’, barbed wire topped fence….didn’t look like an invitation to us.  So….we took some pictures OUTSIDE the fence and continued our trek East.  Soon after we left the area it began to rain off & on.  For a while the watert came down like a waterfall and that would continue for about 20 miles!

 

The barking dogs were about 155 miles behind us as we came to Groom, TX.  Linda & I had made the trip across the USA many times, usually using I-40 and somewhere between Amarillo, TX and the OK state line we saw this huge Christian cross….it had to be 200’ tall!  We had taken pictures of it as we whizzed by going across country….but never stopped to see what it was all about.  Today we would change that.  We got off I-40 in Groom and took a frontage road to get closer to the cross….and it kept getting taller!  When we finally reached the base of the cross and looked up it was just jaw dropping.  It was over 19 stories high!  The park is known as the ‘Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries’ park. The Passion Week of Jesus is depicted in life-size bronze statues and information plaques at each station.  The whole self led tour of the park is very humbling….an experience that will not be forgotten.   You can check it out in the pictures below and the link here; http://www.crossministries.net/  The day was dreary and rainy but we still had 380 miles to go for the day.  It had rained quite a bit during the weeks before to the point that water flooded areas on the side of the Interstate in places almost going over the road  As we left the Cross our trip East was quiet while we both contemplated what we had just experienced.

 

About 65 miles east of Oklahoma City, OK just a few miles off I-40 is the little town of Cromwell, OK.  When we brought Linda’s dad from AZ to our home in VA to live with us in 2001, I remember him saying something like ‘I used to live right down that road’ as we passed SR 56 in OK.  We just nodded and kept on driving.  Hank was a little out there sometimes and we thought he was in one of his special places right about then.  But after talking to him later we found out he grew up in Cromwell….right down SR 56 about 3 miles off of I-40!  Linda had wanted to visit Cromwell someday so we took a little diversion off I-40 on the way to Tahlequah today. 

 

The little sleepy town is not much more than a slow spot on the little country road.  A US Post Office, a gas station, a general store, a school and an Indian Community building was about it.  We cruised the road in the rain till we started getting ‘looks’ from people after they had watched us go by a couple times….we decided since we had seen just about everything it was time to go.  We still had 110 miles to go and dark was rapidly descending on us….we would be driving at night and in the rain.   We would end our 600 mile trek through three states in Tahlequah, OK that evening….where Linda’s people, the Cherokee, lived.  Tomorrow we would explore the Native Peoples land.