Day 33 - Shamrock TX to Clinton OK

My ride today was chilly in the morning again (about 40°F) with a slight headwind. Here is a typical farm house I passed.

It is amazing how much trash you see as a cyclist even in this wide open agricultural area.

The plastic fiber tangle in this picture is from the nylon webbing wrap that many use on their hay bales. I saw many such tangles along the roads.

Here is a nice view down old Route 66 from the top of a rise.

And the scenery looking out to the right as well.

These old trees were probably around when Route 66 was first built.

Just a pretty view of very green agriculture off to the side.

The Tumbleweed Diner was quite an interesting place.

Masel the owner is an artist and sells her paintings there.

She has a collection of many different paper currencies.

She serves a variety of food.

This was originally a general store and she keeps up that tradition as well.

Here is Masel looking over some mail from a Canadian who wrote a book and included her cafe in it.

Here is Masel and me.

After some apple pie I headed back out on Route 66.

My next food stop was in Sayer.

But I stopped at the library first to check it out.

Many folks in this town have chairs set out so they can sit and watch the world go by.

The Sonic burger place has a classic drive up where you order and they bring food out to your car.

I chose to eat instead at the 4th Street Diner, a new place the librarian told me about and which did not yet show up on Google maps.

I had their lunch special that day -- chicken fried steak with gravy, lots of gravy.

Most of old Route 66 I rode today had very few cars on it -- like a car every 10 miles or so. As a result, most of this part of Route 66 was like a very large bike path. 

Other parts of Route 66 put me on the business loop for Interstate 40 which has a bit more traffic but usually wide shoulders.

In Elk City I saw the biggest Route 66 sign there is.

Most of the roads in Oklahoma and Texas did not have regular names but were just numbered.

Some stretches of Route 66 had these very annoying cracks in them - one big crack every 15 feet or so which caused a pair of nice thumps as I crossed each -- thump/thump, thump/thump, thump/thump...

Canute had a knight standing guard.

Canute also had some very informative and interesting granite signs documenting local history.

I had a great if long ride today (85 miles with mostly side winds). Lots of gently rolling landscape, farm animals, and other sights. It was nice to ride on a road that meandered through the country side -- within striking distance of Interstate 40 but often far enough away to minimize traffic noise.