DAY 10

We got up this morning and went to our Motors to prepare them for today's ride. The sky was clear and the temperature was cool. What a great day for riding. We all packed up our Motors and then went to breakfast by the lobby. After breakfast, we all got on our Motors and rode next door to gas up at the "KUM N GO" gas station...the what??! THAT is the name of the gas station. I'm not making it up. We left at 8:00 AM and headed back to 66 with Bruce leading.

We weren't very far from the State line and at 8:19 AM and 11 miles, we were in Galena, KS. This was a great photo op location. There was a business at the corner named, "Four Women on the Route." In the parking lot was an old tow truck which anyone would recognize if they saw the movie, "Cars." The lady at the store told us that the tow truck was the model for the "Cars" tow truck, "Mater." This town was the model for part of the movie, "Cars." We took several pictures of each other with signs, walls, tow truck, and the street. We left at 8:50 AM.

Prior to arriving in Baxter Springs and only 8 miles from Galena, we came upon an old bridge at 8:19 AM. We stopped and took several photos on the bridge. We also took a group photo. We left at 8:50 AM.

We continued on 66 and soon rode into the town of Commerce, OK. Commerce is the boyhood home of the New York Yankees #7, Mickie Mantle. There were banners throughout the town.

The next town that we rode into was named Miami, OK. We rode through this town and it had the typical murals on the walls, old time single traffic lights and old buildings. We followed the signs of 66 and were in an area with a 45 mph zone and the the pavement ended. We found ourselves on 66 and it was a gravel road. There was also the original narrow, paved road complete with pot holes. We continued on the gravel and dirt for 2 miles. We finally reached paved road. The ride in the gravel road seemed like it was more that 2 miles. As we continued on the paved roadway, we all felt better and safer. We also saw a tortoise in the emergency lane. By the look of his expression, it looked as if it was waiting for us to pass so that it could dart across the street. :) A few miles further, we saw it's brother (or sister), we were going too fast to look closely and tell the difference, in the middle of our travel lane. We didn't hit it! We were very careful. This one had a scared look on its face. :)

We continued for another 52 miles from the Bridge and at 10:35 AM, we stopped for a much needed pit stop at a gas station in Vanita, OK. We all "took care of business" and bought some snacks and sat on "non vibrating seats." We left at 11:13 AM. Bruce was still leading us.

As I wrote yesterday, I had been in contact with an old friend, J.C. Allen. He had been texting me throughout the morning trying to set up a meeting place. Like I'm going to return his texting as I ride my Motor...NOT! I don't know how to text. I waited for the text that told me that he was in a town called, "Sapulpa," and would wait for us. We rode through Tulsa, OK. and then arrived in Sapulpa at 12:45 PM after going 76 miles. J.C. had texted me that he was at, "Al's Route 66 Cafe." He also texted saying that he would treat all of us for lunch. What a great place to have lunch and what a great name for a cafe! It couldn't have been better. We met J.C. at the cafe and again he told us that he would treat us to lunch. He also thanks each and every one of us for allowing him to ride with us. We thanked him for the gesture of paying for our lunch, but that we had decided that he would pick up the tab anyway! We had a very good lunch. the food was very good and plentiful. J.C. also bought me a coffee mug from the cafe with the logo of "Al's route 66 Cafe." The cup also had a brief history of Route 66 on the back of the cup. J.C. joined our group and we rode down the street for 1 mile and we all gassed up our Motors. We left at 2:17 PM.

It was Chuck's turn again to lead. We rode for 30 miles and it started raining at 2:50 PM. We were very lucky because no sooner that it started raining that we came upon the small town of Depew, OK. and it had one gas station with cover. We stopped and put our rain gear on. While we were there, we also made a pit stop. You know how hard it is to "take care of business" with rain gear on? Chuck and I looked at the map and it was decided that we would continue on 66 until we came to State Route 177, turn southbound for I-40 and then eastbound, going through Oklahoma City. Soon after leaving Depew, guess what? It stopped raining.

We rode with our rain gear and no rain for 112 miles and at 5:06 PM, we arrived at the Best Western in El Reno, OK. We checked in, got our rooms and rode our Motors to our rooms. We unloaded our Motors, put our stuff in our rooms and tucked our Motors in for the night. No sooner that we did that, we heard loud claps of thunder and the rain came down. The rain continued heavily for about 2 hours. After the rain, we walked next door to Denny's for dinner. After dinner, we returned to our rooms and secured for the night.

This was not a bad day of riding. we rode for 290 miles and got out of Missouri, Kansas and into Oklahoma. Hopefully, if the weather cooperates, we should get to Amarillo, TX. tomorrow. We started to see Armadillo road kill after entering Oklahoma. Armadillo road kill is also known as, "Texas Speed bumps." We will see what tomorrow brings. Until tomorrow...