VW Road Trip
Day 4: Thursday, July 5th
Tim, John and the VW Beetle TDI departed OKC and the very nice Colcord Hotel--complete with Bulgari amenities. The Colcord takes the prize for “best water pressure” in the shower. The roads were long, the temp was hot, and the sky vast. Our Beetle was serving us well with a cool cabin and 37 mpg. We rolled into the Texas panhandle and stopped in McLean…home of The Devil’s Rope Museum, to tour the largest collection of barbed wire along with Route 66 memorabilia. Entering the dark museum we were greeted by Alta, the Asst. manager of the property. We signed the guest book on the same page of recent visitors from Kuala Lumpur, The Philippines, Paris, and New Hampshire. John questioned Alta about the guest entries and they became fast friends. Tim went to the restroom and admired the various types of wallpaper in a truck theme.
Once Tim and John reunited, Alta turned the lights on in the museum. Some of the highlights were the 48 star U.S. Flag, a whole room dedicated to how barbed wire “tamed the west,” and a showcase of Route 66 bric-a-brac. Head over to the Focus Group Radio Facebook page to see all the pics. At the museum we were sent on our way and told not to miss the original Philips 66 filling station, the worlds largest cross in the western hemisphere, and the “Leaning Water tower of Briiten named after the leaning tower of pizza which was in Britain.” We did not make this up.
Driving through Texas was what we expected. The landscape was foreign to us and neither thought they could survive in this vast land. Continuing the journey into New Mexico we finally got into cooler weather and Wile E. Coyote terrain. Headed on into a rain storm and The Beetle got a much needed de-bugging right before Santa Fe. Late afternoon and 532 miles since OKC we arrived at our listeners recommendation…The Inn of The Turquoise Bear, also known as The Witter Brynner House. After a quick shower Tim and John shared a glass of wine with a cadre of guests and the Inn Keepers Robert and Ralph. After a few stories, highlighted again by the Meramec Caverns, Tim and John headed to Guadalupe’s for dinner and rewind for the final Friday push to The Luxor Las Vegas. We have met wonderful people along the route and cannot believe it is Friday. The Beetle TDI is fueled and ready for our next leg of the journey. Photos and more at the Facebook page, Focus Group Radio.
