We spent the day on "The Mother Road", Rt. 66. We spent time on this famous byway 4 years ago and were anxious to see things we missed and find out what had changed. We took many alignments of the old road that we didn't take last time. We were not in any hurry this time, so we were able to see a lot more. We took lots of pictures of motels and other roadside attractions. We got a lot of motels that we had missed in Oklahoma last time.

We also went through the panhandle of Texas and saw a lot of neat things that we had seen before but had time to explore them more, like the U Drop Inn in Shamrock and the giant Cross in Groom. We only took a drive by shot from the freeway, last time of the cross. This time, we parked nearby and really saw the whole thing. It includes several sculptures of Christ as he carried his cross to Galgatha and then of the guards nailing him to the cross. There was also sculptures on a small hill of all three crosses with the thieves and Christ hanging from them. The whole exhibit was very moving and the sculpture was very realistic. I could really imagine that I was a ghost walking around the happenings of that day. It was a very humbling experience. Andy was also moved by the exhibit.

Texas has so many things to see when you take the old route 66 and stay off the freeway as much as possible. It's important to have a good guide with you, though, so that you don't get lost. Andy once decided to take an alignment about 20 ft from the service road alignment of 66 that we were on. It was an old concrete slab road with grassy seams. We ended up going under a lot of low hanging branches and driving over hills of old broken blacktop. After a short time, we felt that this was not a wise place to be so we took the next crossover and got back on the service road. It was quite an adventure and we did see some roadrunners, which was neat.

In Amarillo, we visited a famous roadside attraction for an early dinner- the Big Texan Steak Ranch. What a great place this was. We were not able to go last time so made it a point to go there this time. It was well worth it. This is the place that advertises a free 72oz steak (if you can eat it, a baked potato, salad, bread, vegetable, and shrimp cocktail in an hour). We felt that this would not be a wise thing for any of the Wood family to attempt, so we stuck with more traditional fare. All of which was very tasty. The Big Texan also provides much in entertainment, such as a shooting gallery, slot machines and a giant rocking chair in the lobby. They, of course, also have a gift shop- we wouldn't miss it! Outside, in the parking lot, was a small tornado museum. I really wanted to see this but it was closed and said it was only open on the weekend. There was a great twisted jeep outside, though that was destroyed by a tornado- that was cool!

After The Big Texan, we headed out of town for a Wood family Tradition- Cadillac Ranch! If you haven't heard of it, it is an art display of 10 old Cadillacs buried nose first, half way into the ground. It is also meant for people to spraypaint any way they want it, so any picture you see of it will be different than pictures from other times. We love Cadillac Ranch and brought a can of spraypaint with us to contribute to the art.

The rest of the day, we made our way to Tucumcari. This is the home of many beautiful neon signs including the ones for the Blue Swallow Motel and the Palamino Motel. As we were coming in, a vast storm came in from the northwest. We could see it from many miles away because of the flat landscape and it was very beautiful. Finally, we took lots of pictures and had a treat at Denny's before retiring for the night.