Ron Hurt Photos

Adrian, Texas, is halfway between Chicago and Los Angeles.

The MidPoint Cafe in Adrian, where I've stopped on trips to New Mexico and Colorado.  I always have a slice of coconut cream pie.

There's not much in Adrian except the cafe and these huge silos that store wheat and other grain.

We head west toward New Mexico crossing the southern end of the Great Plains.

Cadillac Ranch, near Amarillo.  The art project of a rich rancher featured  cadillacs partially buried.

The cadillacs are covered in years of spray paint as every passerby has to stop and make their mark.  Rick is adding his touch.

We pass Amarillo and drive toward Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The road runs next to the train tracks that lead to California.

CJ thought this was funny as we arrived in Albequerque, New Mexico..

We stop in Albequerque town square to eat and talk to people.  This guy told us a few "66" stories.

We are at the Route 66 Diner in Albequerque and took photos of some Korean tourists at the famous billboard.

We spend the night in Tucumcari, New Mexico, at the Safari Motel.  

The Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari , build in 1939, has been restored to the way it looked when Route 66 was a busy highway.

We crossed the Continential Divided at Fort Wingate, New Mexico.  It was cold and beginning to snow.

On our third day we leave New Mexico and drive into Arizona.

The only thing left of this little town are the remains of an old rest stop.

We occasionally pass deserted towns.  I always wonder what stories they could tell. 

A long train heads east as we drive west into Arizona.  I count almost a hundred cars.

As we drove toward Flagstaff, Arizona, we stopped to look at petrified logs at the Petrified Forest National Park.

Part of the petrified forest includes an area called the painted desert.

This multicolored landscape covered thousands of acres.

Leaving the Painted Desert we pass these telephone poles that use to mark a part of Route 66 that no longer exists.  

While traveling on Route 66 we would often see old cars and houses, left to rust and fall apart in the desert. 

Cuervo use to have schools, churches, hotels and other businesses.  When the new highway bypassed the town,  the people left and everything went to ruin.

A cholla cactus and an old railroad car at Cuervo.

As we get close to Flagstaff, we can see snow clouds in the west.

We stop to buy gas close to Flagstaff.  The attendant tells us Flagstaff has had  almost 24 inches of snow with more on the way.

We decide not to stop and head west, out of the mountains, toward Seligman, Arizona. 

We arrive at Seligman in the afternoon and take some photos.  The town,  full of Route 66 signs, is a popular stopping point for tourist who want to drive on the old highway.

I bought a shirt at the Tepee Curios.  They spell it Teepee on the side of the building.  Either spelling works for me.

Delgadillo's Snow Cap sign that has been a famus landmark for years.

Angel and Vilma Delgadillo own the barbershop and the famous Snow Cap restaurant with the Creamy Root Beer sign.  Anyone traveling through Seligman stops to say hello to Angel.

We spent then night in Seligman at the Deluxe Inn Motel.  Not sure it was deluxe, but they had hot water.

Sunset in Seligman.

Rick and CJ (leaning on the fence).

The Ranchero Motel in Kingman, Arizona, just before we pass into Nevada.

The Ramada Inn in Kingman.  We tried to name all the famous people shown on the mural.

If you've seen the movie "Cars" you'll recognize Radiator Springs.  It's actually in Williams, Arizona.

Another deserted pickup at Radiator Springs.

We arrive in Oatman, Arizona just before we reach California.  We take some photos and move on.

We pass into California and head for Los Angeles passing through the Mojave Desert.

Big rain storms in Southern California have brightened the desert.  Cholla cactus and yellow poppies.

We stop to look at the poppies which cover the land as far as we see.

The tiny ribbon of a road is old Route 66.

Finally, we arrive at the western end of Route 66 at the Santa Monica Pier park in Los Angelos.

We take a few photos, eat lunch and then leave since it's beginning to rain.  

On our way out of Los Angeles we pass the first McDonalds.  It's a museum now, but this is where it started.

Another view of the first McDonald's.

The Cucamonga Service Station, built in 1915, is in Rancho Cucamonga outside Los Angeles.

Still in California we make a quick stop at the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino.  There are many wigwam motels, but this is one of the best.

The Bottle Tree Ranch in Ora Grande, California.  Someone must have been thirsty.

Another Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona.

We head for Flagstaff but the road is closed because of heavy snow.  We have to detour to Phoenix, Arizona and after a brief stop in New Mexico we head for Texas.

We spend the night in Shamrock, Texas.  Shamrock has done a good job in renovating a lot of the older buildings on Route 66.

Built in 1936, this modern looking building had a service station and a cafe.

Another view of the service station and cafe.

Vega, Texas .

Mama Jo's in Vega.  It's really Joann Harwell who use to own the cafe in Adrian. We always stop for one of her pies.

The next day we leave Texas for Oklahoma.  Erick, Oklahoma has a Roger Miller Museum.  Maybe Roger wrote some of his songs about this place.

The Sandhill Curiosity Shop in Erick has a lot things you don't need.  But you never know when you might need a gas station sign.

Lucille's in Hydro, Oklahoma is another renovated service station.

The blue whale in Catoosa, Oklahoma, attracts a few visitors.  It's 80-feet long and was built by a man as a playground for his children. 

A cute, little church in Foyil, Oklahoma.

Totem Pole Park in Foyil was built in 1933 and has a number of concrete totems.  This is the tallest.  

Just another broken down truck on Route 66.

Our last stop on this trip was Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tulsa has more than its share of Route 66 icons.  Here's the cowboy spaceman.

A Tulsa man was the first to advocate a paved highway to make it easier and safer for people to travel in automobiles.  I wonder how many times this happened.

Tulsa again.  Needs a coat of paint.

The giant driller in Tulsa.  Rick stands by the left foot.

Another shout out to Route 66.  Of course, I photographed it from the wrong side,

After almost 5,000 miles in three weeks, we head home.  Rick drove the entire way and CJ had the GPS.  I just watched the scenery roll by.  Last photo of the trip was this Oklahoma sunset that I later realized was only a few miles from where my father was born.  Although we took hundred of photos  there's probably enough here to remind me of the trip.  We still have Missouri and Illinois to do but that's for  another day.