We dodged a bullet last night, Oklahoma tornados missed us but high winds tore the car cover off Aardvark. Everything inside was soaked by the torrential rain. Solution: take the top off the car, towel everything off as much as possible, sit on plastic bags to avoid the pond in the drivers seat, and hit the road! We had nothing but clear sky, extreme sun, and open roads to our next stop: Arcadia, OK, and the famous POP’S Soda Bar and Grill. POP’S sells and displays soda pop of every descripotion, from all over the USA, all in bottles. We wanted to see that tourist stop, but more importantly meet up with dear “old” friends Debbie and Albert McWhorter. They live in Norman, OK, only a few miles from POP’S, and we’d been apart for 40+ years. Connecting today was a must!
The opportunity to make fast time on the road was not wasted. Aardvark showed it’s capability as a high speed touring device, easily keeping pace with Mike’s Miata and Mitchel’s TT. We roared into POP’S right on time, and became our own little car show when Dave Peck also showed up with his cool, total custom FFR Mk3. What a great time comparing cars and stories. Debbie and Albert were the kindest, dearest folks Lynn and I ever knew…and they had not changed from that a bit in all these years. We talked and reminisced at the cars, at lunch inside the Bar and Grill, and back outside taking photos. Albert and Debbie insisted on treating us for the lunch. There was also a huge helping of ROOTBEER Bread Pudding. The visit with these precious friends had to end so we could resume our drive, but we have now plans for a reunion in the coming year. it WILL happen!
Just as we were leaving POP’S, we met Ashley, a young woman from Indiana who noticed the Colorectal Cancer Alliance QR on the side of my car. She actually donated to this charity through the QR on the spot, and wanted to tell us how important our graphics were at attracting attention for donations. What a great way to re-start our trip!
We headed west from Arcadia, spent some time sightseeing in El Reno at the Route 66 sign, then onward. LOTS of sun on the road this afternoon, so face covering was needed to avoid sunburn. We drove for several miles on some abandoned old original Route 66 pavement. It stunk: much too deteriorated and washboard/bumpy for our sports cars, so we opted to return to modern, wide, well-maintained highway travel. Ahhhhh, much better. We arrived at our motel in Weatherford, OK, in time for a nice long folding-bike ride, and internet correspondence catch-up.
Heading to Amarillo tomorrow for a possible interview for some local media coverage of the C3on66 effort, then on to Santa Rosa, NM.
