ROUTE 66- SHAMROCK, TEXAS TO GLENRIO,NEW MEXICO

 

 

Texas has the second shortest amount of Route 66 miles after Kansas, with only 179.

Our first stop is the town of Shamrock.
Shamrock has the famous Conoco Tower gas station and cafe, built in 1939. It is now the U Drop Inn, and the inspiration of Ramones autobody shop, again from the movie CARS. Apparently Elvis also ate here at one time. It’s a very cute building, and also houses the visitor center.

Shamrock also has the Magnolia gas station.

We drove another 80 miles to Amarillo. We knew with the holiday weekend we may have a hard time finding a place so we booked 4 nights at the Amarillo KOA.
It has a pool and dog park, so we could just hang out when not out sightseeing.
It’s $41.00 with card.

After a day by the pool, we drove 55 miles to Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Canyon.
It is the second largest canyon in US after the Grand Canyon. We went on 2 hikes and had picnic lunch. It is very pretty and recommended if in the area. $5.00 per person to get in the park and dogs are allowed.

Here are some things we did in Amarillo.
Cadillac Ranch-about 12 miles west of town, in a corn field. This was fun, bring spray paint.

Historic 6th street (Route 66) -would not waste time here. Mostly biker bars, antique stores, in a run down area.
The Big Texan Steak Ranch-(where they offer free 72 oz steak, if you can eat it in an hour or less. Also must eat all the sides. 2 guys were trying it as we were there and with 30 minutes to go, they weren’t even quarter way done. Only a few ever finish).
We did however have filets and they were yummy.

Hickory Inn Cafe and Magnolia Gas Station- Vega

Our final stop in Texas and funnest was in Adrian. Here is the Midpoint of Route 66, which is marked on the highway, along with the Midpoint sign. It’s 1139 miles to Chicago and 1139 miles to Los Angeles. It also has the Midpoint Cafe, know for their
Ugly Crust pie, so of course we had to try. I had Pecan and Bob had Chocolate Cream pie, both were delicious .

Midpoint Cafe is also where Fran was the inspiration for FLO in the CARS movies.
We got to meet her and she is such a sweet lady and signed the FLO car I bought for Jaxson. She told us the story of how writers, animators, etc came to town to talk to her many different times, and it six years later when she received a call that she would be FLO in the movie. This is a definite stop on Route 66, and maybe FLO will be there when you stop.

Now it’s off to New Mexico. I’m so looking forward to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival in October. This is one of my bucket list items.