66

Shelton MotorSports

Finally... pics from the trip!

27 Aug 04 excerpts from a letter to some of our friends....

Hey Y'all,

Well we finally made it to California late Thursday night. It was an exciting run thru the desert after sundown, the sun was setting in the west and a 3/4 moon was rising to the east, absolutely beautiful! Finally getting settled in, and the car looked extremely happy (and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief) once we unloaded everything out of the trunk. The total trip milage was 3600, with a rough route of Tampa, Mississippi Gulf Coast, New Orleans, Pine Bluff Arkansas, Vinita Ok, Weatherford Ok, Tucumcari NM, Albuquerque NM, Flagstaff AZ, and finally Oceanside Ca. We travelled roughly 1800 miles of the 2200 miles old (sometimes very old) Route 66. We took the car places sane people wouldn't dream of taking a Crown Victoria, saw many historic places, beautiful places, and sacred and haunted places.

One memory I will share at the moment is being at Two Guns Arizona on Canyon Diablo as the sun was setting. Canyon Diablo was the setting of a few massacres of early pioneers, Apache and Navaho warriors, and numerous want-to-be gunslingers. We were walking on the very ground where folks had been murdered and slain. Where the spirits of indian warriors roamed as mountain lions, and where those mountain lions had taken their revenge on those who paid no heed or respect to the sacred grounds we were walking upon. As we carefully explored the area, there was nothing really alive there with the exception of sagebrush and small plants. The ground was dead, the air was dead (even with a constant breeze), the buildings were dead. Although the interstate was less than a mile away, the sounds of the roaring trucks and traffic passing was non existent. I told Marie nothing of the history of Two Guns and Canyon Diablo until after we had left, and she could tell that something was wrong with the place. The Apache and Navaho nations hold the land as sacred ground and believe that it is cursed and that their ancestors who were slaughtered and murdered there roam the place in the form of Mountain Lions. An unbelieving entrepreneur had once built a zoo there showing off mountain lions and indian artifacts from caves in the area, he was shortly killed by his prized captured mountain lions. His daughter tried to keep the place open, and eventually the whole place experienced an unexplained explosion. Hmmmm. As the sun was setting, we bid farewell to the spirits of the area who were not making us feel welcome and longer and went on with the rest of our journey.

It is nice to be home now. Eight days on the road was tiring yet exhilarating. Updates to the website will be coming along as I put together the approximately 400 pictures that were taken along our journey. Till then.... ride on.......

Todd and Marie

The director of Shelton MotorSports is proud to announce that the SMS Route 66 Adventure is back on in full swing. Although we will not be able to take the complete route, we will be able to take it from Oklahoma on.

Last year, I was in a rush, and was unable to take the few portions of the route that I had originally planned on, both on the trip west and the trip back east. But now.... the trip is on, and in full swing.

First a little background. I have been dreaming of traveling the Mother Road for quite a few years. I have always been fascinated by the older routes that people had to take to get places. US 1, US 17, the Old Dixie Highway, etc... But there was one that I thought to be an impossibility, and that was Route 66. I'd heard the songs, read some stories, seen a few episodes of the television show, and they all helped fuel that dream. So when the opportunity arose last year, I jumped at the chance. Things didn't quite work out the way I wanted. After a last minute schedule change when I was heading out west, the trip was cancelled.

I ended up taking the southern route of I10 through Texas. If you ever talk to anyone that I know, you would know that I dislike Texas, so I was trying to traverse it quickly when I got pulled over somewhere near Ft. Stockton. It was just me and a Suburban on my tail when Texas finest made a quick u-turn thru the median to pull me over and let the Suburban go. I remember vividly watching the patrolman approach my window thru my rearview mirror (of course I couldn't see his face), him knocking on the window for me to roll it down, and asking me why I was going so fast. I replied that there was a Suburban full of mexicans on my tail and I was trying to get some room between us, and then I asked why he didn't pull them over too? Officer Rodriquez then quickly identified himself to me and asked me to step out of my car, and then introduced me to his partner Officer Mendoza while he took my license and went back to the patrol car to check my record. I must admit that they were very cordial while they were searching my car and asking me all sorts of questions. I thought things might get better when he asked me where I was heading, and I explained that I was in the Navy and was going to California on orders. But he quickly interrupted me and told me that he was once in the Army and didn't much care for military folks. Sigh... at least I didn't tell them I had a bunch of doughnuts and burritos in the trunk, that might have been bad. That was also about the time that Officer Mendoza heard on the radio from the patrol car that my license didn't exist, he became a bit more aware of his surrounding about then and made sure of the exact location of his revolver by putting his hand on it. After a half hour or so, things got sorted out, and they sent me on my way with a nice little souvenir from Texas, a speeding ticket for doing 89 in a 75. Is it any wonder why I'm not fond of Texas?

When it was time to head back east, I was in a rush to get to Albuquerque and bypassed much of what I wanted to see (although the reason to get to Albuquerque quickly was a very good one, and one that I will never regret, or forget). After Albuquerque, I was able to venture on part of the Mother Road (see the SMS Magical Mystery Tour page), but I let other things get in the way of my dream, and I was mainly going off of clouded memories of where I was supposed to go and what I was supposed to see since I had left all my resources back east. So I spent the last year with regrets about not being able to see the road.

A few months ago, I decided that when I headed back out west this time, I would do the trip that I had originally planned. That I would take the time to see the places I had whizzed by on I40, or read about, and dreamed about. That I would stop in Two Guns Arizona and wonder why nobody has ever been able to keep anything running there. That I would lean upon the arrows at Twin Arrows. That I would stand on a corner in Winslow Arizona, and of course you can't forget Winona. One more stop at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian Texas is in order (they were so nice there). Glenrio Texas, Lucille's in Hydro Oklahoma, Roy's Diner at Amboy in the Mojave Desert in California. I want to stop at the Arizona-California border and imagine what it was like when the Okie's were trying to get to the California dream. I want to sleep in room shaped like a tee-pee, I want to stop overnight in Tucamari. See the Grand Canyon again. And most importantly of all, I want to make the left turn in Albuquerque this time (the right turn sucked).

So if you are out on Route 66 come August, and you see a blue Ford cruising kind of slow, with a guy in a black Stetson, a cute little red-head riding shotgun, and a rubber duck wearing shades sitting on the dash, that will be us. Say hi and share a road story or two, it's all part of the adventure of the road, and of life. See y'all soon....

ROUTE 66
(Bobby Troup)

Well if you ever plan to motor west
Just take my way that's the highway that's the best
Get your kicks on Route 66

Well it winds from Chicago to L.A.
More than 2000 miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route 66

Well goes from St. Louie down to Missouri
Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty
You'll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona don't forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino

Would you get hip to this kindly tip
And go take that California trip
Get your kicks on Route 66

Well goes from St. Louie down to Missouri
Oklahoma city looks oh so pretty
You'll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona don't forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino

Would you get hip to this kindly tip
And go take that California trip
Get your kicks on Route 66