Today was the longest day of my Route 66 Trip. I started before sunup at 5:45 A.M. in New Mexico, drove the entire width of Arizona, and ended the day in California at sundown. In between, I spent some time Standin' On the Corner in Winslow, AZ, visited the Meteor Crater 20 miles west of Winslow, didn't forget Winona, ate a late breakfast in Flagstaff, played the most enjoyable round of the trip at Elephant Rocks Golf Course in Williams, and drove 159 miles of one of the nicest stretches of the entire Mother Road from just west of Williams to Topock near the California border.

I was out of the Hotel el Rancho by 5:45 to begin a long day on Route 66. I gassed up the first time in Gallup, NM and drove 22 miles to the Arizona border.

You can't miss the Yellowhorse souvenir stand. It is right on the border and there are countless signs advertising the place leading up to it.

Driving Route 66 in eastern Arizona often requires significant stretches of driving on I-40 because what remains of the old road is no longer driveable.

As I made my way to Winslow, AZ, I passed through Holbrook, AZ and saw an interesting mural on the side of Joe & Aggies Cafe. A few miles down the road, I saw the Wigwam Hotel in Holbrook. It is one of two left on Route 66. I will be staying in the one in San Bernardino, CA on Monday evening.

I was certainly interested in making my way to the "Standin' On the Corner" artwork at the corner of Kinsey and 2nd that pays homage to the classic Eagle's song "Take It Easy." It was pretty easy to find. When I got out of the car (and it was only 7:00 A.M.), Hotel California was playing. There is a statue of a man standing on the corner and there is a mural on the building behind it showing a reflection in a window of a girl in a flat bed Ford. Across the street is a pub or restaurant called "Take It Easy." Of course I used it as a photo op for the Mustang. 

My next stop was going to be breakfast in Flagstaff, AZ. But I kept seeing signs for the Meteor Crater and I had read about it Route 66 guides. It is six miles south of Route 66 but thought it was worth a stop.

The crater is too large to get a good photo from the observation decks. The crater was caused by a meteor traveling around 26,000 mph some 50,000 years ago. Its size is estimated at 150 feet across and weighed several hundred thousand tons.

The crater is 700 feet deep and 4000 feet across and pushed the surrounding ground around it up 150 feet. Pretty amazing and I'm glad I made the side trip.

Just for the record, on my way to Flagstaff, I didn't forget Winona (although there is nothing there).

I bought gas a second time in Flagstaff before my next stop at Miz Zip's. It's a diner that belongs on Route 66. It has been a staple in the city of Flagstaff since the 1950's. The restaurant is famous for its burgers and its pies.

Since I was there for breakfast, I didn't try either a burger or the pie. I had a very good bacon and cheese omelet with a side of hash browns and was capably served by Moe.

I was at the diner about an hour earlier than I had planned. I simply forgot that Arizona's time does not change like most of the rest of the nation and gained an hour when I crossed into Arizona.

So I did what I always do on my trips. I drove to Elephant Rocks Golf Course in Williams, AZ and tried to have my 11:30 tee time moved up.

Lucky for me, they were able to accommodate my request and paired me with a couple from Maricopa, AZ, Stan and Missy. We teed off around 11:00 A.M.

We had a blast!

Elephant Rocks Golf Course was originally a nine hole course built in 1920. It had sand greens up through 1990 when Gary Panks was hired to redesign the nine. He did such a fine job he was brought back in 2000 to design a second nine.

The course is in beautiful shape even though it gets a great deal of play. It was really crowded and it took us nearly five hours to play. There are considerable changes in elevation and the last three holes are as good as any three finishing holes on Route 66.

The ancient volcano rocks in the shape of elephants guard the entrance to the course and give the course its name.

Missy and Stan were both very good golfers. In fact, they met on a golf course. Missy was a blackjack dealer at the Flamingo in Las Vegas and Stan and a friend were paired with her. Missy likes to bet and Stan won $35 from her that day (which he insists she never paid). They were married less than a half year later.

We started talking about our careers and I learned Stan's dad had worked for IBM and that Stan grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, once a hotbed of IBM manufacturing. I also learned Stan has the exact same ancestry as I do (Polish and Slovenian). No wonder we had such a good time.

Missy grew up in Chicago, worked at a casino in Joliet, IL and moved to Las Vegas when the Bellagio was being built. She can play golf and even birdied the second hole. And Stan had two birdies.

Their home course is Duke at Rancho Eldorado near one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses, Southern Dunes.

Elephant Rocks came through with a logo ball so the count now stands at twenty-three for thirty-four.

It was beginning to rain when I left the course. I was facing about an 180 mile drive to Needles, CA and drove through rain for the initial 15 miles. From Williams, Route 66 is both on and off I-40 until Exit 139 when it becomes the best section of road I've driven since I started. There are about 159 miles of the road which ends in Topock near the California border.

I bought gas for the third time in Kingman. The final 48 miles are white knuckle driving with many hairpin turns, steep inclines and downhill drops. I was going to eat at the Oatman Hotel and Cafe but it was getting late and I needed to get to the hotel in Needles so I skipped dinner.

From Topock, I drove on I-40 over the Colorado River and through the California Inspection Station before leaving I-40 about 5 miles into California. Needles is about 15 miles into California.

Tomorrow will be three rounds of desert golf beginning at 5:45 A.M.: eighteen holes at Rivers Edge Golf Course in Needles, nine holes at Tees and Trees Golf Course in Barstow and eighteen holes at Green Tree Golf Course in Victorville. I will end the day at the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino, another 235 miles down Route 66.

The forecast high for tomorrow is 108. But it's a dry heat.

Day 16: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-16-45-holes-in-the-california-desert-and-a-mustang-that-beats-the-heat.html

With my round of golf at the Albuquerque Country Club scheduled for mid-afternoon, I spent the morning relaxing with a breakfast at the Standard Diner two miles from the golf course. Fortunately, I was able to move the round to mid-morning and was back on the Mother Road by 1:30. I was apprehensive about what the Mustang would deliver mechanically but during the 137 mile trip to the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, NM, it was spinning like a top the whole way.

I had a late breakfast (for me) at the Standard Diner in downtown Albuquerque. Although this version of the restaurant was established in 2006, it goes back to the late 1930's. This is another Route 66 establishment that has been featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives."

As usual, I had a basic breakfast.

From the diner, I drove directly to the Albuquerque Country Club to check on the possibility of moving my tee time from 2:30 to an earlier time. I understand how busy private courses get on Friday afternoon which might lead to a very long round for me and a very late arrival in Gallup, NM.

My timing could not have been better. Golf Professional Jim Davison asked me how soon I could be ready to go and I was on the first tee by 10:30.

The Albuquerque Country Club is unique. There is not a single water hazard on the entire course. It is not ultra-long so its only defense is the trees that line every single hole. It is a dead flat course near Old Town Albuquerque.

One of the things I really like about the course is the lack of cart paths. Cart paths exist only around the tees and greens. There are signs of heat damage on the course. I'm sure it is due to the "magnifying glass effect" when the sun burns down through puddles of rain after a storm.

Albuquerque is considered high desert with high temperatures and low humidity so I thought the course would be dry and hard. But the course was way more soft than I thought it would be so there wasn't much roll on drives. I noticed fairways were being watered throughout the day.

Although it was in the mid-90's, there was a nice breeze and lots of shade so heat was not an issue.

I played behind a twosome the first nine and after they quit at the turn, played through one other twosome on the 13th tee and was off the course by 1:15.


I was able to secure a logo ball so the count now stands at twenty-two for thirty-three. 

It was a little tricky navigating out of Albuquerque and trying to stay on Route 66. And of course, I was anxious to see how the Mustang was going to do on the open road.

So as soon as I could, I got on I-40 and brought the car up to speed. No issues! What a relief!!

I got off I-40 at the first exit and tried to find Route 66 again. But I got on the East Marginal Road instead of the West and drove 7 miles out of my way towards the Albuquerque Landfill before turning around and correcting my mistake.

The drive to Gallup consists of both Interstate driving and the old Mother Road driving. I stopped in Budville to snap a picture of an old business that is no more, the Budville Trading Company.

The next town I passed through was the small village of Cubero. One of the myths of Route 66 is that Ernest Hemingway wrote "The Old Man and the Sea" in an old cafe in the town. Nobody really knows for sure.

About 25 miles from Gallup is the Continental Divide which is the point at which water either flows into the Pacific Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.  My altimeter showed the height at 7254 feet. One sign said 7245 feet and the other sign said 7275 feet. It is also reported this is the highest point on Route 66. But on the way to Santa Fe yesterday, the elevation climbs over 7500 feet.

There was a horrific accident on I-40 that had eastbound traffic backed up for miles. As I was driving on Route 66 parallel to I-40, I noticed traffic on Route 66 was heavy. Then it hit me that traffic was being re-routed onto Route 66.

My hotel for the night is a Route 66 landmark established in 1937. The Hotel el Rancho was once the premier hotel in the entire Southwest and became the playground of celebrities who were filming in the area. There is a collage of photographs of all the celebrities who stayed at the hotel while making Westerns during the late 1930's and 1940's. The hotel touts itself as "The Home of the Movie Stars." Rooms are named for the celebrities who stayed in them. Here's a short list of the some of the stars who stayed at the hotel: Doris Day, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Mitchum, Errol Flynn, William

Holden, Troy Donahue, John Wayne, W.C. Fields, Jackie Cooper, Jane Wyman, Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Stewart, Alan Ladd, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Gene Autry, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth. There is a Ronald Reagan Suite where both the Ronald Reagan and Paul McCartney have stayed.

I was hoping I'd be in the John Wayne room or even the Jimmy Stewart room. I am in the Jane Wyman room. Interestingly, the room right next door is the Ronald Reagan suite. Of course, Jane Wyman was Ronnie's first wife. I looked for a passage between the two rooms but couldn't find one.

There is also a very good restaurant attached to the motel where I had a good catfish dinner.

So that brings the New Mexico piece of the trip to a close. I've now played 33 of the 44 courses on the list and have five more days to play the final eleven courses.

Tomorrow I'll be on the road by 6:00 A.M. for a 128 mile drive to Winslow, AZ to "stand on the corner." Then it's another 55 miles into Flagstaff for breakfast at Miz Zip's. 43 miles later, I'll be in Williams, AZ for a round of golf at Elephant Rocks Golf Course, the only Arizona course on Route 66. Finally, I'll travel 142 miles for dinner at the Oatman Hotel Restaurant & Saloon before driving 23 miles to my motel in Needles, CA. That's a 390 mile trip, the most ambitious one-day drive of this adventure.

Day 15: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-15-standin-on-the-corner-elephant-rocks-and-california-here-i-come.html

Today was the biggest driving day of the trip so far with 320 miles into the heights of Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM. I started the day early with a photo op at the geographical midpoint of Route 66 in Adrian, TX, just 14 miles west of the motel. Another 120 miles later, I was in Santa Rosa, NM for a round at the nine hole Tres Lagunas Golf Course. Then 104, mostly uphill miles to Santa Fe for a round at the nine hole Quail Run Golf Course and finally, 70 miles to Albuquerque ending at the Monterey Motel. As the drive came to an end, there was an issue with the Mustang transmission that may be related to overheating/vapor lock causing the engine to be starved for gas as it comes up to speed.

Since my tee time in Santa Rosa, NM was at 7:15 A.M., I had to get the day started early. I left the motel before 6:00 A.M. knowing I would gain an hour driving into Mountain Standard Time.

Just 14 miles to the west of my motel is the Midpoint Cafe and a Midpoint Marker across Route 66. It was still dark when I parked to take a picture, the sun just trying to peak above the horizon. The midpoint is said to be exactly 1139 miles from Chicago and 1139 miles from Los Angeles.

Five miles later, it was necessary to enter I-40 since Route 66 is no longer accessible from I-40 Exit 18 to the border town of Glenrio, TX.

I got off at the Glenrio exit hoping to rejoin Route 66. I found a ghost town that was once a bustling border town. You can see what the interstate did to Glenrio.

I drove past the remains and soon hit "dirt 66". Not wanting to drive on gravel, I turned around and re-entered I-40. Once into New Mexico, I traveled on both the north and south I-40 Frontage roads, the old Route 66, passing through the town of San Jon and into 

Tucumcari where I snapped a picture of the famous Blue Swallow Motel. Looks like a good place to spend the night!

It is necessary to use I-40 for significant stretches through New Mexico as the remains of old Route 66 are not always driveable.

Out of Tucumcari, I drove about 18 miles on I-40 before using both the north and south Frontage roads to make my way into Santa Rosa where I would be playing the nine hole city course.

When I got to the course, I discovered it was actually named Tres Lagunas Golf Course. Russell Sanford, the Course Superintendent told me it takes its name from the three lagoons that are on the property, originally installed by the railroad to power the old steam locomotives.

When I was planning the trip, I spoke to Russell on the phone and he indicated New Mexico had been experiencing drought conditions and the fairways were not in good shape.

So my expectations were pre-set. There was nobody at the course when I arrived even though the pro shop was unlocked. I stopped in, got a scorecard, put my bag on my back and headed out to the first tee.

The course apparently has not been measured by golf companies such as Sky Caddie so it was a good old fashioned round of golf with no measuring devices. There were 100, 150, and 200 yard markers but that was it.

As Russell had forewarned me, the fairways were burned out but the course had received rain in the recent past as the ground was soft. The teeing areas and green complexes were plush although the greens had not been mowed for a few days and were covered with morning dew. So the speed of these greens were a big contrast to the greens I putted yesterday at Amarillo Country Club.

After I finished the second hole, Russell met me at the third tee. He apologized that the greens had not been cut but both of his greens mowers were down. He had been out to borrow a mower from a local business.

Even given the above, it was a most enjoyable round in the cool, humid air, carrying the bag for nine holes.

Tres Lagunas has no logo balls although Russell told me he has discussed it with the city. He hopes to have logo balls in the future. So the count now stands at twenty-one for thirty-one.

I left the course with my next stop Joseph's Bar and Grill in Santa Rosa. But I played so quickly, the restaurant was not yet open so I moved on down the Mother Road.

There are two basic Route 66 paths through New Mexico (an oversimplification as there are many remnants that can or maybe can't be used). One track parallels I-40 (or more accurately, I-40 parallels Route 66) to Albuquerque. The other route, known as the pre-1937 route (or the Santa Fe Loop) begins about 19 miles west of Santa Rosa at I-40 Exit 256 and goes north up through Santa Fe before turning south down to Albuquerque.

Since there is one Route 66 course on the Santa Fe Loop, that's the route I had to take. On the way from Santa Rosa, you are on a steady climb into the high plains. As I drove toward Santa Fe, I watched the altimeter on my Garmin register over 7500 feet around the little town of Glorietta.

Soon I was at Quail Run Golf Club, a private nine hole course that is an amenity of the residential community surrounding it.

Zach in the Pro Shop set me up with a cart and I was off. Quail Run is a good test of golf with five par 3's (two over 190 yards), three par 4's, and a 515 yard par 5. Drives generally have to thread a narrow chute. The course is in good shape and it was fairly empty when I played. It didn't hit me until I was playing the eighth hole that the ball flies about 10% farther at 7500 feet above sea level. That's why my irons were going so deep into the greens.

Quail Run was out of logo balls so the final count for the day is twenty-one for thirty-two. Not good.

I left Quail Run and started the 70 mile trip to my motel in Albuquerque. Route 66 overlays the El Camino Real for most of the way to Albuquerque and goes dead through the heart of Santa Fe. I did my best to follow the route but did make a few wrong turns.

The same thing happened to me when I neared Albuquerque. My motel, the Monterey Non-Smokers Motel, is on Central Avenue, the main artery through town. Central Avenue cuts right through the campus of the University of New Mexico and is very congested.

It was in the mid to upper 90's and I was a little concerned about vapor lock with the temperature under the hood so hot and no air flowing around the radiator. As I entered Albuquerque, I started experiencing some problems with the transmission and I am hopeful they will clear up with a cooling system that isn't fighting such temperature extremes.

I am thrilled with the motel. It is clean, has every amenity you could want, and the parking spot is right outside the room. Two packages of Belvita cookies are provided in the room. And the Albuquerque Country Club, my sole course for tomorrow, is directly behind the motel.

The motel was built in the late 1930's and has been owned for the past 18 years by Henry and Bo Elencwajg. We struck up a conversation about our Polish ancestry.

Henry could not have been any nicer. He took the time to explain that Albuquerque's Old Town is no more than seven minutes walking from the motel. He got out a map of Old Town and provided some restaurant recommendations.

Route 66 is directly astride Old Town. It is anchored by the 223 year old San Felipe de Neri Church. The church is surrounded by a tree lined courtyard and many restaurants and shops. Henry stressed the fact that it is very safe to walk to Old Town, even later in the night. The area was full of shoppers and diners.

After I settled into my room and showered, I walked over to Old Town, ending up at Hacienda del Rio Restaurant where I had an authentic Mexican dinner and, of course, an IPA. And I was even able to complete a bit more of my gift shopping.

Tomorrow is a light day with only a 2:30 round at the Albuquerque Country Club. So I have some time to kill tomorrow morning. The later round means I will not arrive at my next motel in Gallup, NM at the Arizona border until 9:00 P.M. or so. So while the morning is laid back, the evening will be tough.

And the wildcard is the Mustang transmission. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Stay tuned.

Day 14: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-14-last-round-in-new-mexico-a-classic-hotel-in-gallup-and-a-mustang-spinning-like-a-top.html

I left the motel at 6:00 A.M to drive the 28 miles to Elk City for breakfast. And the photo ops just kept on coming. After breakfast, I drove 18 miles to play the Sayre Golf Course and bring the Oklahoma slice of the trip to a close. After the round, I set out on the 136 mile trip to Amarillo, TX to play the Amarillo Country Club. As I neared the course, the skies darkened and I was in a thunderstorm as I entered the gate and golfers were being pulled off the course. After a brief delay, play continued and I successfully completed the 30th round of the trip. On the 32 mile drive to the motel, I made a stop at the much ballyhooed Cadillac Ranch.

I wasn't two minutes down the road this morning when I saw a golf course that wasn't on my list. No problem though; it was a miniature golf course in Clinton, OK.

I planned to drive a little this morning before I ate breakfast in Elk City, OK. The morning was clear and the sky blue. The first town I passed through was Canute and I was drawn to a sign at the Cotton Boll Motel, shut down long ago.

As I drove into Elk City, I saw a huge oil rig and as it turns out, when built in the 1960's, it was the biggest oil rig in the world. The rig was shipped to Elk City from Oklahoma City where it was being stored. It was rebuilt in Elk City on a vacant lot. The rig is seventeen stories high and sits next to the Andarko Basin Museum of Natural History.

Breakfast was at the Home Cooking Cafe. Just about as soon as I sat down, Max, a local in his sixties started chit-chatting with me about the economy, local politics and national politics. We were both capably waited on by our server Janice. 

Upon leaving, I still had an 18 mile drive to Sayre, OK for my last round in Oklahoma. On the way out of Elk City, I spotted a huge Route 66 sign outside the National Route 66 Museum.

Sayre is quite a town! It is the hometown of Roger Miller (of King of the Road fame) and Sheb Wooley (of Purple People Eater fame). Both have highways named for them west of town. On the east end of town, I spotted the Western Motel sign. I'm sure it looks great when the neon is lit at night.

I arrived at the course around 8:30 and was the first person there. By 8:45, three other golfers had arrived and told me they'd be opening the shop by 9:15 or so. We chatted about my car and my Route 66 trip. They told me the grounds crew could get me a cart as soon as the gate was unlocked.

I met Brad Spitzer who seems to be quite a jack of all trades for the city. Because the current course manager is down with a bad back, he has taken it upon himself to oversee the maintenance of the course and dutifully mows the greens every day not to mention dealing with insects and fungi that comes with the territory.

Brad is also the Co-Publisher and General Manager of the local newspaper, The Record-Democrat. He could not have been nicer to me! He gave me his personal golf cart, explained the nuances of the course, stopped and visited with me as my round proceeded and even took my picture.

He told me about the signature hole, number five, where you can see the Sayre Courthouse in the background. The Sayre Courthouse gained notoriety when it was briefly shown in the old movie, "The Grapes of Wrath."

I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the brief time I spent on the golf course and especially the hospitality shown to me by Brad.

No logo balls were to be found at Sayre Golf Course so the trip count now stands at twenty for twenty-nine.

I left the Sayre Golf Course to begin the 136 mile drive to Amarillo where I would be playing the Amarillo Country Club.

After driving 22 miles and passing through the towns of Hext, Erick and Texola, I was at the Texas border. I was about to begin a less exciting piece of the trip.

Route 66 through Texas is two lanes most of the way and nearly every section of the road is a frontage road right next to I-40, either on the north side or the south side. You'll be driving 60 mph on Route 66 right next to vehicles on I-40 that are going 75 mph. Every now and then, you'll pass under or over I-40 to the other side. Periodically, you'll slow down through a town, some very tiny.

One of the towns I passed through was Shamrock. There is a recently restored U-Drop Inn/Conoco Gas Station on the main corner. A piece of history. Directly to the east of this beautiful restoration in the same parking lot is a Tesla Charging Station. I love the irony--old meets new.

As I neared Amarillo for a 2:00 tee time, I noticed the skies darkening to the west. "Here we go again," I thought. Sure enough, when I was about 5 miles from the course, the skies opened up. I drove through rain until I reached the course and it was just drizzling.

All the golfers had been pulled off the course because of the lightning threat. I hung around until the all clear signal was given and was allowed to tee off on the back nine and play the front nine as my second nine.

What a great course! I mentioned the greens at the Clinton Riverside Golf Course in yesterday's post as being the best on the trip. The Amarillo greens are among the best I've ever putted, stimping at about 13 and as smooth as a pool table. I loved putting those greens! The course is a good test but certainly not a killer. Except for a few water hazards and the out of bounds markers, there wasn't much trouble.

I scored a logo ball and the end of the day tally stands at twenty-one for thirty.

I thanked Head Professional Dell Wood for hosting me and I set out on the 32 mile trip to Vega, TX where I would be eating dinner and checking into a hotel.

But just outside Amarillo and just south of Route 66 is the Cadillac Ranch. It's not really a ranch but a sculpture about 1000 feet off the road in a farm field that was funded by a local eccentric millionaire. There are 10 Cadillacs representing the evolution of the tailfins of the Cadillac from the 1949 to the 1963 model buried nose first in the ground at an angle mimicking the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

The place was packed with people, most of them armed with cans of spray paint even though the ground was muddy from the recent rain. Grafitti is encouraged.

I was looking forward to eating dinner at the Boot Hill Saloon & Grill in Vega, TX but when I got there, it appeared to be out of business or undergoing a remodeling.

Disappointed, I checked into the Bonanza Motel right next door and settled for fast food.

As I was checking in, a man walked across the parking lot and asked me if I remembered three motorcyclists I had passed on Route 66 yesterday. I mentioned this in yesterday's post. They recognized my car. There are two friendly men and a woman from Holland who have 38 days to make their way across Route 66 by motorcycle. Amazing.

Tomorrow is a heavy travel day. Just 14 miles from here is the official midpoint in miles of Route 66. In all, I'll move another 330 miles down the Mother Road and play two nine hole courses, one in Santa Rosa, NM and the other in Santa Fe, NM before making my way to Albuquerque where I'll spend the night.

Day 13: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-13-two-nine-hole-courses-and-a-mustang-mechanical-issue.html

A severe thunderstorm hit the Oklahoma City area around 8:00 P.M. Monday evening. The weather service was calling for two to three inches of rain. That much rain would probably put a damper on my morning round at SilverHorn in Oklahoma City. Luckily, when I left the motel at 6:00 A.M., the parking lot was dry although it had obviously rained. So I played SilverHorn with no issues and set out on a 31 mile drive to El Reno for lunch at Roberts Grill, snapping a few pictures along the way. I then traveled another 58 miles down the road to play Riverside Golf Course in Clinton, OK. Finally, I checked into a chain motel and then found a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

I arrived at SilverHorn Golf Club and quickly checked in at the Pro Shop. There were a dozen or so golfers waiting to tee off but I had the first tee time at 6:30 A.M. Early in the round, it was cart paths only but the course was not soggy. The ground soaked all the rain up like a sponge.

It was, however, extremely humid. About the only issue I had on the front nine was looking for my ball in a sand bunker that was filled with water. Luckily, I found it beyond the bunker.

When I made the turn in a little over an hour, there was a twosome on the tenth hole. That's one of my pet peeves--making good time because of the first tee time of the day and then finding golfers on the back nine to slow you down. I was able to play through them on the eleventh tee.

When I completed my round, there were a dozen or so children on the putting green getting ready for Juniors Day. Always a good sight!

On the logo ball front, SilverHorn came through and the count stands at nineteen for twenty-seven.

I left the course and began the tough navigation of Route 66 through Oklahoma City. Big cities are always tough because there are so many turns through usually old, narrow neighborhoods. But when I made the turn onto N. Lincoln Blvd, the Oklahoma State Capitol came into view in the distance.

On the way to El Reno, I passed through the towns of Warr Acres and Bethany and as I drove into Yukon, I saw a huge grain elevator on the left. As I left Yukon, the skies opened and I drove through a torrential downpour for fifteen minutes.

Finally in El Reno, I stopped at Roberts Grill for lunch. Directly behind my parked car was a railroad track and I later found out El Reno is the only town in Oklahoma that still has an active street car in its downtown. El Reno also gained notoriety in 2013 when multiple tornadoes ripped through the city, taking the lives of several storm chasers.

Roberts Grill is a basic hamburger joint with lots of character.

The only seating is bar stools at the counter overlooking the grill. Ed Graham has owned the restaurant for 27 years. He began working at the restaurant at age 12 and ten years later, became the owner.

The place was half full when I sat down on a stool and it was apparent it's a favorite spot of the locals.

Ed made me a cheeseburger and fries which I washed down with a root beer.

Before I left, Ed insisted I try a sample of his chili and also a slaw that he uses on many of his offerings. Of course, I am no slaw fan but did not want to be rude so I tried a bite. Won't be having that again!

I had a 58 mile drive before me to Clinton, OK. Route 66 on this stretch is concrete with beveled curbs, somewhat narrow with many asphalt patches. It is a bumpy ride in places. I passed through Fort Reno and Calumet and then came upon an awesome bridge over the South Canadian River. This bridge was built over an eleven month period in 1932/33. It consists of 38 small trusses (called pony trusses) and is 3394.33 feet long according to the plaque on the bridge.

Further down the road, I passed three motorcycles, certainly Route 66 tourists and all waived. I passed through the towns of Bridgeport and Hydro and came upon a vacant but restored gas station. It was built by Lucille Harmon and she ran it until her death in 2000. It's now owned and preserved by the owner of a modern Lucille's Roadhouse in Weatherford, OK just a little to the west.

I don't want to take this tourist thing too far but I found myself spending thirty minutes or so in the Cherokee Trading Post a I neared Clinton looking for souvenirs for the family.

Riverside Golf Course was the most pleasant surprise of my trip. I've played hundreds of golf courses in small towns over the years and generally, they are average to below average. Riverside was the exception.

Built in 1956 and since tweaked, it has the best greens of the 28 courses I've played on my trip to this point. And in this hot climate, they are bent grass greens! It is not a long course and the fairways are pretty wide.

Although it was still fairly humid, the sky was overcast which kept the temperature in check. I teed off around 1:30 and there was a spattering of twosomes throughout the course.

As I came to the fourth tee, I noticed a feature I haven't seen before on any golf course. The cart path was squeezed between the tee and a railroad track. I mean really close. I can only assume the rail traffic on this spur is minimal.

Riverside was well stocked with logo balls and the end of the day tally is twenty for twenty-eight.

I had dinner at the Picante Grille on Route 66 in Clinton, right next door to my motel. There's nothing special about this restaurant's history on Route 66 but the food was good.

Tomorrow morning, I'll travel 45 miles to Sayre, OK where I will close out the Oklahoma portion of my trip at the nine hole Sayre Municipal Golf Course. Then I will make a 136 mile drive to Amarillo, TX to play the only Route 66 course in Texas, the Amarillo Country Club. I'll end the day another 32 miles down the road at the Bonanza Motel in Vega, TX.

When the day ends, I'll have 30 courses and five states down with 14 courses and three states left.

Day 12: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-12-two-more-courses-two-more-states-and-more-rain.html

Today was a pretty quiet day on Route 66. I started at 7:00 A.M. with a breakfast at the Prairie Rose Grille in Chelsea, traveled 65 miles and through Tulsa to play Sapulpa Golf Course in Sapulpa, OK, moved 40 more miles down the road to eat lunch at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, OK and then another 62 miles to Oklahoma City to play the nine hole Links of Oklahoma City course. The hotel I booked did not have a laundry facility so I had to do some last minute fiddling around to find another hotel but I was able to complete my laundry.

I was at the Prairie Rose Grille when it opened at 7:00 A.M. Like the previous two days, I was able to get ice at the restaurant. Michelle was running the place and I had another basic breakfast.

I was on the road to Sapulpa before 7:30.

On the way to Sapulpa, I drove through periodic thunderstorms. One of the photos I wanted to capture was of Route 66's famous Blue Whale in Catoosa, OK. You can't check out any book about Route 66 that doesn't mention the Blue Whale. The short story about the Blue Whale is that a man named Hugh Davis built it in the early 1970's as a surprise gift to his wife who collected whale figurines. When many of the locals began using the pond as a swimming hole, Davis upgraded the property by adding truckloads of sand, picnic tables and even lifeguards. After he and his wife passed away, the park fell into a state of disrepair. Eventually the citizens of Catoosa and employees of a local Hampton Inn gave it a new coat of paint and saved the Blue Whale and it is now an official Route 66 Landmark.

The Sapulpa Golf Course sign should have given me an idea about the course I was about to play. I actually had to straighten the letters before I took the picture.

I was told in the Pro Shop that I might have to play through a five-some that teed off just before me. No problem but that was an understatement. I caught the five-some on the par 3 second tee and although they let me play through, I don't think they liked it. I caught a second five-some on the fourth tee and rather than let me play through, they told me to play holes six through nine and then come back and play four and five. Pretty rude. That put me in a sour mood for the rest of the round and you know what kind of golf you play when you're not in a happy place.

The only good news is that Sapulpa had logo balls and moved the count on the trip to eighteen for twenty five.

My next stop would be the Rock Cafe in Stroud, OK. The restaurant takes its name from the sandstone used in its construction. The original owner paid $100 for the land on which the building stands and $5 for the sandstone mined locally in Kellyville. It opened for business in 1939 and was a popular stop on the road. For many years, it was open 24 hours a day.

When I-44 bypassed the city of Stroud, business suffered and then a tornado hit Stroud in 2001 wiping out a Tanger Outlet Mall and the local economy took a bigger hit. Through it all, the Rock Cafe hung on. In 2001, the Rock Cafe was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And then a fire extensively damaged the building in 2008.

But after extensive repairs with the help of an historic preservationist, it reopened in 2009 and has since been featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

One other note. The current owner, Dawn Welch, is the basis for the animated character Sally Carrera in the Disney/Pixar movie "Cars." Sally is the Radiator Springs' town attorney and Lightning McQueen's girlfriend in the movie.

After a burger and a beer, I set out on the 62 mile drive to Oklahoma City.

As I neared Oklahoma City, I noticed a cool Round Barn on the right side of the road in near Arcadia, OK. The barn, the only true round barn in America, was built by local farmer William Odor in 1898 using bur oak boards soaked while still green and forced into curves. I'll bet that was a tedious process!

At one time, the barn was the most photographed landmark on Route 66. When I-44 moved travelers off Route 66, it lost its luster and the roof eventually collapsed in 1988. But thanks to the efforts of a group of preservationists, the barn was saved and reopened for tourists in 1992. 

Nearing Oklahoma City, traffic through Edmund, OK was bumper to bumper. A bank sign showed a temperature of 95.

I was at the nine hole Links of Oklahoma City by 2:30. The course is a part of an apartment complex, the apartments all on the perimeter of the course. I played in a little over an hour. Although only a par 30, this course is tough! There were four par threes of over 190 yards.

No logo balls at The Links so the tally after Day 10 is eighteen for twenty-six.

I left the course and headed for the Baymont Inn and Suites. When I checked in, I found out the hotel had no guest laundry facilities. I wasn't too happy about this. So I simply went across the parking lot to a Fairfield Inn and Suites and was given a room less than ten feet from the guest laundry facilities.

All's well that ends well.

As I write, Oklahoma City is being pummelled by a severe thunderstorm. The forecast calls for a rain amount of two to three inches and rain is also forecast for the morning hours. The Silverhorn Golf Course is only five miles from the hotel so that could impact tomorrow's schedule. After the round at Silverhorn, I'll travel 89 miles to Clinton, OK to play the Riverside Golf Course in Clinton where I will also spend the night.

Day 11: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-11-more-rain-36-holes-and-a-little-sight-seeing-in-oklahoma.html

It was another good day on Route 66. Temperatures soared into the low 100's in the afternoon and there was a little gasoline mishap as a result. 

After a pancake breakfast at the Pancake Hut, I played Carthage Golf Course before traveling 18 miles to Joplin to play Schifferdecker Golf Course. And that brought the Missouri leg of the trip to an end. Enroute to the Baxter Springs Country Club in Baxter Springs, I made a stop at Cars on the Route, a little Gift Shop/Hamburger Stand that was the inspiration for the goofy tow truck in the movie "Cars," Tow-Mater. I made some new friends at the stop.

After playing Baxter Springs Country Club, the 13.2 mile stretch of Kansas is also in the books.

Since I completed all 45 holes of golf today by 2:30, I decided to drive a little further down Route 66 to spend the night. It was a good decision as I am staying at the Chelsea Motor Inn, I nice little small hotel undergoing restoration in the town of Chelsea, OK. 

The Pancake Hut is in Carthage, MO, less than 500 feet from the Boots Court Motel. I was there when it opened at 5:30 A.M. and was capably served by Edie and cook Kaylene. Just like yesterday, nobody was at the Boots Court office so early in the morning and ice was not available at the motel.

I asked Kaylene if I could buy some ice but she cheerfully offered to fill my small cooler to the top. 

I had the first tee time, 6:30 A.M. and was at the Carthage Golf Course plenty of time before the Pro Shop was open. With the temperatures expected to soar, there were many people waiting to tee off along with me.

I was so impressed with the Carthage Golf Course. Built in 1937, it is a hilly course with a wide variety of holes, uphill, downhill, doglegs left and right, and a pesky creek that cuts back and forth through the back nine. The greens were excellent but the rough was tall and many times, the ball just settled all the way to the ground making it difficult to locate.

Good news on the logo ball front. The ball from Carthage takes the count to fifteen for twenty-two. And with the completion of this round, from a golf course standpoint, the trip is halfway over. From a mileage standpoint, not so much.

I was off the course by 8:30. On my way out of town, I discovered the Drive-In Theater I was told about the previous evening.

The drive to Joplin is only 18 miles but consists of many turns through the small towns of Brooklyn Heights, Carterville and Webb City.

I tried my best to follow the route but often discovered I had missed a turn or turned too quickly.

Even with all the confusion, I was at Schifferdecker Golf Course before 9:30.

My original tee time at Schifferdecker was 10:45. When I checked in, I was greeted by Schifferdecker employees Rita Moore and Vic Watson (who said he's a better putter than his older brother Tom Watson...I think he was kidding). We chatted about my trip and they showed quite a bit of interest.

Vic asked if I wanted to tee off immediately and so I was on the course by 9:40. I played through a foursome, a twosome and a threesome and completed the round by noon.

Schifferdecker is quite a bit easier than Carthage Golf Course but still makes good use of the changes in elevation. It's a well-maintained course owned by the city of Joplin.

When I returned to the Pro Shop at the end of the round, Rita had already checked out the Mustang and checked out this blog. She took the time to give me a tour of their clubhouse along with historical facts about the golf course which was built in 1922. She mentioned that Baxter Springs, my next stop, is the home of professional golfer Hale Irwin. He is also in the Joplin Hall of Fame.

Schifferdecker also came through with a logo ball and the count moved to sixteen for twenty-three.

As I waited on the fourth tee at Schifferdecker, I noticed a carved stone of Will Rogers off the course. I took the time to examine it. It commemorates Route 66, also known as the Will Rogers Highway. Joplin is close to the Kansas border and it wasn't long before I saw the first Kansas Route 66 sign.

Six miles from the golf course is the little town of Galena. During my research for the trip, I discovered a little hamburger stand that was the inspiration for the character Tow-Mater in Disney/Pixar's animated movie "Cars." I love that movie and with two grandchildren in their early second decade, I watched it many, many times in the mid-2000's. The building itself is also in the movie along with the garage across the street.

Linda was running the establishment and she filled me in on many of the details. She has lived in Galena her entire life in the very same house.

While in the restaurant,  I struck up a conversation with fellow "route-takers" Andy, Allison and daughter Keri from Naperville, IL. Andy asked if he could examine the mustang and Allison took a picture of Keri sitting in the driver's seat. This family is serious about Route 66 and is in the process of exploring every leg of the Mother Road as a multi-year project.

My next stop was another 10 miles down the road from Cars on the Route. Baxter Springs is the town where professional golfer Hale Irwin grew up and the road to Baxter Springs Country Club has been named after him.

Baxter Springs is a nine-hole course and is the same kind of facility that exists in Carlinville and Staunton, IL-a clubhouse with a swimming pool and a nine hole golf course.

I will say that Baxter Springs does not measure up in maintenance of the course like Carlinville Country Club and Staunton Country Club.

I got stuck behind a foursome and waited quite a bit until they waived me through on the seventh tee. It was the hottest weather I've played in on the trip, 103 degrees.

Baxter Springs made it three for three on the day for logo balls and the tally now stands at seventeen for twenty-four.

I mentioned a few days ago the periscope I discovered off the second tee at the Cuba Lakes Golf Course. I received an interesting note from Randy Wolff, current owner of Birch Creek Golf Course in Union, MO and previous owner of Cuba Lakes Golf Course. He provided a little background on that periscope as follows: "I was pleased to see my old periscope at Cuba Lakes. I built that periscope in about 1989 or 1990. I am not surprised it needs maintenance at its age. It is actually Periscope II. It replaced the first one I built shortly after buying Cuba Lakes in 1983. The first was made from wood and the woodpeckers rendered it useless after about 5 years. That PVC periscope may be the most enduring piece of my tenure at Cuba Lakes."

So after I completed the first hole at Schifferdecker, I made a turn toward the second tee and what did I see? Only the fourth periscope of all my golf travels! I was thrilled. Hole 2 has a landing area that can't be seen from the tee and the periscope eliminates the issue.

And then unbelievably, as I moved toward my 45th hole of the day, the ninth hole at Baxter Springs, I saw yet another periscope!! So that makes three since Friday. The periscope at Baxter Springs is extremely tall, perhaps 40 feet and was donated to the course by Eagle-Picher Industries. Check out the pictures below.

I left Baxter Springs at around 3:00 P.M. and was quickly in Oklahoma. My destination was Afton, OK where I had planned to stay at the Route 66 Motel. Since it would be quite a while before sunset, I decided to make a change in plans and travel a little further down the road today and sleep in a little longer tomorrow morning.

Since I would be eating breakfast in Chelsea, I decided to see if I could find lodging in Chelsea. Chelsea is another 32 miles down the road from Afton.

On the way, I drove through several little towns like Quapaw, Miami and Narcissa and two towns just a little larger like Commerce and Vinita.

When I drove into Commerce, I couldn't resist taking a picture for all my New York Yankee friends as Commerce is the hometown of Mickey Mantle.

I love throwing them a bone.

As I neared Chelsea, I was looking for the Chelsea Motor Inn, a motel given a shout out by Jerry McClanahan, whose book, "EZ66 Guide for Travelers" is the bible for people traversing the Mother Road and one that I am using to help me navigate.

When I saw the sign, I pulled into the parking lot but there was a sign in the office window that read "Sorry We're Closed." So I began to pull out when a gentleman came out of Room #4 and motioned me back. The man was Frank Jugler who, along with wife Trudy, are restoring the motel. He wanted to see the Mustang. We chatted for awhile and he said there is definitely a room for me at the motel. Frank and Trudy are restoring the six rooms of the small motel and giving them themes. My room  (#5) has a Route 66 theme, is spacious, has new bathroom fixtures and everything a traveler could possibly want. And it feels brand new! Each room has murals painted on the walls.

The Chelsea Motor Inn gets a big thumbs up from the Logo Ball Traveler.

Around 6:30 this evening, there was a knock on my door. I had returned about 30 minutes earlier from the gas station where I checked the fluid levels and filled up with gas for tomorrow.

Remember, it was over 100 degrees out today.

Frank told me he smelled gas and looked at my vehicle and gas was pouring out from the gas cap. The cold gas from the tank underground expanded greatly in the hot air and I needed to take a little trip to use up some of the gas. Frank got some rags and I attempted to wipe up the spillage and only succeeded in rubbing the paint off the car under the gas cap.

Oh well, just one more thing to address when I return to Fort Wayne.

The trip I took was to a trestle bridge on Route 66 built by the Oklahoma State Highway Commission in 1926.

From Oklahoma through Arizona, driving will be the focus over golf. There are only ten golf courses in the next four states and over 1350 miles. Contrast this to the 24 courses I played in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas while traveling perhaps 800 miles. It will take me six days to play the ten courses in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

Tomorrow morning I'll be playing the public course in Sapulpa, OK and then end the day by playing the Links Golf Club in Oklahoma City while traveling a little over 170 miles. And tomorrow is laundry day.

Day 10: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-10-a-light-day-in-northeast-oklahoma.html

The day started on a down note. I was concerned. I intended to leave the Munger Moss Motel at 5:40 A.M. to get a bite to eat at Faye's Diner in Lebanon, MO. before heading out to play golf. Parking at the Munger Moss was conveniently outside the door of the room and it was still pitch black outside. I wanted to make the loading of the vehicle easier so I unlocked the right door, then the trunk and, not thinking, shoved the trunk key into the driver's side door.

Bad idea. It stuck. I could not get it out. I wiggled it every which way. My fingers got sore. I retrieved a pair of pliers from the trunk and began to wiggle the key and tried to force it out. Nothing was working.

I had visions of driving all the way to California with a trunk key sticking out of the door lock cylinder. And of course, what an inconvenience, always having to unlock and lock the vehicle by leaning across the console. But the biggest problem was the trunk if the second trunk key could not be found. I didn't dare shut the trunk until I found that key. I wouldn't see my golf clubs again on the trip.

I took a break and loaded the entire car. I was falling behind time and I had to extricate that key. And I said my best prayer. I tried the wiggling the key again and must have moved the innards of the cylinder because the key came loose. Prayer answered.

What a relief! I tested both the door and trunk keys and was good to go.

So I finally made it to Faye's Diner, had a good basic breakfast and drove 28 miles to play Whispering Oaks Golf Club in Marshfield, MO. I took a leisurely 32 mile drive through Springfield, MO to Deer Lake Golf Course. Then I spent the next two hours enjoying the sites of Route 66 as I covered the 52 miles to Carthage, MO where I ate a late lunch at Whistler's Drive-Up, checked into the Boots Court Motel and then finally gave my vehicle a well-deserved wash. 

I was pretty stressed out by the time I got to Faye's Diner, just five minutes from the Munger Moss Motel. I was the first car in the parking lot and when I walked in the door, there was no sign of activity. I noticed fans running in the kitchen and called out, scaring the cook, server and chief bottle washer Rachel.

We chatted a bit and I asked her if I could fill my cooler with ice. Good old Ramona at Munger Moss guards her ice voraciously and she is the only person who can fill up the small room containers. The office was closed when I left and ice was necessary given the forecast high of 97.

So Rachel filled the cooler, took my order, quickly served me, and I was on my way.

As usual, when I arrived at Whispering Oaks Golf Club, I was the first vehicle in the parking lot. I waited fifteen minutes for Brandon, the Pro Shop Manager, to arrive.

Whispering Oaks Golf Club in Marshfield, MO has recently had an ownership change and is in the process of rebranding itself. Formerly known as Marshfield Golf Course, Brandon told me they do not yet have logo balls with the new logo. So the logo ball count is now thirteen for twenty.

The course was in very good shape and like many courses on this trip, the rough is tall so that it can better survive the extreme heat.

While playing the course, every time I gripped the club, I felt a soreness in my fingers from wiggling that trunk key. And I relived my horror until the feeling in my fingers subsided.

I completed the first round of the day in less than two hours and was on Route 66 on my way to Springfield, MO for round two.

One note about Marshfield. It is the boyhood home of Dr. Edwin Hubble of Hubble Telescope fame and one of the crossroads was named for him. There is a quarter scale replica of the telescope in the town square that weighs 1200 lbs.

On the way, I stopped to take a picture of the Rest Haven Court sign and as I was snapping pictures, a car pulled in behind me and the couple did the same. They were from South America and there was a bit of a language barrier but he did communicate he liked my car.

It was pretty hot by the time I arrived at Deer Lake Golf Course. I checked in and was pleased to find a good supply of logo balls so the count at the end of the day is fourteen for twenty-one.

I played as a single behind many groups of golfers and the round proceeded at a snail's pace.

The first eleven holes at Deer Lake are north of I-44. After completing the eleventh hole, golfers take a tunnel under the interstate to play holes twelve through sixteen on the south side. And then it's back under the interstate.

Let me say this about the tunnel. It is narrow and low and dark. I did not think my the golf cart (no, I did not carry my clubs in the heat) would make it without scuffing the sides or the roof. I thought to myself, "why would the builders of this course build a tunnel so narrow?"

On the twelfth tee, I was joined by a single, William Martinez. William is a member at Deer Lake and it was nice to get his perspective on the remaining holes. William works at the French's Mustard Plant in Springfield which supplies French's Mustard all over the world.

When we completed the sixteenth hole, it was through the tunnel under the interstate again. I made a comment about the size of the tunnel and William proceeded to tell me the tunnel pre-dates the golf course. It was put in place for the farmer whose cows grazed in the pasture on the other side of the interstate. That it just fits modern day golf carts is amazing.

Now all I had left was a 52 mile drive to Carthage for the night's lodging. I took advantage of the time I had available and stopped several times along Route 66 for photos. No detailed maps are necessary as Route 66 is pretty straightforward from Springfield to Carthage.

Along the way, I stopped at a replica of an old gas station and garage in Paris Springs. I met George who is the the boyfriend of the creator's daughter. He told me he and his girlfriend are now the overseers of the replica. Just down the road, there is a restored set of buildings that are all that remains of the little town of Spencer. 

There are parts of Route 66 that are two-lane divided highways with a speed limit of 65. And there are other places where the road is narrow with cracks filled with weeds. The road in front of the ghost town of Spencer is like this.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I lost the "running mustang" emblem on the front right fender of my car. It evidently was not attached well enough to withstand the rigors of Route 66 and wiggled itself loose. I knew the road might be tough on the old girl but who needs a car that stays in the garage? I'm sure there will be more rough roads and further damage but it's nothing that can't be fixed upon return. 

When I arrived in Carthage, my first stop was Whistler's Drive-Up, a tiny little building that serves scrumptious burgers with various meat toppings like ham and bacon. Nola was my server and cook and explained the choices. I opted for a triple cheeseburger (the patties are 2 oz.) with a root beer.

Just two tenths of a mile down the road was my lodging for the night, the Boots Court Motel, recently renamed the Boots Motel. The motel was built in 1939 by Arthur Boots. It is a famous Art-Deco-Streamline Modern building that was saved from demolition by two sisters who are in the process of a restoration that will take it back to its heyday in the late 1940's.

I was greeted by Debbie Dee, who couldn't be more engaging. She had just returned from a Route 66 event in Germany of all places. She is a walking encyclopedia of the town of Carthage and is quite knowledgeable about Route 66. She gave me the background on the motel and encouraged me to get a picture of the recently restored neon on the main building. The neon fabricator used the old neon glass (that survived) to fashion the new exact match.

Like the sign says (see below)  "A Radio in "Every Room" (but no TV). You know, I kind of like it. I am staying in the detached annex part of the complex that has five rooms. The spacious room is beautifully restored with wood floors, french lace ceilings and walls and completed with simple furnishings.

Another cool feature are the carports between rooms in the main building. I was given one of the carports for my stay.

When you drive Route 66, be sure to make this a stop.

One of the landmarks in the city of Carthage is the Jasper County Courthouse. This building is the second most photographed landmark in the state of Missouri behind the Arch in St. Louis. As beautiful as it is, it is undergoing a renovation now.

It is said this courthouse was the inspiration for the clock tower scene in the movie "Back to the Future."

So it was a busy day on Route 66 and surely ended better than it started. Although I will only be traveling about 65 miles down the road tomorrow, I will complete the Missouri portion of Route 66 with golf at Carthage Golf Course in Carthage and Schifferdecker Golf Course in Joplin before moving into Kansas to play the nine hole Baxter Springs Golf & Country Club in Baxter Springs, KS. With only 12 miles of Route 66 in Kansas, I will end the day in Afton, OK. More tomorrow.

Day 9: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-9-missouri-and-kansas-in-the-books-two-more-periscopes-and-a-good-change-change-in-plans.html

The weather was most cooperative today. The skies were covered with clouds until I walked off my third golf course of the day and when the sun came out, so did the heat.

I began the day with a good breakfast at a typical Route 66 diner in Sullivan, MO before heading out to Sullivan Country Club. After a quick round, I took a leisurely 21 mile drive down Route 66 to Cuba, MO where I spent some time checking out the sites before playing the nine hole Cuba Lakes Country Club. The nine hole Miner Course at Missouri S&T College in Rolla, MO was next after 26 more miles down Route 66. Finally I drove 72 miles to Lebanon, MO where I am staying at one of the most iconic Route 66 motels, The Munger Moss Motel. Dinner was at Gary Dowd's Catfish and BBQ restaurant.

The Du Kum Inn Restaurant was only a tenth of a mile from my motel and I started the day with a basic breakfast and coffee.

Sullivan Country Club was a mere five minutes from the restaurant and as I sat in the parking lot waiting for the pro shop to open, another golfer pulled into the parking lot.

Brad Struttmann and his family were camping at Meramec State Park just a few miles from Sullivan Country Club and Brad got up early to get in a round of golf.

We made small talk and hit a few putts on the practice green until Sullivan's Director of Golf, Myles Beckett, arrived to open up the Pro Shop. I was dismayed to find out Sullivan CC was out of logo golf balls but Myles told me he would spend some time looking for one.

Brad and I headed out to the first tee and although Brad had only played five rounds of golf in 2016, it was evident he had game.

As we made our was around the course, I learned Brad is a supervisor at the Callaway County Nuclear Plant near Jefferson City, MO where he has worked for close to thirty years. And then Brad shared his one claim to fame. He was a teammate of John Daly in the early 80's on the golf team at Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City, MO. Brad shared they won the Missouri State Golf Championship in 1983. He said the Helias Golf Team was already very good when they found out a new kid (I think he was a sophomore) was joining the team. He remembers the first time they saw Daly play, he topped his drive off the first tee

Nearing the ninth green, we noticed it was Junior Golfer day at the course. We found out there were 26 little golfers on the course that day. Now that's a way to grow the game.

During the round, Myles came out to the course and handed me a logo golf ball that he had found in his office. So that took the logo ball count on the trip to eleven for seventeen.

Brad and I completed the round and as he headed back to Meramec State Park, I began a leisurely journey to Cuba, MO.

Missouri is every bit as good as Illinois in marking the Route 66 route. I had little trouble following the Mother Road. About eight miles down the road, I noticed a big tower lurking over the city of Bourbon. I couldn't resist pulling alongside the road and taking a picture. What do you think is inside that tower?

As I drove into Cuba, I noticed the city is known as the Route 66 Mural City as there are twelve murals spread out across the town. The first one I saw was above Cuba's Newspaper Building. It depicts the time in 1948 when Academy Award actress Bette Davis and her husband arrived in Cuba in a Packard station wagon at the Southern Hotel. A newspaper reporter asked for a picture and when he was refused, he snapped one anyway. He was chased by Davis' husband but got away and the photo appeared in the Cuba News and Review.

The golf course in Cuba is the only one on my trip that isn't actually on Route 66 but it's one I always wanted to play in honor of a town which has done a fabulous job of embracing its position on Route 66.

The course has quite an interesting history. Owner Brad Voss shared that William Recklein, a successful banker and veteran of the Spanish-American War from St. Louis bought a farm a mile or so south of Cuba in 1906. He and his wife built a beautiful home that has exchanged hands a few times and now serves as the clubhouse and restaurant.

The well-manicured nine hole course has two lakes and many tree-lined fairways. Although Cuba Lakes was out of logo balls, Brad's wife Renee had told him I was coming and Brad very generously gave me on older version of Cuba Lakes' logo ball. So now the tally stands at twelve for eighteen.

I have always been interested in golf course periscopes. Periscopes are used on golf courses when there is a blind tee shot so that the golfers teeing off do not inadvertently hit into the group ahead. Some courses have bells that the golfers in the group ahead ring when they are out of range.

I've only seen a couple of periscopes in all my travels and interestingly, one of them is at the sixth tee of my home course, Coyote Creek, in Fort Wayne, IN.

Yesterday when I was talking to Randy Wolff at Birch Creek, he told me about the periscope at the tee of the second hole and Brad reminded me about it again today. I tried to use it and it does work although it could use some maintenance.

One of the stories I plan on doing in the future is on periscopes at golf courses. If you know of any throughout the United States, get in touch with me so I can add them to my list.

After the round, I drove back into Cuba where I did some more exploring. One of the special old motels on Route 66 is the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba that dates back to 1934. It has been totally renovated and has beautiful stand-alone motel rooms on the property and the remnants of an old Standard Oil gas station.

Upon leaving Cuba, I continued my leisurely drive through Fanning, Rosati, and Dillon before arriving at the nine hole Missouri S&T Minor Golf Course in Rolla.

The greens at the course are well manicured but I guess you can say most of the rest of the course is some sort of creeping grass that is kept very high off the fairways. It was tough finding the ball when out of the fairway.

The course had a stack of logo balls at the counter and the total at the end of today is thirteen for nineteen.

My longest drive of the day was the 72 mile jaunt from Rolla to Lebanon where I would be staying at the famous Munger Moss Motel with a slogan of "Your Home Away From Home."

The Motel was built in 1946 by a married couple, Nellie Munger and Emmitt Moss. In 1971, it was purchased by Bob and Ramona Lehman who moved to Lebanon from Northeast Iowa and raised their family on the property.

Ramona was there to greet me when I checked in late afternoon. The rooms are simple but have everything you need and the price is right. Each room has a theme and has been personally decorated by Ramona.

The neon sign in front of the motel received a cost share grant and the Neon Heritage Preservation Committee, the Route 66 Association of Missouri and the National Park Service all helped restore the sign which was officially re-lit in November, 2010.

There are also two interesting sign sculptures on the property depicting miles and direction of cities and key spots on Route 66.

I asked Ramona for a dinner suggestion and she recommended Gary Dowd's Catfish and BBQ restaurant. I had a plate of spicy fried catfish along with hush puppies and a brew. Excellent!

Tomorrow will take me another 115 miles down Route 66 where I'll end up at the Boots Court Motel in Carthage, MO. Along the way I'll play Whispering Oaks Golf Club in Marshfield (this is the course that does not have tee times on the weekends) and Deer Lake Golf Course in Springfield, MO. Stay tuned.

Day 8: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-8-a-bad-start-to-a-very-good-day.html

The good news of the day was NO RAIN! But the rain of the past four days was still doling out punishment. With a cloudless sky, the sun did an amazing job of pulling all that water into the atmosphere and it was humid!! The high today was 97.

On the positive side, apparently Missouri golfers don't like playing golf during heat advisories. I played both The Country Club at The Legends and Birch Creek Golf Club very quickly because the courses were virtually empty. Including lunch at the Lewis Cafe, I was at the hotel by 3:00 P.M. today.

I left the motel this morning at 6:30 and was at The Legends in Eureka, MO in plenty of time for my 7:00 A.M. tee time. The Legends is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design with many well-positioned sand bunkers.

Being the first golfer out on the course, I had to contend with the grounds crew for most of the two-plus hour round. There were people setting new pins, mowing greens, raking traps, mowing tees, mowing fringe, mowing fairways...you get the picture. Many of the greens I putted were laden with dew as they had yet to be mowed. It's not a big deal but it is something that comes with securing the first tee time of the day. And with all the water from the dew, the shoes become caked with grass clippings.

The Legends came through with a logo ball and now the tally is nine for fifteen.

Since I was off the course a little after 9:00 A.M. and my tee time at Birch Creek was in the afternoon, I decided to try to find a breakfast spot along Route 66.

Although Missouri isn't quite up to the Illinois standard of marking the route, I am beginning to notice more and more signs.

I started the morning drive near Six Flags Amusement Park in Eureka and was soon in Pacific, MO. One of the things I've noticed as I drive is the railroad tracks that seem to parallel Route 66 no matter where you are.

In Pacific, I drove past what looked like a promising breakfast spot and quickly turned around. I walked into Monroe's Diner (at least I thought it was Monroe's Diner) and found out it had been vacant for some time and had just been purchased by the people with whom I spoke. They plan on renaming the place but will hang the sign by the road inside the diner.

It's sad to see as you drive along Route 66 how many businesses and even towns have been displaced by the interstate highway system, passed by in the name of progress.

As it turned out, I couldn't find a place to eat and was nearing Birch Creek Golf Club so I decided to see if I could move my tee time up. When I drove up to a parking lot with few vehicles, I knew I was in business.

Susan Wolff greeted me at the counter. We had spoken about my adventure a few weeks back when I made the tee time. Before I headed out to the course, she introduced me to her husband, Randy who was the designer of Birch Creek Golf Club and owns it along with Susan. He gave me some quick instructions including what to look out for and asked me to stop in before I left.

Holy cow! The course was way better than I expected. In Golf Digest's old one through five star rating scale, I give Birch Creek a solid four stars. And it is right next to I-44 (Route 66 parallels I-44 for many miles). So if you are passing through Missouri just west of St. Louis, give Birch Creek a try.

Even with the recent hot and dry weather followed by four days of rain, the greens were nearly flawless. And the fairways are Zoysia. If you've ever played golf on Zoysia grass, you know how perfect your lies are.

Again, I have to thank the Missouri golfers who called into Birch Creek to cancel their rounds today because of the heat advisory. They presented me the opportunity to get an earlier tee time on a nearly empty course.

Randy has an interesting story. I asked him how he got into the golf business. He told me he got tired of the cubicle he sat in for five years. He saw a tiny little ad in the paper thirty or so years ago advertising a golf course for sale in Cuba, MO (he showed me the framed copy of the ad). He purchased the course, lived with his family above the pro shop for five years, made major improvements including a fairway irrigation system and tees for a second nine (Cuba Lakes is a nine hole course you play twice for an eighteen hole round) and ran the course for sixteen years.

In the early 2000's, he sold Cuba Lakes and purchased the land for Birch Creek along with some additional acreage.

Randy told me at one time he had aspirations to become an architect. Well he certainly fulfilled that dream. He's a golf course architect. Very cool story.

Once again, I left with a logo ball and the count at the end of the day is ten for sixteen.

Well now I was really hungry. I had read about the Lewis Cafe in St. Clair, MO while completing my research for the trip. I would be passing through St. Clair on my way to Sullivan where I would be spending the night.

The Lewis Cafe was established in 1938 by Virgil Lewis and is still run by later generations of Virgil. All the beef they serve in the restaurant is home grown and processed right at the Lewis Cafe.

I had a good old lunch plate of home grown roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy along with a green bean/new potato mix.

That meal is just what I needed and it's still sticking to my ribs.

Tomorrow I'll be moving another 120 miles down Route 66. After a round of golf at the Sullivan Country Club, I'll drive 21 miles to Cuba, MO where I'll play the nine hole course Randy Wolff owned for sixteen years, Cuba Lakes. Next, I'll move 26 more miles to the west where I'll play the nine hole Missouri S&T Golf Course. Finally, I'll drive 72 miles to Lebanon, MO where I'll spend the night at the Munger Moss Motel (my home away from home on Route 66 as the slogan says). More on this tomorrow.

Day 7: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-7-a-round-with-john-dalys-teammate-something-in-the-water-and-an-iconic-motel.html