Day 10: Wednesday across to Arkansas

We thought today would be the boring day where the main aim would to be to head east as far as possible. Turned out to be anything but boring.

An hour east of McLean, Texan we stopped in Elk City, Oklahoma. A coffee shop was recommended by a lady at the National Route 66 Museum, so we headed there before returning to the museum. We’re starting to learn. Don’t ask for a coffee. You’ll get a disgusting brew too strong filter coffee. What you need is a specialty coffee shop. They’re fancy because they serve lattes and cappuccinos. And the staff generally don’t understand why you don’t want a flavoured syrup added to the coffee.

 

This specialty coffee shop, ‘Beyond the Palette’, was superb. The staff, and then the other customers, were fascinated by us. Everyone was so friendly. We’re now into the land of fantastic accents. We loved theirs, so they probably found ours equally interesting. The owner of the cafe had been to Santa Fe once and seen the ocean twice! She was in the 50s. No wonder she found us interesting. After a ‘medium’ coffee that was far too big to drink we headed back to the Route 66 museum. Every town has a Route 66 museum, but Trip Advisor said this was the best. It was. 16 buildings filled with everything from cars and bikes to spanners and barbed wire! There was also a short documentary about the history of the route.

Next stop was Braums, an ice cream and burger chain, for lunch (this is the first burger I’ve had!), before hitting the road to get some miles behind us. Across Oklahoma was flat with not a lot to see. The original plan was to stop in Oklahoma City, but we’re learning that smaller towns are easier and much more interesting. So here we are in Fort Smith, just over the Arkansas border. Starting to lose track of states now. 9th state now. Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas added since the last time I did a stocktake.

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5 Responses to Day 10: Wednesday across to Arkansas

  1. Richard Montgomery says:

    Y’all fetching to make Memphis?

  2. Steve Fargie says:

    Gee this must be such an eye opener for Lachlan and Lauren especially when they speak to all these natives in the American heartland. It goes to show that the lower 48 States can be a mixed banner of oddities, therefore making up the real experience of being in the United States of America……glad your enjoying it 🇺🇸

  3. Laurinda says:

    Well, you will choose to stay in accommodation incorporating the adjective ‘cactus’! I’m enjoying all the photos though the pace is making my head spin. And seriously … one burger in 10 days? Now that you’ve figured out how to get a decent coffee, I’m curious to know if the states you’re flying through accept a smoothie is made with milk – but given the general scarcity of milk you’ve encountered, I’m guessing not.

    • cjhunter2540 says:

      Just because we’ve worked out how to get a good coffee doesn’t mean we can do it. Knowing how to and actually doing it turn out to be very different things. Lauren’s had a few good frappe’s, so I guess theres milk around – they just don’t like giving it to you in coffee. Lachlan had an iced coffee yesterday. It was ice and black coffee.

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