We made it!  The whole 6 weeks…September 28 to November 8, 2021.  We’re already looking back with fondness to our trip out west and Nebraska but here are a few of my favorites which may vary a bit from those Carl picked (which I have not looked at).  

Here’s my list of Favorites:

Favorite Restaurant - Turquoise Room at La Posada

Favorite Diner - Robert’s for their “Smashburger” despite the wobbly, threadbare stools

Favorite Luxury hotel - Hotel del Coronado and the Oceana tie, but the Coronado beats out due to the environs outside of the hotel

Favorite Quirky hotel - Blue Swallow Motel…most gracious owners relocated from Chicago…felt like they welcomed us into their living room (plus I got to use their laundry)

Favorite Hotel staff - The Oceana

Favorite Visual scene - the view of the Yosemite Upper Falls from our bedroom window

Favorite Obscura - Red Oak, the whole community 

Favorite Athletic moment - well it wasn’t bowling…probably walking backwards back up the trail in Yosemite after seeing a black bear on the trail 

Favorite New Experience - going up in a glider

Favorite State - Oklahoma 

Favorite Surprise -

Favorite Most spiritual inducing scene - The Painted Desert 

Favorite Museum - Will Rogers homestead and the ranch

Favorite Paid entertainment - Oklahoma State University Rodeo 

Favorite Most weird - Branson’s Main Street

Favorite Stranger met - Roller Derby clerk at the Giant Rocking Chair Canteen

Favorite Highway/road - the part of Route 66 that is known as the “sidewalk” road

Favorite Natural wonder - Yosemite but almost a tie with the Grand Canyon 

Favorite Freebie - The practice session of musicians at Red Oak

Favorite Music - the concert by the Folklore Legacy Trio in Bartlesville

Favorite Water Tower - Hot and Cold Water Towers in Saint Clair, MO

Favorite “Big” thing - the giant at the Oklahoma State Fair

Favorite Route 66 fun thing - the Blue Whale

Favorite Native American thing - the Osage Trail Legacy story, book and visitor center

Favorite Animal interaction - kinda the black bear that surprised us on the trail, mostly the buffalo at Buffalo Ranch and at Woolaroc

Favorite Cemetery - surprisingly, the Richard and Pat Nixon tombstones at his presidential library.  After all he had done in his life and had gone through, he and his wife are sheltered in a sedate, respectable burial plot in a beautiful setting 

Favorite Art - the Price Tower in Bartlesville that was created by Frank Lloyd Wright as well as the surrounding grounds

Favorite Statue - Mickey Mantle in Commerce, OK

Favorite “New” food - Moink Balls at the Oklahoma State Fair 

Favorite  Ice cream - still Ted Drewes…too hard to beat!

Favorite Harvey House - La Posada…It is so easy visualizing people arriving on the train and resting at the hotel

Favorite Iconic Route 66 motel - Blue Swallow Motel

Favorite Route 66 town - Red Oak

Favorite Breakfast - best biscuits and gravy with diced apples on top

Favorite Historical Stop/Park - Polson Cemetery with graves of Stan Wattie