The Benz speaks... This was a hot day! Temperature in afternoon around 35 degrees, Celsius, remember I'm German. So around 95 degrees F. But I was able to keep my cool as long as Julie and Mark don't demand full air conditioning power all of the time. Mark replaced a muffler hanger early in the day; he had brought along a spare. And all of us love how smooth the driveline is running. I just wish he'd sent that driveshaft out for precise balancing years ago. Humans can be so silly.
Now Mark: We meandered along old Route 66 today coming west out of Joplin. It is amazing how narrow the roadway is and how there's often NO shoulder. Chicago to California on that road. In Oklahoma there's lots of distance where the old road is parallel to I-40 so some of the time we were seeing the old road but travelling on I-40 at higher speed. I did a lot of the driving today by miles count but Julie drove nearly all of the distance in Kansas on the old Mother Road and she finished the day as we came into Shamrock, TX. We've really enjoyed see how the terrain has changed and it's especially notable how the green of Missouri and Arkansas has given way to the browner landscape across Oklahoma and now into Texas.
Do you notice how travels can be punctuated by memorable foods and dining experiences?! Here's our memory for the day. Clinton, Texas: Cherokee Restaurant. I'd seen the billboards for buffalo steaks and I started salivating for a savory buffalo steak, not a buffalo burger but the real steak. So, guess where we stopped for dinner? 12 oz sirloin, Oklahoma grown Bison bison more commonly known as buffalo. It was delicious. The flavor is different from beef. Julie and I split that for dinner then we had a cinnamon roll, home baked by the mother and sister of our server. Superb. I'll always remember Clinton TX by the bison steak and cinnamon roll!
Julie: A few of my highlights for the day were eating breakfast in Joplin with my friend MacKenszee (who I met at MSA), watching wind turbines outside of Weatherford, OK, the amazing cinnamon roll, and seeing fireworks driving into Shamrock, TX. We've completed 849 miles by the end of Day 2! So far 17 mpg has been our average, quite good considering how much we used the air conditioning today. Seems like the new fuel injectors have made a good improvement in engine performance. I don't know how Bearnadette the Bear can stand wearing her sweater! Our little mascot is enjoying the drive as much as Dad, the Benz, and I are.
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