Oklahoma City looked mighty pretty

Friday, March 16. Day 1 of the Mother Road West trip started at 7:30 AM. Out the driveway, two blocks north, a quick left, and we were on Route 66 at the corner of 2nd St. and University in Edmond.

Before I got the guide, I assumed it would go down Broadway Extension, then across I-44 to 39th Expressway, then out of town through Bethany. Instead, it follows Broadway to Kelly, Britton, Western, 23rd St., May Avenue, and only then to 39th Expressway. We were an hour into the trip before we even got out of Oklahoma City.

A lot of the Route 66 landmarks are just memories and pictures in books, with more falling every year. But there are a couple close to home that I've seen all my life. I've lived in Edmond as long as I can remember, so I've been in Oklahoma City thousands of times. But I have a new appreciation for it seeing it through the eyes of Route 66.

The geodesic Gold Dome is made from gold-anodized aluminum. It started out as Citizen's State Bank, but now houses offices.

Our first "Giant Alert!" (and the guide has a lot of them) was the giant milk bottle building on Classen, just North of 23rd St. Thanks to the book Route 66 in Oklahoma, I now know it's the former Milk Bottle Grocery, and the triangular shape comes from the streetcar line meeting Classen at an angle. The milk bottle has always been leased separately from the building. I remember it being an advertisement for Townley's Dairy for years. It currently advertises Braum's.

The route we took is the later configuration. The older version takes Lincoln by the capitol building. I'll probably have to check that out some Saturday.