Albuquerque NM to Oklahoma City: Does anyone really know what time it is?

Song inspiration of the day: Does anyone really know what time it is ? (Chicago)

As I was walking down the street one day
A man came up to me and asked me
What the time was that was on my watch
Yeah, and I said
does anybody really know what time it is?
(Care) does anybody really care?
(About time) you know, I can’t imagine why…

With New Mexico, Texas pan pan and Oklahoma Route 66 territory to cover, we busted out of Albuquerque, delighted the clock read 5am and not 4am, when The Hurry One casually noted to Sloth that we dropped a time zone. In Albuquerque It’s Mountain Time and not Pacific Time, and any euphoria about sleeping in dissipated, and does it really matter what time it is?

At 5000′ elevation in Albuquerque, by the end of the day we looked forward to comfortably breathing again — 1200′ above sea level at Oklahoma City. First we had to get there by electric car.

Electric car (EC) strategy is all about determining if you will have enough juice to make it to the next charging spot, without driving at bicycle speeds. The EC software predicts what you will have left by the time you reach your next charging station, but it has been our experience to juice up plenty beyond the predicted amount – just in case. On our travels westbound, we determined that the EC software forgot to factor in elevation ascents and weather (headwinds, wind gusts 50 mph) — so taking extra time at charging stations to get the numbers a wee higher was good stratergie. Heading eastbound, we are basically on a 700+ mile downhill trajectory departing the Albe’que, with tailwinds, allowing the co-pilots to relax, study the landscape and make observations other than dwell on car juice.

Our first Route 66 stop is near the border of NM and Texas, at Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa is the home of the Blue Hole — a deep spring fed watering hole that the locals use for diving and swimming – and the tourists hope to get a looksie — assuming that the Blue Hole Park is open. It was not. Even with that extra hour of Mountain time, we would be waiting. Waiting is not our mojo, so off to grab a pic in front of the iconic Silver Moon Diner — where we dolled up in 1950’s head scarves for our photo op.

Off to Amarillo, Texas and our charging stop put us at a Buc-ee’s. Most interesting was the mural that listed Buc-ee’s as a Route 66 stop. Pretty sure Buc-ee’s wasn’t around when Route 66 was the actual Mother Road – but hey, we get wanting to be part of the Route 66 club, so no judgment.

Driving across Texas, the lands got flatter and slightly greener. The cattle were no longer desert cattle, grass fed roaming was replaced by giant cattle processing centers, and eating vegetarian never looked so good.

We arrived at Shamrock, Texas, along the panhandle and near the border of Oklahoma. A must stop for vintage Americana. The U Drop In Cafe has a store of relics from the past including a public phone booth (1930’s version), a rotary phone (really? That’s vintage now?), old cars, and a history lesson if you have the time. We snapped photo after photo, then on the road heading to Weatherford Oklahoma.

Weatherford, another Route 66 stop is home to Lucille’s Roadhouse – complete with gas pump relics, and a diner now remodeled w ole’ time booths that kept the ”66 vibe from the 1940’s.

Our last stop for the day, Oklahoma City. Just west of OK City, we stopped for one final EC charge, and found ourselves at a Route 66 Cheyenne Trading Post. Returning to the road saw a ranch with buffalo roaming about. Hoping to see buffalo in the ‘real’ on this roadtrip, we are attributing this sighting a nod from our Cheyenne friends at the Post. Nodding back at you.

It is time to get off the road for the day, time to marvel in all that we have seen from the road along Route 66, and in the spirit of does-anyone-really-care-what-time-it-is, we’re now in Central time and will pick this trip back up in the AM.