Along this 400+ mile stretch of Old Route 66 that winds its way through the Sooner Nation, every college football gameday from late August until early January is regarded as sacrosanct. It is not unusual in these parts for family planning of autumn and the December holidays to revolve around the Oklahoma Football schedule. Such…
Continue ReadingAuthor: Route66Kid
I am the Route 66 Kid! I was born and grew up within a block of Old Route 66 as it passes through what is now known as Midtown Tulsa, OK. I either walked, crossed or attended school along that segment of the Mother Road every day of the World as a youth. I served in the U.S. Navy at each end of America's Main Street at Port Hueneme, CA about an hour from its western terminus in Santa Monica and later at Great Lakes, IL about forty minutes from its eastern terminus in Chicago. I also lived along Old Route 66 while attending college in Oklahoma City. Driving the new ultramodern Interstates that parallel the Old Route, I became familiar with most of the roadside attractions of the dear old Mother Road on numerous treks back and forth from duty stations to home. I currently reside in my hometown and travel those ultramodern Interstates to work in Route 66 towns such at Vinita and Oklahoma City. With rare exception I have kept a personal daily journal since I was in high school. It will soon be in its 41st volume. This blog is an extension of that record. Thank you for stopping in!
Falling in love and falling in line
What a difference thirty days makes in electoral politics. The energy, enthusiasm and elation looking ahead to Election Day are at much different levels for the two contending Presidential campaigns than they were in mid-July. At the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention the trajectory of the Blue Team as compared to their opposition could…
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An election turned upside down
Most of us with significant life experience understand that all we hold dear can totally change 180 degrees for good, bad, better or worse in the twinkling of an eye. That concept also applies to worldly events and the fate of nations as any student of history will vouch for such dates as July 4th,…
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Waking up in the SEC
Times are definitely a’changin’. In summer 2024 we find ourselves easing into an era where many things may remain the same while simultaneously become quite different. Yes, Oklahoma Football will still be the most popular sports attraction along this stretch of Old Route 66. However, its affiliation just made a huge move to arguably the…
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BTO: Still taking care of business
Not all that long ago, a year and twenty days from June 22nd to be exact, the latest version of the first multiple hit band founded by Winnipeg native Randy Bachman played the Osage Casino Skyline Event Center. Speaking of The Guess Who, it may as well have been the same logo adorning the stage…
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Absurdity in a surreal election year
Self-governance, the unique and revered earmark of the American nation, has undergone some dark and bizarre periods throughout its history. It has also been visited upon by some very unsavory characters whose public conduct run the gamut from marginally ethical to outright criminal. The concept that America is a nation of laws and not of…
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Heart and Cheap Trick grace the BOK Center
Two Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees made a tour stop Saturday evening, May 4th, at Tulsa’s BOK Center. Half a century is a long time to make music and define success in the recording industry and both of the venue’s visitors have been in the business much longer than that. What’s more, most…
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Watching it all from a distance
It is very easy for caring and compassionate individuals to lose themselves in the affairs of people and things they love. Their concern is often not limited to close loved ones, businesses and hobbies. Volunteering for and giving of self for the betterment of nation, state, community, church, service organization or involvement in any group…
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America’s bane of binary choice
Presidential election years have always been a time of a months-long media circus featuring all manner of campaign soundbytes of pandering, insults and over-the-top hyperbolic rhetoric in candidate ads, stump speeches, caucuses and conventions. Despite its pitfalls and occasional shortcomings, the thing that has kept America electing its leaders via democratic process from its beginning…
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Faith in the growing number of “nones”
Here along the most conservative stretch of Old Route 66, the characteristic of religiosity commensurate with the values of the political majority comes with the territory. I can personally attest that a strong religious atmosphere in Tulsa was the norm of my childhood and adolescence. Even as a young boy, the open competition among the…
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