2021-04-02: Day 11 Finishing Route 66 in Oklahoma and Turning South into Texas and Returning Home

Well finally we've reached the eleventh and last day of our roadtrip adventure. We started out in Maiden, NC in what Google said would take 18 hours and 1210 miles to drive to Killeen, TX. Now here we are starting our 11th day in Oklahoma City, following the famous Route 66, and soon to be making that left turn down into Texas. On this final day we found more Route 66 roadside attractions, more historic buildings and bridges, a ghost town and of course more geocaching counties! So without further delay, hope on board for the ride and let me show you what great places we found today...

Our first stop was for the Osiyo Big Cherokee geocache (GC96K4R). Located at the Cherokee Trading Post and Travel Center, it was a busy place. Lots of muggles prevented us from finding this geocache. Fortunately I found a previous geocache here, now archived, and already had the county.

On the side of one of the buildings there was this huge mural and statue depicting a scene from life here in the 1800's. This is just a small portion of that mural.

Just a few miles west down Old U.S. Highway 66 into Caddo County, and we get to another one of my favorite historical structures. The Pony Bridge (GC8YAQ7) is the longest bridge on Route 66 at 3,944 feet. A joint venture Oklahoma Federal Aid Project No. 164-H and officially named the William H. Murray Bridge, it spans across the South Canadian River and was completed on July 1, 1933. It was nicknamed the "Pony Bridge" because of its 38 pony style trusses.

Across the county we found the historical Provine Station and our next geocache (GCY1GQ). This old Route 66 gas station was built by Carl Ditmore in 1929. W.O. Waldrop purchased the gas station in 1934 and renamed it the Provine Station. A small tourist court was added for overnight stays. In 1941 Lucille and Carl Hamons became the next owners where they raised their three children in the upstairs living quarters. Lucille operated the business for 59 years.

Continuing westbound into Custer County and past Weatherford, my next geocache stop was for a "Cache Across America - Oklahoma" cache (GCXD60). There's nothing special about the cache or location. However this is a series and there is only one in each state with a bonus in Washington DC. I try to get them whenever I'm in the vicinity. One day when I finally retire, I'll plan a road trip specifically to get the remaining states in the series.

Well it's about that time now when we reached US-183 in Clinton, Oklahoma and leave Route 66 to make that left turn and drive south towards Texas.

A minute later we cross over into Washita County and soon arrived into the town of Bessie. Our first stop was at the Peace Lutheran Church. The church was organized in 1893. Land was given and a church building / schoolhouse was erected in 1906. This current building was constructed in 1942. The Lutheran Cemetery is next door as well. 

Another historical building in town, and the location of our next geocache (GC15MV7), was the 1916 Bessie Schoolhouse. There's a pretty nice mural on the side of the building depicting scenes of the early days in Bessie. Next door to the schoolhouse was where the bank used to be. Frank Simpson and Fletcher Rickard robbed the bank on January 24, 1928. During the robbery, the cashier of the bank, Ben Kiehn, was killed and Fletcher Rickard was wounded and died later the same day. Simpson escaped and was never caught. The granite cornerstones and granite "Bank" stone are part of the Bessie Memorial Park.

Continuing southbound on US-183, we passed through this small town called Rocky, Oklahoma. Rocky was established in 1898 when two businessmen settled and opened the Rocky Mercantile Store constructed from rock gathered at the Kiowa Reservation. At it's peak in 1930, the population was around 500. Today it is barely over 100. This old church and house caught my attention and I stopped for a quick photo.

Crossing over into Kiowa County, the next town is Hobart, OK. The Rock Island Depot (GCD1E8) was built in 1909 and was used until the 1970's. This was a busy location during the growing years of Hobart. these include World War I and II. The rapidly growing farming industry depended on this rail service to transport it's products. It was left in disrepair until the Kiowa county historical preservation society acquired it in 1987. After many hours of volunteer work and money it was reopened as a museum.

South of Hobart was the small community of Babbs. A picnic area along US-183 is the Babbs Switch Memorial and a virtual geocache (GCD1E9). It was set up to remember those who perished on Christmas Eve in 1924. On this date a Christmas party was going on in a 1-room frame school house when a candle, that was lit on the tree, started a fire. Since the doors to the room opened inward, the kids panicked, pressed against it and could not open it. Everyone inside perished. The school was rebuilt and was used to point the way to safer county schools nationwide. This tragic event is the reason all school doors open outward.

Our next two geocaches were in Tillman County at the Frederick Cemetery (GC7A74B, GC2HNE8). There are over 12,000 internments dating back to 1844. We didn't have time to look around so just finding the geocaches, a photo, and back on the road.

Well we finally made it to the Oklahoma-Texas state line. This means crossing the Red River Bridge (GC8D4F0). Even though highway traffic crosses a newer modern bridge, the old US-70/US-183 bridge is still there. The plaque mentions that it was built in 1939 by the Texas and Oklahoma Highway Departments. The length of its largest span is 75 feet, with a total length of of 5,463.2 feet and a deck width of 24 feet.

One last stop in Texas before reaching home. I wanted to stop by this old abandoned schoolhouse in the ghost town of Gilliland since we were so close. Back a couple of years ago when I was working nearby, I hid a geocache here and it seems to have gone missing. So I replaced it.

I wrote a blog a while back specifically about this town of Gilliland. I tell of the town's history and share a lot of photos of some of the abandoned businesses and houses. You can take a look and read the stories by clicking here.

So that was our 11 Day, 3404 Mile Adventure starting in North Carolina and returning to Texas. Taking the long northerly route of course! Here's a recap with links to each days blog post:

Day #1: Turning a 1400 Mile Drive into a 3404 Mile Road Trip! Day 1 in North Carolina and Virginia

Day #2: Virginia, DC, Maryland, and Pennsylvania

Day #3: Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio

Day #4: Ohio and Indiana

Day #5: Visiting the Birthplace of Ben Hur in Indiana

Day #6: Visiting Presidents Lincoln and Reagan in Illinois

Day #7: Touring More Abraham Lincoln and Route 66 Sites in Illinois

Day #8: Visiting history in St Louis, Missouri via Route 66 and the Gateway Arch

Day #9: Exploring the Historic Route 66 Through Missouri

Day #10: Cruising Route 66 Through Kansas and Oklahoma

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2015-06-20: Road Trip Day#1 Geocaching Georgia and Tennessee

YIPPEE! It's Vacation Time!! Time for another week long road trip! This year the destination is Mackinaw Island, Michigan. We left Orlando last night after work driving I-75 all the way to Valdosta, Georgia where we stayed the night.

This morning after breakfast, we continued up I-75 and stopped in Macon to start Geocaching. Macon, GA is in Bibb County which we needed to complete our Geocaching county map. While we're traveling, I try to find caches of interest in a county instead of just getting the first one we come across. This allows us to do some sightseeing too. A quick way to figure out caches of interest is to look for virtual caches. Macon had a LOT of virtual caches too!

The first was this statue on a bench of Jesse Mercer, the Baptist founder of Mercer University.

Not too far from there was the Rose Park Labyrinth. They say labyrinths are a way of finding yourself through meditation as you follow the path to the center. I don't know about. I have a GPS.

Next stop was the Holt House, built in 1853 by Judge Asa Holt. It's more commonly known as the cannon ball house because it was hit with a cannon ball during the civil war.

Then we went over to Gateway Park to find this statue of Otis Reading. It was a pretty cool place with benches facing the statue and speakers in the ground playing music.

From there we took a nice stroll along the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail along the Ocmulgee River front. It was a lot of fun! But by now it was getting just past noon and we were not getting very far. So we skipped the rest and jumped back on I-75 northbound.

We picked up a few more caches in new counties on the way up to this historical Confederate Cemetery located in Jonesboro, GA. There are several hundred unknown soldiers here.

The next historical site and virtual Geocache is located in Calhoun, GA. This Cherokee Indian Memorial was erected in honor of the Cherokee Nation in 1931 on the site of New Echota, the last Capital of the Cherokee Indians east of the Mississippi River. At the time, it was recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an independent community and was the only group of American Indians to adopt a Republican form of government based on a written constitution.

Crossing over into Tennessee, another historical virtual cache is another Confederate Cemetery. Less than a mile off of I-75 in Chattanooga, TN, an almost forgotten cemetery with many unknown soldiers buried.

Our next stop heading north was in Cleveland, TN. On October 18, 1871, Dr. Gideon Blackburn Thompson was taking his 7 year old granddaughter for a buggy ride when the horse got out of control and took the buggy into the path of a train. The Dr was thrown from the buggy and survived. However the little girl Nina had died. The entire town was saddened by the news and many came to the funeral. The girls father was a devout Episcopalian and because Cleveland Episcopalian's did not have a church building, he vowed to build one in Nina'a honor. Three years later the church was completed and dedicated on the anniversary of Nina's death. Not long after he had the mausoleum constructed behind the church and her body was laid to rest inside, which you see below.

By now it's getting late in the afternoon. We had dinner and found a hotel for the night. What a busy day! We ended with 20 virtual caches, 7 traditionals, and 1 web cam cache for a total of 28. We saw and learned a lot of history. What's in store for tomorrow? Come back and see.