It was midnight on my 18th birthday when me and my buddy Chris set off on our epic journey on historic Route 66. We made it maybe four hundred miles to a truck stop just outside of Joplin Missouri. We were so tired, we couldn't even make it to the Oklahoma border on our first leg of the trip. At this point I have to admit this was completely my idea, I had this romantic idea of "The Mother Road". Route 66 has, for some reason, has always been a symbol of freedom to me. I had always wanted to point my car west and go, that's pretty much what we did. The original idea was to drive my 1974 Dodge Dart, affectionately referred to as "The Chick Magnet". Luckily, my parents saved me from making a HUGE mistake, and let us use there van. They also used there AAA insurance and got us route planners for the entire trip.
Back to the adventure. After a night of sleeping with one eye open in a shady truck stop, we hit the road once again. Our next stop was for breakfast at the world's largest McDonald's in Vinita, Oklahoma (pictured above). This thing is built across the highway, and is actually a site to see if going down I-44. I had pancakes and sausage, I think. Back on the road, next stop was Oklahoma City. This was really just a drive by to see the 1995 bombing site. You really get no idea of the damage on TV, there were still windows boarded up in the YMCA a couple blocks away. The building was gone, but the fence was still there with all the flowers and makeshift memorials around the perimeter. They have a beautiful permanent memorial there now, take a look at it some time New York, I think it is very appropriate and tasteful.
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