230612 Conoco Tower Station Shamrock, Texas

Epic Road Trip: Rt 66 to Texas (Part 4)

230612 Cars on the Route

Cars on the Route

By the fourth day of our westward adventure, we were finally getting into the heart of the trip. At this point we jumped on route 66 and started to witness the history of the storied byway.

Our first stop was Cars on the Route in Galena, Kansas. This is of course where the creators of the Disney Cars movie came across a tow truck that inspired the character Mater. This is also the first point where we started to see a recurring theme.

The Disney Cars movie really sparked a resurgence into the historic route 66 and everything it entailed. Throughout the route, you see time and time again where the community rallied behind not only the characters and scenes that inspired the movie, but also how it did wonderful things to revive the interest in small town America. Sure it is all capitalism and each other riding off the success of the other, but the movie just may have been the little thing that these communities needed to help them survive and not become ghost towns.

Across the street from Cars on the Route we happened to stumble upon a former Texaco gas station called Gearhead Curios.

230612 Gearhead Curios

Gearhead Curios

The owners have a fantastic story of leaving behind the big city and owning a classic piece of Americana. This stop easily became one of our favorite memories of the entire trip, connecting with the people that shape our great country.

The owner is a fantastic designer and manufacture, creating custom fixtures throughout the facility from old car parts. The real gem everyone must visit is the restroom. Completely custom crafted and even offers a way for women to enjoy a stand-up urinal. Great stop and worthy visit. Make sure to leave a signed dollar on the wall.

230612 Gearhead Curios Dollar Wall

Gearhead Curios Dollar Wall

230612 Gearhead Curios Restroom

Gearhead Curios Restroom

Next up on the journey was the historic Nelson’s Old Riverton Store. This quaint little shop offered freshly made deli sandwiches that received rave reviews online. While nothing really fantastic, the old town and slower pace of life really set a wonderful tone for the rest of the vacation. Really slow down and take in each moment. Enjoy the little things. The meal was fresh and captured everything what the mid-century Americans would experience on route 66.

230612 Nelson's Old Riverton Store

Nelson’s Old Riverton Store

Our last stop on the short portion of route 66 in Kansas was the Rainbow Curve Bridge. Listed on the national historic registry, this is the last Marsh Arch Bridge on the route. Driving over the bridge, one could not help but feel the presence of a ’57 Belair and the countless lives that have traveled through the arches.

230612 Rainbow Bridge, Kansas

Rainbow Bridge, Kansas

Leaving behind Kansas, we continued following the route into Oklahoma where there were some fantastic must-see roadside attractions.

First we checked out Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park. The artist created beautiful hand crafted interpretations of the land using local resources.

230612 Totem Park Oklahoma

Totem Park Oklahoma

Next was perhaps one of our favorite roadside attractions, the Blue Whale of Catoosa, Oklahoma. While nothing more than a giant fake whale in a former swimming hole, it was quite unique and one of the rare opportunities that inspired me to buy a t-shirt.

230612 Catoosa Blue Whale

Catoosa Blue Whale

Further along the route we stopped and saw the Golden Driller statue in Tulsa. The great thing about all these little roadside attractions is they broke up a long day of driving and did not require a lot of time or cost to see them.

230612 Golden Driller Statue

Golden Driller Statue

While in Tulsa, we also took the opportunity to see Buck’s on 66 Cosmic Curios, the Meadow Gold neon sign, and other small attractions.

230612 Cosmic Curios Tulsa, OK

Cosmic Curios Tulsa, OK

Before heading to our hotel, we stopped for dinner at Pops 66, a small establishment that specializes in selling hundreds of flavors of soda pop and has great little cafe. We had an absolutely fantastic meal and then loaded up on pop to bring the rest of the trip as we brought a large cooler to store food. Be sure to grab a burger at pops; you will not regret it!

230612 Pops 66 Cafe Burger

Pops 66 Café Burger

We spent our evening at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites: Shamrock North (Texas), next door to the historic Conoco Tower Station & U-Drop Inn Cafe. We were lucky to arrive at night and see the place lit up in neon which was very impressive.

230612 Conoco Tower Station Shamrock, Texas

Conoco Tower Station Shamrock, Texas

We had a two queen bed suite with pull out couch and this was one of the rare instances this trip where it made more sense to purchase the night versus paying with points. Quick stop and then onward in the morning.

Daily miles driven- 500 miles
Accommodations Cost- $117

Continue reading about our journey below.

Just like our 2019 National Park Road Trip, we will break down the trip each day in separate posts as highlighted below.

Epic Road Trip: National Park Tour (Part 1)
Epic Road Trip: Cleveland to St Louis (Part 2)
Epic Road Trip: Silver Dollar City (Part 3)
Epic Road Trip: Rt 66 to Texas (Part 4)
Epic Road Trip: Texas Surprises to Santa Fe (Part 5)
Epic Road Trip: Four Corners and Arches National Park (Part 6)
Epic Road Trip: Canyonlands National Park (Part 7)
Epic Road Trip: Capitol Reef National Park (Part 8)
Epic Road Trip: Bryce Canyon National Park (Part 9)
Epic Road Trip: Zion National Park (Part 10)
Epic Road Trip: Knott’s Berry Farm (Part 11)
Epic Road Trip: Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 12)
Epic Road Trip: Meow Wolf Las Vegas (Part 13)
Epic Road Trip: Worlds of Fun (Part 14)
Epic Road Trip: Trip Wrap Up (Part 15)

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230611 Silver Dollar City Sign

Epic Road Trip: Silver Dollar City (Part 3)

230611 Silver Dollar City Sign

Going into a two week road trip crammed into a minivan with three boys, and knowing our family’s tendencies, we knew we had to break up the vacation into different styles. Visiting only National Parks (or any of the same thing) can get monotonous and since we are a diehard amusement park family, we like visiting some different parks if possible.

Our first go hard day involved starting driving at 5am from St Louis to Branson, Missouri to make rope-drop at Silver Dollar City. Knowing we wanted to maximize our time in the park and see and do as much as possible in one day, it meant a full day.

We arrived at Silver Dollar City at 9am and met up with my in-laws, who made the trip out and spent several days camping in the area.

Our visit was on a Sunday in June with overcast skies. Fortunately for us, it also meant crowds were really low.

We were able to get rides in on Outlaw Run, Powder Keg and the retiring Fire in the Hole dark ride.

Going into the planning to visit Silver Dollar City, we had always heard rumbling about make sure you visit the cave. Ok. Sounds intriguing. Most be some small artificial exhibit.

Wow were we wrong. What guests see on the surface an amusement or theme park literally only scratches the surface.

230611 Silver Dollar City Marvel Cave

Silver Dollar City Marvel Cave

Marvel Cave is an epic and monstrous underground cave system taking about an hour to visit and descends 500 feet below the surface. Plus the end of the tour involves taking an epic old fashioned cable train back to the surface.

While theme park is great, Marvel Cave is simply a hidden gem and was easily one of our favorite parts of the visit.

The afternoon got us rides on Time Traveler and The Flooded Mine dark ride in addition to the train and various other smaller attractions that add a lot of character to the park.

230611 Silver Dollar City Peach Cinnamon Bread

Silver Dollar City Peach Cinnamon Bread

Most guests to Silver Dollar City (and Dollywood) rave about the cinnamon bread, and for good reason. The park freshly bakes hundreds of loaves per day. We opted for a standard version and another one topped with peaches. OMG! Absolutely fantastic! Honestly, we thought the Silver Dollar City bread was better than that served at Dollywood. So good.

Rain settled in for later afternoon, stalling our efforts to get in as many rides as possible. Fortunately it allowed us to try some of the great specialty food items and take in the environment that makes it second to none and absolute beautiful park.

Unfortunately, Silver Dollar City closed this day at 7pm, meaning no late night rides. Maybe it was for the better to preserve our energy, but odd summer hours to close so early. Maybe we are just spoiled with Cedar Fair properties typically staying open until later in the evening most nights.

Branson Accommodations

Since we planned our trip a year in advance, we were able to secure a stay at the Holiday Inn Club Vacations: Holiday Hills Resort Branson for a two bedroom villa.

A single night cost us 40,000 IHG points, but it was one of the few times we ever get stay at a vacation club property and we knew it could easily accommodate five of us.

230611 Holiday Hills Resort Branson 1

Since we were only staying one night, we did not get to fully take in the resort and Branson, but the kids did get to try out the large pool and we took the opportunity to take advantage of the laundry facilities.

Overall the Holiday Hills Resort Branson more than met our family needs and we were able to continue on our journey westward. The layout of the rooms were a bit weird with a shower right next to the bed with no wall, but fortunately it was only one night.

230611 Holiday Hills Resort Branson 2

This resort we were very fortunate to book a room 10 months out (August 2022), as availability for our same room was non-existent for most the year leading up to the trip. The odd thing is though the complex was mostly empty during our stay, as we were the only ones in our building and the adjacent houses also appeared to have very few people.

Overall we were glad we got to try out the Holiday Hills Resort Branson, but it definitely is not somewhere we need to stay again as we expected a little more for the price point.

230611 Holiday Hills Resort Branson 3

Daily miles driven- 250 miles
Accommodations Cost- free
Theme park tickets- free (gift from in-laws)

Continue reading about our journey below.

Just like our 2019 National Park Road Trip, we will break down the trip each day in separate posts as highlighted below.

Epic Road Trip: National Park Tour (Part 1)
Epic Road Trip: Cleveland to St Louis (Part 2)
Epic Road Trip: Silver Dollar City (Part 3)
Epic Road Trip: Rt 66 to Texas (Part 4)
Epic Road Trip: Texas Surprises to Santa Fe (Part 5)
Epic Road Trip: Four Corners and Arches National Park (Part 6)
Epic Road Trip: Canyonlands National Park (Part 7)
Epic Road Trip: Capitol Reef National Park (Part 8)
Epic Road Trip: Bryce Canyon National Park (Part 9)
Epic Road Trip: Zion National Park (Part 10)
Epic Road Trip: Knott’s Berry Farm (Part 11)
Epic Road Trip: Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 12)
Epic Road Trip: Meow Wolf Las Vegas (Part 13)
Epic Road Trip: Worlds of Fun (Part 14)
Epic Road Trip: Trip Wrap Up (Part 15)

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230610 St Louis Arch Elevator 2

Epic Road Trip: Cleveland to St Louis (Part 2)

230610 St Louis Arch Elevator 1

St Louis Arch Elevator 1

The first leg our our family’s epic road trip was perhaps the easiest and most familiar. Going westward, we knew our first stop was absolutely going to be in St Louis to visit and stay with our dear friend.

We have visited the city many times, but yet had never done the most cliché of St Louis things…go up in the St Louis Arch.

Since we were only stopping overnight in St Louis, we secured our tickets for the Arch about five months in advance of the trip for the evening of our arrival. This gave us enough time to settle into our friends house, go to dinner and then head over for a late afternoon ride to the top.

The tiny little pods with clear doors were really awesome! We all crammed in and took the ride up to 620 feet above the St Louis skyline.

230610 St Louis Arch Elevator 2

St Louis Arch Elevator 2

Following our viewing, and knowing we were going to be focusing a great deal of this trip on Route 66, we made it a point to visit a route classic, Ted Drewes frozen custard. Who doesn’t love ice cream?

Our stop in St Louis was relatively low key, meant to spend our short time with our friend.

In addition, we knew we were going to have to wake up early to make the drive to Branson, Missouri the next morning to make our family’s first visit to Silver Dollar City. In order to maximize our single day in the park, we wanted to get there as early as possible, and with the park opening at 9:30 am central, meant leaving St Louis at 5am.

230610 St Louis Arch View West

St Louis Arch View West

Daily miles driven- 623 miles
Accommodations Cost- free

Continue reading about our journey below.

Just like our 2019 National Park Road Trip, we will break down the trip each day in separate posts as highlighted below.

Epic Road Trip: National Park Tour (Part 1)
Epic Road Trip: Cleveland to St Louis (Part 2)
Epic Road Trip: Silver Dollar City (Part 3)
Epic Road Trip: Rt 66 to Texas (Part 4)
Epic Road Trip: Texas Surprises to Santa Fe (Part 5)
Epic Road Trip: Four Corners and Arches National Park (Part 6)
Epic Road Trip: Canyonlands National Park (Part 7)
Epic Road Trip: Capitol Reef National Park (Part 8)
Epic Road Trip: Bryce Canyon National Park (Part 9)
Epic Road Trip: Zion National Park (Part 10)
Epic Road Trip: Knott’s Berry Farm (Part 11)
Epic Road Trip: Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 12)
Epic Road Trip: Meow Wolf Las Vegas (Part 13)
Epic Road Trip: Worlds of Fun (Part 14)
Epic Road Trip: Trip Wrap Up (Part 15)

Save Money, Travel More!