Lord Colliers Active Retirement Life

Day four started much like the last—with car trouble.

For the second day in a row, the rental car decided to complain, this time flashing a maintenance warning light. Rather than risk getting stranded somewhere along Route 66, I headed back to swap it out. What should have been a quick errand turned into something far more surreal.

Just two days earlier, a massive hailstorm had swept through the area, damaging thousands of vehicles. The rental lot looked like a graveyard—shattered glass crunching underfoot, windshields spiderwebbed with cracks, and rows of dented cars stretching as far as I could see. It was a stark reminder of how quickly things can change out here. Eventually, I managed to get a replacement, and thankfully, this one felt road-ready.

A Stop in Springfield

Before leaving town, I made a stop at the historic Rail Haven Motel. It’s one of the original Route 66 motor courts, and while it’s fairly modest today, it carries a quiet significance—Elvis Presley stayed here back in 1956. Standing there, it’s easy to imagine a very different era of road travel, when this highway was the main artery west.

Carthage: A Preserved Gem

From Springfield, I drove on to Carthage, which turned out to be one of the day’s highlights. The downtown square is beautifully preserved, anchored by an elegant courthouse that gives the whole place a sense of pride and history. It’s the kind of town that invites you to slow down and walk around.

But the drive between the towns tells a more complicated story. Long stretches of the old road are lined with abandoned buildings and fading businesses—remnants of communities that once depended on Route 66 traffic. When the interstate came through, many of these places were simply left behind. It’s fascinating, but also a little haunting.

Wind and the Kansas Stretch

As the day went on, I could feel the shift in geography. The air grew warmer—high 70s, maybe low 80s—and the landscape began to open up. It finally felt like I was heading west in a real sense.

Crossing into Kansas, the wind picked up almost immediately, as if on cue. I passed through Galena, a small but iconic Route 66 town.

Classic Route 66 Landmarks

Along the way, I stopped at a couple of the route’s most memorable attractions. The Rainbow Bridge is one of the last remaining arch bridges—a quiet but meaningful piece of history. Not far beyond that, the Blue Whale of Catoosadelivers something completely different: quirky, unexpected, and unmistakably Route 66.

Arrival in Tulsa

By the time I reached Tulsa, the day had taken on a more personal tone. As I drove into the city, I remembered that I had once landed here at Tulsa International Airport during my first solo cross-country flight. A completely different kind of journey back then—flying instead of driving—but arriving in the same place brought it all back.

Same city, different version of me.

It’s strange how travel does that—how certain places hold onto pieces of your past and hand them back when you least expect it.