The S.S. Admiral

Posted on August 21st, 2011 in Photos

“On summer afternoons, below the well-used Route 66 crossing [the Chain of Rocks Bridge], shrill whistles from the calliope of the S.S. Admiral could be heard up and down the river.

Ollie’s Station

Posted on August 14th, 2011 in Photos

Michael and Suzanne Wallis at Ollie’s Station, Red Fork, Oklahoma, 2002.

New Orleans

Posted on August 7th, 2011 in Photos

We came from all points and converged in “The Big Easy.” It was the spring of 1968 and some time in New Orleans seemed like a sweet tonic for all of us.

Woolaroc Buffalo Skull

Posted on July 31st, 2011 in Photos

In January 1926 — about three months after oil tycoon Frank Phillips officially unveiled his new Woolaroc lodge at his ranch in Oklahoma — his first major shipment of animals — a herd of buffalo — arrived at the ranch. Phillips already had cattle grazing in the pastures, and a dozen buffalo were growing fat in a meadow, but he wanted more.

Mid-Point Cafe on Route 66

Posted on July 24th, 2011 in Photos

When you’re here, you’re halfway there! Route 66 travelers should keep in mind that a worthwhile stop awaits them at Adrian — a highway on the western end of the Texas Panhandle. There life continues for a handful of highway businesses including the Mid-Point Cafe & Gift Shop, one of the oldest eateries on the Mother Road.

Big Texan Steak Ranch

Posted on July 17th, 2011 in Photos

All of my many journeys down the linear village of Route 66 take me through a diversity of places ranging from big cities to small farm and ranch towns and, of course, the wide open spaces. Since I was a teenager one of my favorite stopping points along the way is the Big Texan Steak Ranch nestled deep in the heart of the Texas Panhandle on the eastern edge of the high plains city of Amarillo.

Last Stand Hill

Posted on July 10th, 2011 in Photos

Michael and Suzanne at Last Stand Hill in Wyoming. They are looking southwest. The markers indicate where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and 41 members of his regiment were killed by victorious Sioux and Cheyenne warriors on June 25, 1876.

Michael and Suzanne, 1968

Posted on July 3rd, 2011 in Photos

The first time I ever saw Suzanne was when I walked into that classroom at the University of Missouri — a raw and ready guy straight out of the Marines. I was struck by those Irish-Danish looks. Her smile and hair and eyes knocked my socks off.