Next stop was the Center of the Universe in downtown Tulsa. It's a spot in the middle of a walkway where a weird phenomenon occurs when you stand directly in the center of it - your voice loudly echos back as if in a tunnel. Yet take one step out and the phenomenon no longer occurs. Oddly enough, no one standing outside of the spot can hear your voice echo either, just the echoer. We signed our names at the center of the universe in fashion with the other tourists this year who had visited the spot.
Following that we made our way to Arcadia, OK where the Round Barn and also Pop's on Route 66 take up residence. Got a picture of the Round Barn on our way to Pop's which was where we really wanted to stop. They have over 500 different flavors of soda-pop for sale in their restaurant/gas station/souvenir shop. We each bought a few bottles to quench our thirst on the journey ahead. Renana got the Route 66 Cream Soda as well as the Dry Vanilla Bean. I was feeling adventurous and went for the Love Potion #69, the Dry Rhubarb, and the Thomas Kemper Oregon Marionberry which was postively delicious! The dry pops are a particularly interesting Seattle-based company that make all natural healthier sodas sweetened with cane sugar instead of that nasty high-fructose corn syrup (I hate hate hate those damn commercials that try to make it look like corn syrup isn't all that bad for you. You're body has trouble breaking it down, folks! Don't want that business lingering in your system). Anyway, the dry sodas come in really interesting flavors like cucumber, kumquat, and lavender. Definitely an interesting experience. 
Our next stop was in Yukon, OK where our fruit picking turned out to be a bit of a let down. It wasn't fruit picking at all, actually. Just a nice old man selling his home-grown produce in his driveway. We did end up getting some peaches, pecans, a tomato and a watermelon though which were all positively delicious. A lot of locals turned up to fill up their sacks (what Southerners call plastic grocery bags) while we were there and were all very friendly and interested to hear where we were from and where we were headed. It was the first time I really felt like I was somewhere very different from home what with all of the accents. Overall a good experience. Later on after getting to our hotel, we had a hell of a time trying to cut up the watermelon with the small kitchen knives they provided. The watermelon didn't seem to enjoy it so much either.
The highlight of today was by far The Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick, OK with Harley and Annabelle the "Mediocre Music Makers". These two terrific people have a shop full of old Route 66 memorabilia that is just there for tourists to enjoy. It is literally the only thing in Erick. (Never have I seen such a small town!) We lucked out with meeting Harley and Annabelle as it was an off-day for them and they had just happened to be in the shop practicing some guitar (a British agency brings tour groups through there and they entertain). Although both of them will argue that it's not about them but about the people they meet who come through to see them and the experience they create. You should know that Harley and Annabelle were the basis for some characters in the Pixar movie Cars which upon meeting them shows through if you've seen the movie. Harley however is much more of the pot-smoking, jack-drinking, innuendo-spewing redneck than Pixar could probably get away with animating. Annabelle is super sweet, incredibly knowledgeable and artistic ex-hippie (although I suppose she isn't too far off from still-a-hippie). Both are more than willing to show you the memorabilia that they've accumulated (not collected, they are not collectors just self-proclaimed pack-rats :) over the years. People from all over brought them most of the stuff and the amount is incredible. We got to hold one Route 66 sign that Annabelle gauged was from around the 1920's. They also gave us a tour of their home which they've lovingly dubbed the Redneck Castle (complete with claw-foot bathtubs on the lawn). My favorite part of this adventure (aside from exchanging witty innuendos with Harley) was when they played a two guitar rendition of "Get Your Kicks on Route 66". They were really just great people who loved life and wanted to share their life with anyone who came along. When we left they saw us to our car like old friends, gave us hugs and told us to make sure we stopped by if ever we found ourselves in Erick again.
After Erick, it wasn't too far to the Texas border where we almost immediately passed through Groom, TX, home of the Leaning Tower of Britten and the World's Largest Cross. Both exciting to see in themselves but all-in-all we were ready to get off the ole' dusty trail and hit the hay. Next up, Amarillo to Albuquerque - complete with canyon hiking and the famous Cadillac Ranch. G'night y'all.Song of the Day: I’ve Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash
Quote of the Day: “[...] the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'" -- Jack Kerouac On the Road
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