 There's always a spontaneous...  There's always a spontaneous car show at every gas stop on the Tour. |
Smile for the birdie... |
 When the station owner wasn't...  When the station owner wasn't looking, Hot Rod's Jeff Koch reached for a five-finger discount at the pump. |
 Is this good eatin' or what?...  Is this good eatin' or what? Power Tour participants quickly become road-food junkies--or is that junk-food roadies? |
 Elk City once again proved...  Elk City once again proved to be one of the gems in our string of stopsa lot of Power Tourers hope to stay longer next year. |
 The free lunch may not have...  The free lunch may not have been Elk-meat hot dogs and chili, but they tasted real good anyway. |
 Elk City's Route 66 museum...  Elk City's Route 66 museum pays homage to the cars and culture of the Mother Road. |
 Ted Dzus, Jr. really knows...  Ted Dzus, Jr. really knows how to live--and share some fun, too. He let your online editor take the wheel of his Viper for one leg of the trip. |
 No, this wasn't some Photoshop...  No, this wasn't some Photoshop trick--just a Midwest version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. |
 Early arrivals at Amarillo's...  Early arrivals at Amarillo's fairgrounds got the best spots
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 Whattya mean we need more...  Whattya mean we need more money for the police budget? |
 You parents may want to shield...  You parents may want to shield your childrens' eyes from the computer screen--these hapless moths were Hot Rod roadkill. |
 "PT Cruiser turns into giant...  "PT Cruiser turns into giant gumdrop--film at 11:00." |
 Amarillo sure knows when there's...  Amarillo sure knows when there's a good show in town. |
 These rodders from the U.K....  These rodders from the U.K. improvised by renting a Cadillac with unlimited, cross-country mileage and adding tape flames and an enthusiastic message. |
 Budweiser showed its flair...  Budweiser showed its flair for promotional messages--sure beats the Superbowl blimp. |
At our first gas stop on the way to Amarillo we came up with a brilliant way to stop the escalating cost of fuel. Okay, maybe it's not a permanent fix, but sending Jeff Koch up the ladder to adjust the gas station's price sign while supposedly shooting pictures of the Power Tour seemed like a good idea at the time. We heard lots of encouragement from onlookers, but this approach didn't seem to hold much water with the station's owner. Oh well, you can't blame us for trying.
Elk City was a bittersweet experience for some veteran Power Tourers, because they said it was the best overnight stop of the entire Tour last year. The local Chamber of Commerce (www.elkcitychamber.com) seemed to miss us a lot as well, and provided a free chili dog lunch and a drawing for a free motel room on next year's Tour. We hope that we can spend more time there next year and enjoy the town's numerous attractions and pleasant park (see www.elkcitychamber.com).
In contrast to the gnarly and dilapidated city streets of Detroit, the freeways on this portion of the Tour were smooth, scenic ribbons stretching straight for the horizon--what a place to drop the hammer! Winding out our engines didn't bode well for the swarms of moths we encountered, though, and nearly all of the rods arrived in Amarillo with splattered windshields and moth wings stuck to their grilles. It seemed like everybody spent most of their time in Amarillo cleaning off their cars. We overheard one Tourer quip: "Well, if the moths become extinct, we'll know what happened to 'em."
As for Amarillo, what the city may lack in atmosphere compared with our other stops was more than made up for by sheer enthusiasm. The town turned out in droves, and we received the most TV and radio coverage thus far. We continue to be astonished by the level of support and attention we receive as we head west. Next stop: Commanche country and Albuquerque, New Mexico