J. D. Carpenter’s American Odyssey

DAY 22 — OPELOUSAS, LOUISIANA: Two racetracks in one day! That’s right, folks, I was in heaven. First, Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, east of Shreveport, where I hit on my first bet of the day, a five-year-old chestnut mare named Finest Top. I love winning that first bet. It gives me confidence to make [...]

J. D. Carpenter’s American Odyssey

DAY 21 — JEFFERSON, TEXAS: So far on our trip, we’ve stayed at inexpensive ($30-$60) motels 15 nights, pitched our tent four nights, and slept in the Jimmy once, but today we decided to spoil ourselves, so we took a room at the Excelsior House, where many luminaries have stayed, including Rutherford Hayes, Ulysses Grant [...]

J. D. Carpenter’s American Odyssey

DAY 20 – BROKEN BOW, OKLAHOMA: Our GMC Jimmy cranked out his hundred-thousandth kilometre on Highway 19, outside Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma, just down the road from a buffalo farm. The event occurred at kilometre 8324 of our trip.

An angry, drunken young man wandered his campsite — which was uncomfortably close to ours — on the [...]

J. D. Carpenter’s American Odyssey

DAY 19 – OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Karen and 80-year-old Dorothy Koehn played the piano for each other (‘On the Jericho Road,’ Doodily Do,’ ‘In the Garden’) at Smrcka’s Diner, in Medford, Oklahoma. The hamburger I had there was the best restaurant hamburger I’ve had in 30 years.

The great race horse, Funny Cide, whom we were [...]

J. D. Carpenter’s American Odyssey

DAY 18 — DODGE CITY, KANSAS: When Karen and I met Andres Lima, the horse trainer, on Day 11 of our trip, he encouraged us to return to Dodge City on July 15 for a special day of racing, so we did just that. In fact, we rented the same room (221) of the same [...]

J. D. Carpenter’s American Odyssey

DAY 17 — GUYMON, OKLAHOMA: Roadside attractions Karen and I visited along Route 66:
1. The Museum Club (Flagstaff, Arizona)

2. The Twin Arrows (Winona, Arizona)

3. Jack Rabbit Trading Post (Joseph City, Arizona)

4. Wigwam Motel (Holbrook, Arizona)

5. Laguna Reservation (Cubero, New Mexico)

6. Budville Trading Company (Budville, New Mexico)

7. Ghost Town (Glenrio, New Mexico/Texas)

8. Midpoint Cafe (Adrian, Texas)

9. [...]

J. D. Carpenter’s American Odyssey

DAY 16 — GRANTS, NEW MEXICO: Crazy Bill’s Saloon turned out to be just as crazy on the inside as it is on the outside. Cramped and noisy (the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway tracks are right across the road) and, like any bar, full of stories: a man with a blond ponytail and bad [...]