Amarillo to Arcadia, Oklahoma

We were not excited about driving another 300 miles after visiting the Cadillac Ranch. But, we wanted to get home to Georgia to celebrate Christmas with family and friends so back into the car we got and enjoyed the ride–mostly. We hit Oklahoma City after dark and during some sort of rush hour. Interstate 40 was also undergoing some major road construction which meant some detours. I was driving which was making Caroline nervous. I was frustrated from driving on unknown roads in the dark and tired and hungry. We finally found our way to Arcadia and Pops 66 which lies on old Route 66.

When we arrived at Pops Soda Ranch, I was a bit disappointed. I said “Caroline, this is a gas station.” I couldn’t believe she had wanted to come to a gas station in the middle of nowhere. My grumpiness was soon relieved. It is a gas station but unlike any other I ever seen. This gas station is home to a collection of 700 kinds of soda (or coke as we call those drinks in Georgia), sparkling water and other ice cold beverages. All of the walls are lined with soda’s galore!

The workers at Pops greeted us enthusiastically and told us to have a seat anywhere if we were having dinner. The tables reminded me of high school cafeteria seating but the food was nothing like high school.

Hamburgers were half price we were told but we could add cheese for a quarter if we wanted. I went for the cheap burger and Caroline had to get all healthy on me with a salad. I was too tired to do healthy. The good southern girls that we are could not resist fried okra. A family favorite anywhere, anytime–I think we could even eat fried okra for breakfast.

After dinner as we were heading to the car, Caroline got this picture below of the lighted soda bottle in front of the building. There is no way to miss Pop’s Soda Ranch at night.

Although our dinner was finished, our day of driving was not. There are no hotels in Arcadia so we put in another 45 more miles to finally stop in Shawnee for the night. Shawnee is located in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma. (Try saying that three times fast)

We mentioned to the clerk at our hotel as we were checking in that we had just visited Pops. She had no idea this little treasure of food and soda even existed and she had been living in or around Shawnee all her life. Funny how we often don’t recognize the things closest to us as special or interesting. Hoping that I start to open my eyes and appreciate the interesting places close to home.

Joy