Eastbound Day 14 – 650 miles – Amarillo to Little Rock

Friday, 8 April 1994

We expect this day to be the longest of the trip but the previous long day plus the time change results in a late start. First we drive just west of Amarillo to the Cadillac Ranch where a line of Caddys from the 50s and 60s are ‘planted’ in a field. their tailfins pointing skywards at, it is said, the same inclination as the Pyramid of Cheops.

From this auspicious start we simply head eastwards all day. The day is punctuated by a number of fuel stops (back home our current Saab and its predecessor, a Mazda, could both manage 400 miles between refills, the Caddy would need a downhill run to reach 200). There are a couple of Route 66 excursions, one to see an old art deco gas station in Shamrock which, it turns out, doesn’t sell the 90 to 92 octane fuel our gas guzzler likes to sip on; what kind of Route 66 relic is that? Lunch at Pop Hicks in Clinton is more authentic but we never get to test if Oklahoma City is really ‘oh so pretty’, it slips by to the north of the freeway. We never saw downtown Amarillo either, maybe the city really is just an endless succession of shopping malls.

For the first time since Death Valley we have trouble finding a place to stay when we reach Little Rock, the first five places are all full. Number six is OK and the day, which started at the Cadillac Ranch, ends with Cadillacs too. After parking the kids in their room Maureen and I go down to the bar for a drink, where a band is playing Pink Cadillac.