Route 66 – Pops Cafe & More

Pops 66 is a Landmark diner and gas station with hundreds of sodas, a shop & a 66 foot tall soda bottle out front. We didn’t have any problem finding this one!

My husband was anxious to see the inside.

There were pop bottles everywhere.

There were coolers full of pop along with all the windows. Plus they had a few seats to eat lunch and have pop of course.

Conoco Tower Station & U-Drop Inn Cafe was built with unique architectural designs to serve travelers along Route 66 in Shamrock, Texas.

Leaning Tower of Britten on Route 66 in Groom, Texas is a decorative water tower built to bring in tourists.

One of the things we were surprised to see was the miles and miles of windmills. These windmill farms contribute significantly to the states renewable energy portfolio and power a large number of homes.

Since I wanted to see Uranus my husband wanted to see Buc-ee’s. We saw so many billboard signs that we had to stop and were we glad we did.

Gas was cheaper and the inside was a gigantic store with prepared food, clothing, baked goods and more but gosh it was busy. They have the BEST cinnamon rolls!

I bought a Christmas tree ornament at almost every stop we made. Buc-ee’s didn’t have one so I bought one of the little stuffed beavers from the basket by my husband.
More of our trip next Wednesday!
http://www.InDianesKitchen.com
Categories: Vacation

Spoilt for4 choice
Thank you!
We have two windmill farms near us. One is about 40 minutes away between Boise and Mountain Home. The other is about 1.5 hours from Boise getting closer to Twin Falls. The one near Mountain Home produces a lot of energy as the wind blows a lot out there.
They are such a great way to generate electricity. People in my area hated the idea of the wind farms here so we have huge areas of solar panels instead. Our local high school put one up years ago and one of the propellers flew off into the parking lot. Luckily the school was closed and nobody was hurt. They took it down after that.
Probably wasn’t installed properly. 🥴
Yes because other ones at other schools are still operating.
I’m so enjoying following along on this journey with you
That makes me so happy Beth. I don’t regret anything we did and there is so much more to share.
Thanks so much Ned!
Route 66 is a must see, Diane! Love all the great experiences you are sharing with us – first a candy shop and now a cool pop store! Love seeing a rare photo of your hubby. He looks so happy! Glad you both had this time away!
Thank you Ab! This was a quick planned trip as we need to be home from now on due to family medical issues. We wanted to have a great 35th anniversary trip but knew we wouldn’t be able to go in November when it really is. My husband and I were both so happy and it was a perfect trip.
I’m very sorry about the medical issues. I hope it will be ok. Sending you strength!
Thank you for your kindness Ab!
Looks like you had a fun trip.
We sure did but this is just the beginning Katelon, wait until you see some of the nature pictures. I wanted to go when the desert flowers were blooming, I can’t wait to share them.
Awesome, Pops 66 sounds fun!
It was fun, they had different names on the pop like dog breath, slime, worm guts etc. We bought the grandkids a bottle with a gross name and they said it just tasted like pop. Lol
A road trip on Route 66 is a great idea. And I have to say that the 66 foot tall soda bottle is one of the coolest sculptures I’ve ever seen.
This was so much fun! We stopped at random places to shop and the restaurants were amazing. There wasn’t any trouble finding Pops Cafe with that 66 ft pop bottle by the road.
Buc-ee’s is something you just have to experience – glad you took the time! Thanks for the memories of traveling Route 66!!
My husband was so excited we found one. I said “What is Buc-ee’s?” He had no idea but had read about it and always wanted to see one. We stopped at the first one and we were amazed! We bought a sandwich to eat in the car and a cinnamon roll for later. My sandwich was so delicious I made it at home and posted it too. Now I make four a week for a quick lunch. On our way to another site seeing area we found another Buc-ee’s. I needed the bathroom so bad and when we went in, there were so many people you could barely move. We made our way to the bathrooms and there was about an hour wait for the women’s. Seriously the line went from the bathroom all the way to the back wall. I told my husband I was not waiting, grabbed a delicious cinnamon roll waited in line to pay and headed to the Burger Kind next door to use the bathroom, no line there! Lol
I love driving trips just for this reason. All the American is great. My sister and BIL love Buckee’s. I’ve never stopped but they do on the way to and from Florida.
I wish they were in the north! We are hoping to travel mid west next and see all there is to see. It’s nice being retired because we didn’t have an end date since I didn’t know how much I could handle, medically. I made it the entire way and was so happy. I hope we come across another Buc-ee’s.
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip and were able to do all you wanted, Diane.
Thank you so much Carla!
These look like fun stops too, especially Buc-ee’s with the little stuffed beaver. You’ll be sewing a ribbon loop on the top of its head and have a ready-made Christmas ornament Diane. I’ll look forward to next Wednesday’s journey along Route 66!
The little stuffed beaver was actually like a key ring. It had the plastic end that will hook easily on the Christmas tree. When we went to Alaska ten years ago, we were on the bus and the tour guide said she had something for the first person to spot a moose. It was a key ring with Alaska and liquid inside. Guess who won? Yep it was me and it has hung on our Christmas tree ever since.
Oh, it is ready-made for your Christmas tree then … that’s great. You were lucky to be the first to spot a moose and win a prize. That’s a nice way to collect Christmas ornaments, from the places you visit on vacation.
My tree keeps getting more and more ornaments due to vacations. It will be our vacation Christmas tree in a few years. Lol
That’s funny. I had a coworker once who loved Christmas and she bought every single Hallmark ornament that came out from the time she had her own place. I’ve not seen her since Robb/I left the Firm (2003), but at that time, she had three full-size, to-the-ceiling trees to accommodate all the ornaments. I can’t even manage to get the Hallmark miniature tree with the miniature ornaments up … it was a big deal getting the bear tree up and it only involved plugging it in, which I only did momentarily as the plug was so hot.
That’s a lot of ornaments! Decorating one tree is it for me.
It would be enough for me too. Floor-to-ceiling trees on top of it.
Fun trip! Enjoy!
Thank you, it is a blast!
This has been a fun journey!
I have been to Buc-cee’s. Huge Store!
Fun places on Rte 66!
We have only just begun! Thank you Nancy!
Wow! I have never been to Texas so thanks for the pictures! What a huge bottle! I am enjoying your trip very much! Can you tell??? Karla/Clampetts
It was a fun place to visit Karla. We brought the grandkids each a bottle that were called dog breath and other gross names, but they tasted good the kids said. Lol I’m so glad you are enjoying the pictures, I’m having a great time sharing them. I hope you are doing well.
That’s cute the leaning tower of bittern! We went to a Buc ees when we were in Tennessee somewhere. There’s so much to see in those stores
I read that the tower was moved there just for a tourists attraction, it worked! I would love to visit a Buc-ee’s that isn’t packed with people just so I can look at everything they sell. I make the sandwich I bought from them every week and it gives me 4 sandwiches for lunches.
You’re making me want to do a Route 66 road trip someday! I love how you got a Christmas ornament as a souvenir! We’ve done that a couple times. I have a similar photo of John at Buc-ee’s in front of the truck they have on display. It’s quite the experience to go there! That diner with all those soda bottles – so awesome! ‘m going to have John look at your posts on your Route 66 trip to get him in the headspace to want to do that trip someday!
The order in which I am posting the stops on Rt 66 was the order of how we did the trip. Luckily we didn’t backtrack, my husband is a great vacation planner. I hope you get a chance to go.
That is what we are working on figuring out – we might do the trip it 2 segments 🙂
We went for 13 days. We went to so many places including Grand Canyon, painted desert, petrified forest, Botanical gardens etc. We ended up at the Riverwalk in San Antonio.
How cool!!
It was fun! Thanks
That huge soda bottle – it’s the perfect way to make sure no one misses your shop! Love the Leaning Tower of Britten. Oh, and I look forward to seeing your Christmas tree at the end of the year with all the decorations you bought on this road trip!
Oh gosh, I should have taken a picture of them before putting them with the Christmas totes. I will try to remember and for my last post show the ones from this trip. Great idea, thank you!
There’s a Bucc-ees just a few miles from our house; it’s always jam-packed.
Don’t tell my husband, he will want to move there! 🤣