Tuesday July 21

Hats off goes to Paul Stefurak for his hard, and time consumed work to constructively plan the first Route 66 road trip for the deaf bikers from Chicago to Los Angeles. This road trip was successful! Congratulations!

The night of July 21, Justin and I rode our bikes to Springfield, Mo but the heavy storm (lightenings, strong winds and heavy rain) forced us to stay overnight in Miami, Ok. Then in the morning we left for Springfield the heavy rain started again. We stopped at Joplin, Mo to browse at Harley Davidson store for a while until the rain stopped. The guy who worked there informed us that there was another heavy storm on the way again, and suggested that we park our bikes in the HD shop. Sure enough in a few minutes later, the storm was pouring hard!! Whew! We waited and waited until the rain became light; then we decide to go ahead and ride to Springfield and met a deaf lady biker there. From there we all 3 met you all at the Springfield Brewing Company.

Wednesday July 22

Justin Gray and I enjoyed riding our bikes with you all bikers from Springfield, MO to Tulsa, OK. Then other 3 more Oklahoma bikers joined with us all to Oklahoma City, Ok. It was fun to share the mother road with the bikers from different states; some of them we have never met before but once we met, we instantly became friends as if we were brothers and sisters.

When I first heard about Paul's plans on a Route 66 bike journey, I was excited and liked his idea very much that I contacted my Oklahoma bikers and Oklahoma friends to plan a warm welcome here in Tulsa. It took place on July 22nd at Blue City Bar and Grill. It was fun to be had by everyone with many stories and jokes to share! Then the very next morning on July 23rd, Total Source of Hearing-loss and Access (TSHA, a non-profit United Way agency specifically for the people with hearing loss) greeted us with fresh donuts and coffee. One of the local media stations, KOTV-news came to interview Paul and me on a live feed about this mother route trip. After that we stopped by the Route 66 Harley Davidson store here in Tulsa and then at a famous old round red barn that was built in 1898 in Arcadia near Oklahoma City. That barn survived a tornado while the farmer's house and other barn were demolished and since then, that barn continues to be maintained in good shape as one of the landmarks on the mother road. The next stop was to visit a famous market in the same town that still sell over 500 different flavors of soda pops. After that, we visited the Oklahoma City bombing memorial site that touched many hearts. The evening was wrapped up with a fun tour of the Bricktown vicinity in Oklahoma City with a dinner at Toby Keith restaurant until late evening to remember by. Then it was time for me and some bikers to say adieu to the rest of the bikers for the rest of their journey to Los Angeles...needless to say, it was really hard to let them go!

While the bikers were on a road going westwards, they constantly were on my mind with a sincere hope that they make it to Santa Monica safely. (As of now, they made it, and I am glad you all made it!)

I definitely hope that we all will do it again someday!

Take care, Brothers and Sisters, with best wishes from,

Mokie Bishop, Oklahoma Deaf Bikers and Oklahoma friends

Wednesday July 22

Springfield, Missouri to Tulsa, Oklahoma – 180.5 miles

First thing in the morning we had a news cameraman in for media report.  In the meantime we were provided by the deaf community service with some pastries and drinks.

We left Springfield, the Queen City of the Ozarks at 9.  The section of US 66 route was a real treat that made our travel more passionate.  We made some stops at the gas station with old relics.  Some of us got lost off the US 66 route due what I suspected that somebody vandalized (removed) the US 66 signs.

The highlight of the route was when we stopped for lunch at the 4 Women on the Route Cafe in Galena, Kansas, but some bikers enjoyed their lunch at a charming cafe in Baxter Springs. 

Entering Oklahoma there was a town where Mickey Mantle grew up in Commerce and where Bobby had root beer float drink.  

After Miami in Oklahoma, Bobby rode on a "Sidewalk" US 66 routes.  It was an unbelievable experience for him, a 9 feet wide pavement of early 66! 

Down the road, Claremore was worth some extra time to visit the Will Rogers Memorial.

By nightfall we were at a bar with live music.  We exchanged some jokes and middle-finger tale.  

Bobby Skedsmo