This historic service station on Route 66 in Vinita is constructed from native stone.

This billboard advertises the Cherokee Casino. Across Oklahoma, American Indian tribes have found a lucrative moneymaker in the form of casinos built on tribal lands.

More rural landscape on the west end of Vinita.

Western edge of Vinita. On the left side of the road is the Western Motel, a clean and inexpensive place to spend the night.

Route 66 passes through a lot of rural areas in Oklahoma. As the road moves eastward, you’ll find settlements closer together; as it moves westward, into less populous areas, the stretches of rural landscape will get longer and longer.

A small stream cuts a jagged path across this field west of Vinita.

A forlorn tree, damaged by last winter’s ice storms, reaches toward a late winter sky in this image, shot west of Vinita in early March.

There’s not much in White Oak, but I’ve always liked the old grain elevator you see in the distance in this picture.

Road construction west of Vinita. Road-widening projects in the eastern part of Oklahoma have caused problems for some Route 66 businesses as construction zones limit access to driveways and entrances.

A good way to tell whether you’re on 66 is to look for the railroad. Route 66 shadows the railroad for much of its length.