On the road with Pipes & Sticks on Route 66: Day 5

The group of world famous pipers and drummers who hit the road in early-April week on the “Pipes & Sticks on Route 66” tour have embarked on a one-of-a-kind journey, and members of the team have offered to provide pipes|drums Magazine readers with an exclusive travel log on the adventure. Drummers Mike Cole and Jim Kilpatrick and pipers Stuart Liddell, Angus MacColl and Willie McCallum are taking three weeks to traverse the old US Highway #66, playing recitals and conducting workshops along the way. Mike Cole makes a few observations on the fifth day of action on tour.

Day 5

By Mike Cole

For breakfast we were back at The Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo, Texas, where Willie and I were eyeing the 72 oz. steak. We decided against it, as we had a concert that night, and we expected having a heavy breakfast wouldn’t be such a good idea.

Shortly after leaving Amarillo we arrived at the Cadillac Ranch, the graveyard of 10 Cadillacs, half-buried nose-first in the ground. They are positioned at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza. All of the Cadillacs are spray-painted with various messages from visitors over the years.

The guys grabbed cans that were left on the ground and proceeded to spray-paint their own messages. They had great fun, and Willie and Angus took turns playing the pipes as the rest of us got their photos. At one point Stuart was lying on the ground taking Willie’s photo, while Jim was taking it from the side. Great fun all the way round at an extraordinary site on historic Route 66.