Route 66 caravan brings 72-ounce steak challenge near Navajo Nation
Courtesy | The Big Texan Steak Ranch and Brewery
The Big Texan Steak Ranch’s giant cow and trailer will join the Route 66 Main Street of America Centennial Caravan in June as the Amarillo, Texas, restaurant takes its 72-ounce steak challenge on the road.
WINDOW ROCK
The Big Texan Steak Ranch’s 72-ounce steak challenge is headed to several Route 66 cities near Diné Bikéyah as part of a centennial caravan traveling from California to Illinois in June.
The Route 66 Main Street of America Centennial Caravan is scheduled to leave Santa Monica, California, on June 6 and arrive in Chicago on June 25. The trip is part of the 100-year celebration of Route 66, which was established in 1926 and became one of the country’s best-known highways.
The caravan will include representatives from the eight states Route 66 passes through. It also will feature a giant cow and trailer from The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.
“Route 66 runs both ways,” said Rhys Martin, the president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association and manager of the Preserve Route 66 Program at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “By heading east and taking nearly three weeks to drive the road, we’ll get to see more people and celebrate the communities that make the highway special.”
The Big Texan will host local grilling events along the route, with two challengers invited each evening to try the restaurant’s 72-ounce steak challenge. Participants who finish the steak and all trimmings within one hour eat for free.
People interested in competing may post a video or message on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok explaining why they should be selected. Entries must tag @thebigtexan and include the contestant’s city as a hashtag.
The caravan is scheduled to travel from Flagstaff to Gallup on June 11, with stops at Meteor City, Winslow, Jackrabbit Trading Post in Joseph City, Holbrook and Petrified Forest National Park. The schedule lists a 4:45 p.m. stop at Yellowhorse Trading Post in Lupton, Arizona, near the Arizona-New Mexico line, before the caravan continues into Gallup.
The Gallup steak challenge is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. at McKinley County Courthouse Square. The Flagstaff event is set for 5 to 7 p.m. June 10 at Best Western Pony Soldier, followed by an Albuquerque event from 5 to 7 p.m. June 12 at the Historic Microsoft Headquarters, 6320 Linn Ave. NE.
Other regional stops include Kingman on June 9, Santa Fe on June 13, Santa Rosa on June 14 and Amarillo on June 15. The caravan will continue through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois before ending in Chicago.
Information: route66caravan.com
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow