Phyllis Payne, former manager of the Ambassador Hotel in Amarillo, Texas, has gone into a new venture — Cowgirls & Cowboys in the West, which provides Route 66 tours and western-style vacations at nearby Palo Duro Canyon.
Dude-ranch vacations in the Amarillo region are nothing new. In fact, Japanese singer and actor Yamashita Tomohisa spent a couple of days at the River Breaks Ranch herding cattle during his Route 66 trip last fall.
But the reason this new business came about proves interesting. According to the Amarillo Globe-News:
Paul McCartney’s tour of the U.S. Mother Road and stay at the Ambassador in August 2008 “made me realize how important tourism and Route 66 really are,” Payne said. “We are focusing on the motorcycle tours and all of the Europeans who come down Route 66. We will divert them.
“We will grab them at Route 66, give them walking tours of Route 66, but also take them out to other areas in the Panhandle and give them a little experience of the West and horseback and Palo Duro Canyon.
That’s at least the second indirect benefit to Route 66 that’s occurred since McCartney and his future wife’s Mother Road tour. Oklahoma City decided to install more Route 66 directional signs in the wake of Sir Paul’s stayover.
Cowgirls and Cowboys in the West is offering five-day, four-night tours for $1,990 in the spring and fall, to coincide with cattle roundups.