Oklahoma What a great state

Day 20 – June 29, 2009
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Dinner last night was very good at Calico County on Paramount Ave., Amarillo Texas. Service was great and the atmosphere is western as you would expect in Texas, but I was impressed to see signed pictures of George Strait and other country singers as well as President George Bush all making comments about the great food and service.

Again the sky was overcast when we left at 6:30 AM and we had a few sprinkles until about 8 when the sun appeared. Riding through the panhandle of Texas was pretty much more of the same – a few oil rigs and herds of cattle on green pastures. But Oklahoma took my heart when we crossed the state line even though there are no mountains, not even in the distance. Everything is green grass, DOT workers were actually mowing grass along the highway and the smell of fresh cut grass was so sweet. Large herds of cattle grazing in the fields, corn growing and hay being mowed and there are lots of trees. However, all the trees bend toward the north like huge fingers pointing or servants bowing to a king because of the constant southerly winds that blow. And there are lots of birds; we have not seen birds since we arrived in the Midwest way back on route 50 other than the occasional very large black crow. But now there are birds flying everywhere and the sweet smell of flowers mixed with the farm smells of the cattle. We stopped at a Cherokee Trading Post for lunch and I had a buffalo burger; tastes like beef but a little drier and less fat. We have stopped around 3 PM in Midwest – Oklahoma City for the night. With the heat in this part of the country we have found it best to ride early and stop early when possible. Getting around Oklahoma City is about like getting around Washington DC on the beltway or any other large city; move left then move right then left again. Having a GPS is really handy in situations like this. Don’s CB cord broke a few days ago and he can hear through the external speakers but he cannot communicate with us so we have a system where he keys the mic 3 times for yes and 1 for no to my questions.