Oklahoma

It's only 75 miles from Dallas to the Oklahoma border, so I headed north, with the intention of going to Oklahoma City - for no better reason than it's the closest major city. I deliberately didn't pick up the couple of hitch-hikers I saw, but only because I wasn't sure where I was going. As I crossed the OK border on Interstate 35, there was the inevitable "visitor center". I told them I was in OK for probably the only day in my life - what should I see? Their response? If I was prepared to drive to Oklahoma City (which I was), I should see the Cowboy Museum and/or the site of the Oklahoma City bombing. I got back on the highway wondering what I was going to do when I hit Oklahoma City (I've never been back to the World Trade Center in NYC, haven't been to the site of JFK's assassination in Dallas, and certainly don't want to see a disaster site in Oklahoma City; and I'm not hugely interested in cowboys, either!).

I pulled off the highway at a "scenic pullout". I suppose it was scenic, but would have been a lot more so if they'd cleared away some of the immediate vegetation so you could see the full panorama. They probably have much more interesting things to do in Oklahoma.

As I drove along the highway, I noticed a number of trucks going by (sidebar: everybody here drives trucks; when I asked someone at work why, they said "in case I want to haul sump't'n"; if I asked what was the last thing they "hauled", they usually just laughed) with a flag flying from the window. There were so many  of these that I tried to read what was on the flags - it was "OU". Now I know from talking to one of the guys at work who's from Tulsa that OU is the University of Oklahoma, and I also know that football season has now started, so I thought maybe there was a game. I tucked in behind a truck flying TWO flags (if there's a game, this guy HAS to be going!) and followed him when he left the highway. Sure enough, he went to the University. It was pretty obvious that "the game was afoot", so I parked and went in search of a ticket. None at the box office, so had to buy from a scalper outside - fortunately, only a reasonable markup, and a very good seat - 6 rows back on the 30yd line.

The local team (the Sooners) were playing Fresno State, from California, and at half-time the score was 38 to zip, so I decided to bale out. It was 200 miles back to the hotel, and I wanted to find Route 66, which I knew was somewhere nearby, and 4:30pm already. Besides, they don't serve beer at college games!

So, after getting lost around Oklahoma City, I found Route 66 almost by accident. The signposts all around here are terrible. Route 66 was a bit of a disappointment (and I think Buzz and Todd would have been disappointed, too). I was hoping to find at least a diner where I could get something to eat, but no such luck. After about 20 miles, I headed south on Route 81, which turned out to be the old Chisholm trail. As I came over the brow of a hill, I saw the road stretched out in front of me. In some ways this sums up Oklahoma - kind of a cross between Pennsylvania and Northern Vermont. Not hilly really, but undulating, and mostly agricultural, but with many buildings that have outlived their usefulness, and simply left to decay and despoil the landscape.

I keep seeing sunflowers growing wild by the roadside - they're everywhere, and they're pretty.

OU game

Scenic overlook

Straight road

Sunflowers