My first thought when I awoke was that by the end of the day I'd be in Tulsa. This brought back images of actress Susan Hayward starring in a movie named for the city. I saw the movie maybe 15 years ago and don't recall much, except that she was in it. I hoped to see a few oil wells up there later.
After having breakfast we got back onto the Interstate for the long drive through the rest of the Texas panhandle and most of Oklahoma before reaching Tulsa. Thankfully the rain had stopped, but now it was getting humid.
One of the first signs we saw when we entered Oklahoma was "Home of Susan Powell, Miss America 1981" near the town of Elk City. Susan is host, along with Chris McWatt, of a Discovery Daytime show called Home Matters. I watch it every chance I get. Farther along, close to Oklahoma City, is the proud town of Yukon. Boasting not only the birthplace of Garth Brooks, it is also home to Garth Brooks Boulevard. Time to exit the highway.
The exit ramp took us onto a road that dropped us off in a shopping center just north of the Interstate. We scrambled down the scrub-brush covered hill to another Garth Brooks sign and then looked up to see that we were, indeed, on Garth Brooks Boulevard. With the locals looking at us like we were crazy, Corey and I both took pictures and then drove on toward Interstate-44 which would take us northeast into Tulsa.
I-44 is the only toll road we encountered in either direction the entire 6,000 miles we'd travelled. Although I-44 begins just west of the city, it doesn't charge a toll until just northeast of town. Then, it's only $3.50 for the entire length. About half-way between OKC and Tulsa, we got off the road to get gas and more bottled water. The place where we stopped was called Kicks 66 and, just as I'd figured, I-44 follows Historic Route 66 all the way to St. Louis, MO.
Arriving in Tulsa very late at night was not what I had planned. I inadvertently got off a few exits too soon and ended up way out of my way for the motel. Pulling into a parking lot, I was lucky enough to park next to a cop who was just advising another motorist. It was quite dark and she told me that I was about 10 miles from my motel. Once we checked in and unpacked, we realized we were hungry, for breakfast! The only place serving breakfast all day was Village Inn, the same as Flagstaff! And the ONLY Village Inn was all the way back where I'd first gotten "lost." So, back to 51 and Memorial we drove. Funny thing is, right across the street from our motel is a Sonic Drive-In. I hadn't seen a drive-in in, oh, about 30 years. It was just like I'd remembered it, too. I drove in to show Corey what a drive-in restaurant "really" is.
The one thing that really made an impression on me in Texas and Oklahoma was what I nicknamed "dive-bombing-kamikaze-bug." These bugs would hit the windshield with such force that sometimes I would actually duck. And that noise; and mess. In the over 30 years that I've been driving I don't think I've cleaned my windows nearly as many times as I have already this trip. These bugs are huge.
