Oh Oklahoma...won't you ever stop?

This state started out boring...and that's how it stayed. Alllll day long. Thankfully, there were some pretty cool things every once in a while. The first place we stopped was the Totem Pole Park in Foyil. Matthew loved it, which made it really hard to leave. He is beginning to get pretty road weary, and therefore quite testy at times. He did NOT want to leave the dinosaur's cage...which is what he called the biggest totem pole because of the big eagle feet coming out from the bottom of it. I guess they looked like dinosaur feet to him. cute.

Will Rogers said, "But if you want to have a good time, I don't care where you live, just load your kids, and take some congenial friends, and just start out. You would be surprised what there is to see in this great country within 200 miles of where any of us live. I don't care what state or what town." How true Will. You can even live in the most bland of states, no offense Oklahoma, and drive a little while and find a huge blue whale in a swimming hole.

Tulsa was....well it just left much to be desired. We just drove through, and this was no small task. Construction was all over the place and half the roads we needed to take were closed. Not good for people who have no clue where they are.

When Route 66 was originally laid, OK didn't have much money to build it's stretch so much of it is one lane and barely there anymore. The jog between Tulsa and OK City is known as the "Sidewalk Highway" for this reason. We were able to hop on the OLD old Route 66 at times and this was quite fun. Windy roads and old bridges...the road even turned to gravel at times...we were really sticking with the oldest part we could most of the times. Much of the old route was also the Ozark Trail and Trail of Tears. Really neat to picture the history that surrounds these plaines.

We stopped at the Shoe Tree...just a dead tree that people for years and years have just tied their shoes to...not sure why but ok. We contributed my old flip flops and left our mark on Route 66. If you're ever at the Shoe Tree in Depew let me know if my orange flops are still there. Stopped at a cool old joint for lunch called the Rock Cafe. This place was made of busted up OLD route 66 rock.

While our route was dotted with cool old abandoned gas stations and motel/efficiencies, it was for the most part pretty boring.

Oklahoma City, much like it's younger brother Tulsa, was VERY anticlimactic. We kept waiting for something cool with no luck.

Aaaannnnnd for about the next 60 miles it was pretty much the same. We had decided to stay in Clinton, OK at the Trade Winds Motel. Apparently Elvis stayed here often as it was a good day's drive out of Memphis for him. I'm sure it was nice and fancy back in the day...but the Hampton Inn down the street was calling our names. No WiFi at the Trade Winds. We kinda feel like we wimped out but...whatever. :o)

Tomorrow's trek is into Texas to Amarillo then on to New Mexico, probably ending up in Tucumcari. Hopefully the weather will be nicer too so we can roll the windows down and really enjoy the beauty of the Mother Road. She really hasn't let us down yet...just got a little sleepy on us.