♫♫♫ 24 Minutes from Tulsa....♫♫♫ - the short version

17 September - Last night we spent in Bristow OK, which is about 24 minutes from Tulsa so that will have to do lol. Woke up  to the promise of 82F (28C) but they lied...was cold and pouring with rain and thundering & lightning most of the day. When we arrived in Tulsa we headed straight for the Jiffy Lube to get the van serviced, tyres checked and windscreen wiper replaced...the other one we did yesterday because the rubber doodad kept coming out of the metal thingo (this is all technical talk of course :) )  Anyway - following the advice of Lonely Planet we went to Dot's Cafe for brunch....about the most rugged looking place you can think of but it was great food and full to capacity. To get to the restrooms you had to go through the kitchen and what I saw should have taken my appetite away but it didn't lol.

Dot's Cafe

On to Will Rogers's Museum. Had no idea who he was but everything around is named after him. He was an actor - a radio personality - a writer - soldier and an all American guy and is obviously held in high esteem in USA. Left Tulsa going towards Joplin Missouri when we passed a couple of interesting buildings.

Covered in Grafitti (which we added to)

We arrived in Joplin - the town that was decimated by a tornado in May this year. 24 deaths. We  drove around the huge swath the tornado cut through the town and it was plain horrible. Although rebuilding is going on the wreckage and carnage is still very visible. These photos don't do it justice.

This was a school

Felt very low as we left Joplin, knowing that it will be many years, if ever, before these people's lives return to normal.

Price of petrol today was $3.39 per gallon (75cents per litre)            Miles 224.8 (362 kms)   Bugs#  624

♫♫♫ I get my kicks...on Route 66....♫♫♫

16th September - We spent last night at the Trade Winds Motel in Clinton OK ...extremely dated and dowdy and we were very surprised to find out that Elvis also has stayed there. Not recently of course and I guess in it's hey day it was a bit more trendy. Didn't see any TV's with bullet holes in them and there wasn't a pink Cadillac in sight. It is, however, right over the road from the Route 66 museum.

Got and earlyish start and went straight to the Route 66 museum in Clinton Oklahoma. Really enjoyed it and it is all very well done. Bought lots of souveniers  :)   I saw a man with lots of badges on his hat and suggested he might like an Australian one to add to them. He gratefully accepted and bought me an American one....nice!  His name is Glen and his wife is Cindi and they live in Wisconsin. We got chatting and they invited us to visit them....time may not permit but if it does we will certainly  go see them...they were delightful people.

We drove off towards Oklahoma City stopping on the way to have breakfast/lunch at Lucille's Diner. Great food and really cheap. It was the sort of place you would expect the Happy Days cast to walk into - great decor.

Lucille's Diner

The photo below will answer that age old question that's oft been asked..............................

Show me the way to Amarillo....wake up I'm chewing my pillow

Still on the way to Oklahoma City we stop at Cherokee's Indian Trading Post - once again a mine of interesting bits and pieces and aretefacts and antiques and a very tall Indian.

I was a peeking!!!

The rain started to come down more seriously as we headed off - NO! - there was no rain dance but I did look up his chaps *!*   As we got into Oklahoma City - crazy drivers and lots of road work - a truck went by and threw up 4 million gallons of water right onto our windscreen. It gave us a hell of a fright.
We went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and it was quite chilling seeing the photos and mementos there - 16 years after the event. The bombing claimed 168 lives including 19 children under 6. For each person there are empty chairs - small ones for the children and it is so sad. The site itself is eerily quiet in the midst of a busy city. 194.4 miles (313 kms) Bugs # 612

Empty chairs At Oklahoma Bombing Site

More Cowboy Stuff :)

15th September - In Dodge City today the temperature is going to be 12C (52 max) - on Saturday it will be 32C (89F). Very strange and very wet and cold. After 60 days in shorts and t shirts and sandals it feels a bit confining being in jeans and hoodie and boots. Could it have something to do with the 10 lbs (4.45 kgs) I have put on? NAH!! OK...diet starts tomorrow. It's very difficult to find time to exercise and sitting in the van driving all day leaves little chance for incidental exercise. It's not so bad when we are in the cities for a few days because we walk for miles. Well....tomorrow will be the start of a different regime, food and exercise wise. Don't want to chub up any further.:(    If Lee leads me into temptation I'll tell her she's got "trucker's bum" - she hasn't of course but it might scare her into keeping me on the straight and narrow. I don't want to get into the van and have to say "does my bum look big in this".

We explored Dodge City today and whilst the western town was good it wasn't a patch on the authenticity of Cow Town in Wichita. Went to Boot Hill but didn't meet anyone I knew :).  Read some more about Wyatt Earp. In today's world he would be a man of dubious character and "a person of interest" to the police. He certainly had a finger in every pie - legal or not. Incidentally - he didn't die till 1929 and it was of natural causes.

Boot Hill Dodge City

Phew!!  El Pongo

Wyatt Earp's Buntline Special. 12" Barrel - I would have shot my foot off before I got it out the holster lol

Went on into Oklahoma - see photo below for proof

It was very very windy and there were lots of semis - just about blew us off the road every time they passed  and some of the normal wind gusts were pretty strong too. I guess you can expect no less in tornado country. I feel for ya, Dorothy!! We are now in Clinton Oklahoma - the home of the Route 66 museum which we will see in the morning before we set off on Route 66 (where I get my kicks). The route is fairly fragmented these days but we will do what we can of it. Miles today 208.4 (335 kms) Bugs # 602

Cowboy time!!!!!

Woke up in Topeka Kansas to cold winds and rain....strange, as the temperature was 92F (33C) when we left Omaha. We hit the road towards Wichita and I lurv Wichita. I'm afraid I was very disappointed with Topeka...always had it in mind that it was something special but it's not.  Now! .... Wichita has  a fantastic road system...lots of overhead multi lane freeways. The whole town is clean and well looked after...just has a good feel about it...cared for. Would like to go back sometime for further investigation.   We went to The Cow Town which is a whole street and a bit of old western buildings...all authentic although some had been moved there from other locations. Loved it and you could really imagine yourself being back in the 1870's. (NO!!! I can't remember what that was like lol) There were people in costume wandering around and you could just walk into any building freely. Had a ride in a covered wagon...that thing has no springs and I have a new respect for the early settlers. Also seems Wyatt Earp was really a twerp...he was a special policeman in Wichita which was the lowest of the low and his job was also to fix the side walks and keep the town clean. He got sacked for beating up his opponent in the Sheriff elections and stole the fines he had collected that day. He then moved to Dodge City.

Covered Wagon - rough ride

Western Buildings - all authentic

We left Wichita late afternoon and headed west towards Dodge City. Didn't get in till late as we were driving straight in to the sun set. What we saw as we came into the city wasn't reassuring....very smelly (fertiliser?) and very dusty...got a bit better as we got into the touristy area so looking forward to exploring tomorrow. Did 345.2 miles (555km)  Bugs# 599

Goodbye Omaha ;(

13 September - it was a very teary goodbye to Karen & Robby this morning. We are going to miss them so much ;(  After a Macca's breakfast (or Micky D's over here) we drove on through Missouri to Kansas City and stopped in Independence and did a tour of Harry Truman's house.  We then went on to Topeka Kansas and managed to get lost a few times. We went to  book in to a KOA RV Park but it was at the end of a long dirt road and was next to these dead fields and a spooky house and the park itself looked horrible and the office was empty and you just had to phone a number on the door. After Karen & Robby scared us to death with ghost stories the night before we decided to make a break for it and find a motel. After the ghost stories the other night Lee and I retired to the van and every time we tried to sleep the lights kept coming on and then off. Ten minutes later they would come on again...then off....!    Spooky!!!!  333.5 miles (536 kms) Bugs #593

Harry Truman's House

Kaz & Robbo!!!!!!!!!!!!

9 th September - 170.6 miles (275 kms) Drove to Winterset Iowa where John Wayne was born and saw his home - very tiny. Interesting museum. His mother must have held a grudge against him because he was over 13 lb when he was born. Ouch!

Drove on to Omaha City to visit Karen & Robby Rabuck. I have known Karen through the internet for about 11years and am very excited about meeting her and Robby for real!!!! Bugs #566

10th September to 12 th September- In Omaha with Karen & Robby and  having a great time. They are every bit as wonderful as I thought and more. We visited the Old Market, Had lunch at Billy Frog's, noodled through lots of shops, ate ice cream, ate the most amazing ribs I have ever tasted - cooked with love by our Robby. He seriously needs to open a rib restaurant. We went to dinner at Lazlo's - another great meal - this time Robby built the building lol. On 9/11 we hung out and watched the replay on TV  - just as moving and as frightening now as it was 10 years ago. We also watched the Huskers win against Fresno State - Huskers were losing till Robby saved the day by gearing up in his Huskers clothes. Makes Ronald McDonald look dowdy lol. Bugs # 577

Karen & Robby at Billy Frog's Omaha

Karen & Robby at Lazlo's

Robby ready for the Husker's game