Finally, Oklahoma and Today

Friday March 22, 2013 Quality Inn Room 127 Ponca City, OK 10:38 PM CST

Ah, at last a really good night's sleep in a long time. Went to bed at 9:30 pm CST which meant 8:30 the way it has been in NM. Slept until 8:10 am CST with a couple of slight awakenings but not many. How many hours? Who knows, just know I woke refreshed and rested. Got on the road by 9:30 but must say it was a bit demoralizing to have to sit in the car and wait for the windshield to defrost. I don't want to deal with that but know that I will have to face snow and cold now that we are headed back--:(  I always hate when we leave NM--friends, warm weather, sunshine, wide open spaces. I get homesick for the Southwest but never for the Northeast--only for my daughter and my Misty. And my sister and nephew and aunt also.

As we traveled eastward it was interesting to notice the things that are so symbolic of Oklahoma: grain elevators, oil rigs, feed yards, cattle, fields for wheat as far as the eye can see--but then these are the symbols of all of the Midwest. And, of course, the windmills and empty deserted houses, too. Small towns without much in them, dry river beds--the Beaver and the Cimarron are shown on the map as such huge rivers and they are dry as a bone!  All of the trees, what few there are, are bent grotesquely toward the north--misshapen by the strong and ever present wind.

It was fun to come to Forgan--we have almost all the episodes of Hank the Cowdog--I love his voice. A teacher from OK who was in a class with Bill on entrepreneurship at Hilton Head many, many years ago told Bill and me and Betsy who was in grade school about the adventures of Hank the Cowdog--we became hooked. He's quite the character. And here was his home. Neat-o!

As we progressed farther east--for a minute the terrain changed and became almost interesting--hilly with eroded gullies and alcoves--could almost understand the lyrics to " The Oklahoma Hills Where I Was Born"  but it didn't last. Soon we were transversing the same old same flat landscape. I couldn't live here--flat, windy, desolate--nope and tornadoes?? UH,UH--not me.

There are so few trees here, except what have been planted as thick wind breaks, that old tires are used on fence posts to alert the hunter to posted land and inform the locals of upcoming events--Oklahoma billboards!  LOL

Loved the town called Jet--nothing there to speak of--and then at the east end of town--A JET!!!! How do these towns get these things?--I know old jets go into mothballs and sit and rot but how does one wind up in the middle of nowhere and where does the money come from to get it there, set it up and maintain it??? Crazy!

Beginning to see the PO cutbacks--in Nash the PO closed at 11:30 am and in the next town, where we mailed a letter at 2:30, we just made it, since they were closing at 3!  And this is Friday--guess Thetford with its FIVE PO's three miles apart each--cannot complain, huh?

By 4:30 we arrived in Ponca City--everything is here--a restaurant, laundry, coffee and cookies etc. Staying here tonight and maybe tomorrow. Met a guy in the lounge who is from Iowa--big oil boom going on here and he is selling rock to the drillers--not sure why but was interesting chatting with him about Iowa, March Madness, his experiences here. Then back to the room. Nothing on but March Madness so will head to bed and figure out tomorrow what we will do next. Motel is full up--not sure we'll get a room for tomorrow at all. We'll see--sleep tight KandB