Day 3

Woke up early again, showered, then went to Sonic. Got a breakfast bistro sandwich, which was alright, but not stellar. Then dropped Liz off work. I had such a wonderful time. I drove back through campus, filled up the tank, and headed for Tulsa. Like my drive in, the drive out was beautiful. The Ozarks are amazing. I got to Tulsa without incident and promptly stopped by Oral Roberts University because my dad went to his first year of dental school there and my mom was with him, working at the hospital. ORU was terribly tacky. Lots of gold buildings. It looks like aliens landed and tried to set up a village. I walked around for a few minutes so I could grab pictures of the most aesthetically offensive buildings and then back to my car to plan a scenic drive through west Oklahoma.

I guess I drove through Oklahoma City, but didn’t see any of it really, so I don’t think it really counts. I got gas in it, I think. Speaking of, though, it’s the end of Day 3 as I write this, and I have only spent $250 on gas thus far. I’ve gone I think about 1600 miles. This was NOT the summer to pick to do this, but in (quasi-)retrospect, I wish I’d done this long ago. Or maybe I’m doing it at the right time. I am loving being by myself and about the time I get bored, Jon will joining me, so it’s good. Therapeutic even, but certainly not bad. The only thing that sucks is that by the end of the day, my lower back hurts. Lumbar area. Although, now that I say that, today was my longest driving day thus far and it didn’t hurt, but that’s probably b/c I took 2 Tylenol in the morning before I started out specifically to address that problem.

After OK city, I started looking for a Popeye’s which I still haven’t found. There have been a few, but I’ve missed them. (as an aside…I’m watching the local Amarillo news, which is just terrible and they can’t get any of their audio feeds to work. This guy is floundering. He’ll never be as bad as the “boom goes the dynamite” guy –if you don’t know what that is, search that term in youtube—but he’s bad. It’s not his fault. His tech crew is terrible.) Maybe Popeye’s is for tomorrow.

So then I drove down 44 to Clayton, OK and then went into my scenic route. A lot of up and down hills, but straight roads. Through the country side. Very few cars. Not many buildings. It was pretty incredible. I’ve found throughout my travels that there are certain moments when everything becomes clear and life seems simple because no one knows where you are or what you’re doing. It is an almost indescribable feeling. I think it’s just the euphoria of being completely free. I attained it in Europe last summer and I have throughout this trip. I’ve kept some people up to date as to my geographical location, but today I was truly free. No one knew where I was. And where I was is some two lane road with nothing around. Speed limit is 70, so it’s fast, especially for a 2 lane road with no shoulder. So I’ve got the speed and of course, the windows must come down. Then the Garth Brooks begins. I put it on solely because Garth is from Yukon, OK, which I had passed through an hour before. So country music blasting, windows down, sunroof open, hair amuck, country roads, and no one knows where the hell I am. Actually, at one point, I had to take a detour b/c the “bridge is out.” So there was a point where even I didn’t know where I was. I have to say, it’s a nearly religious experience. I love people and I love my friends, but I also really love being all alone and going on adventures. Even if they aren’t that exciting to the normal person. Sometimes I think I need therapy, but really the best therapy for me, personally, is to escape to complete freedom and anonymity. Temporarily of course. I can’t wait to see friends again on Friday, but just for those few minutes/hours/days, it’s really therapeutic , for me at least.

So that was my spiritual experience in west Oklahoma. I headed into Texas and things got flat quick. I drove through some very tiny towns with signs that said “Welcome to Allison” and “Welcome to Panhandle”; some of which even included the local high school’s list of state football championships. I watch “Friday Night Lights” so I get it. West Texas. Crazy about high school football.

I think that’s a recurring theme about this trip. I’ve seen many of these places in tv shows and movies…unfortunately, most notably, horror movies…but I never really believed that places like this existed. Or if they did, I never imagined I’d be there. I’m an east coast girl with a strong curiosity about the west coast…but everything in between? Never really gave it much thought. I drove through a lot of dilapidated towns and I don’t know how long they’ve been like that, but they just seemed like victims of our failing economy. The agricultural/farming industry is obviously struggling and it is very evident in the empty farm towns that once bustled.

After my drive through west Oklahoma and the “top hat of Texas” (as I’ve decided to call it), I arrived in Amarillo. I stayed at a nice hotel, but Amarillo itself is not nice. Not that I saw. Just the typical chain restaurants/gas stations/whatever. Speaking of gas stations though, it was the first time I paid over $4 for gas. In Texas of all places! Don’t they have oil? Shouldn’t it be cheaper there than anywhere else in the country? I’m not really sure, but it didn’t seem right.