Oklahoma!

Today: Oklahoma, the last state on my trip.  It was only a couple of hundred miles from Wichita to Oklahoma City, and it was a pretty easy drive. Until getting close to the city, that is, when there were all these highways criss-crossing all over the place. Not much fun after weeks in the hinterlands, but between the GPS and me we got here.

My only planned site visit was to the National Cowboy Museum, which Cris suggested, and what an amazing collection – and group of buildings – it has. I spent about 2 hours there and didn’t do much more than scratch the surface. Have you ever seen a buffalo overcoat? How about angora chaps? Or a room filled with drawers of barbed wire? Hackamores? Saddles? Muzzle-loading and breech-loading rifles?


There are paintings, sculptures, and literally tons of exhibits, each with a singular focus: Crow basketry or saddles from the 1860s or rodeo trophies or Indian saddles from 1800. Photos of two sculptures are shown, the first one of Buffalo Bill sculpted in bronze, which is literally just out in the yard. The other one is plaster, entitled The End of the Trail, sculpted in 1915 by James Earle Fraser and the first thing you see when you walk in the door.

It is a fabulous museum, and if you come to Oklahoma City and do not go see it, you will make a huge mistake.

And so the end of the trail for me as well. I've been in 6 states I had never seen before. I've driven close to 3000 miles (admittedly, some of it lost), racking up the most miles in Montana and South Dakota, the least in Idaho (it's only 75 miles across up north).

I could muse a bit here: civility and the speed limit decrease together from north to south out here; lots of highway construction; you couldn’t play the license plate game today; casinos abound; they use air boats on the Platte River; cows still stand under shade trees in the heat.

We live in a beautiful country.

It’s hot in Oklahoma. I’m ready to go home.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a bit of my trip. I did.

Kansas

[I neglected to publish this post from Sunday on Sunday, but I wrote it on Sunday. Publishing Monday afternoon.]

I did a little wandering around Lincoln this morning before leaving for Wichita. Found a Starbucks and spent another $3 from my birthday gift card (2 states/2 Starbucks to go). Found Atwood House, an enormous and handsome B&B that Jenny recommended (I didn't stay there, however).

Found highway 81 and got on my way to Kansas.

Kansas turns out to be really flat, not unlike Nebraska. Where Nebraska had fields of green, Kansas has fields that are wheat colored, and for good reason: they're wheat. Where a John Deere store in North Carolina would focus on riding lawnmowers, a John Deere store in Kansas has farm equipment with tires that can be 10 feet in diameter. When you see a piece of equipment that size coming down the road in your direction, you give it all the room it needs and then some.

I arrived in Wichita too late to visit the zoo, which is high on the list of local attractions. 

After three weeks away from home, I'm ready for familiar faces and places and voices. Tomorrow I will travel to Oklahoma City, completing my planned trip from Washington to Oklahoma through Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. It's been fun.

Nebraska

Have you been to the world's only corn palace, which is in Mitchell, SD? When Sioux Falls failed to build its own corn palace in the late 1800s, Mitchell town leaders decided to do it. And do it they did. The outside of the building is covered in ears of corn and sheaves of rye in a pattern that changes annually. The old design is removed in June and the new design is finished by August. They devote 100 acres to growing the corn in 13 shades of color, and over 250,000 ears are applied. The photo shows the design that will come down in a few weeks; it covers several panels on the front and on the sides. It's pretty significant. Good historical video and guided tour available. Free, interestingly.

After the corn palace came the drive into Nebraska, which I had been warned is pretty boring. It's clearly an agricultural state, with miles and miles of rolling hills now covered in newly-planted greenery. Mostly corn, I'm told.

I noticed a dreaded MAINT REQD light on my dash. With several hundred miles to go, I opted to pull off and call the rental company. After asking a couple of relevant questions and letting me wait a few minutes, the service lady came back to say the oil didn't need to be changed for another 2000 miles so I should drive on and ignore the light. Really? The car is behaving just fine, but it's disconcerting anyway.

So, my drive to Clarkson continued. I was sent there to have a kolache from the bakery. I dutifully drove miles out of the way to find the Clarkson Bakery -- closed. See the photo.

I will find a kolache tomorrow one way or another.

Arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska, late in the afternoon.

South Dakota West to East

I started out today at Custer State Park in western South Dakota (Rob's suggestion) taking a guided jeep safari through the park with a couple from Indiana who were on their third day there and not tired of it yet. We saw much the same as I came across yesterday in North Dakota at Teddy Roosevelt Park: bison, prairie dogs, antelope, but none of the longhorn sheep or elk we hoped for (they were sleeping) and no mountain lions, which was fine. For two hours we drove up and down the hills coming across whatever was there. and learning a fair amount of history in the process.

I asked about the pine beetle problem in South Dakota as we drove past what's in the photo (the brown smudge right of center is affected dead trees). The problem is bad here, and our guide had spent last fall and winter identifying trees that had the beetle in their bark but not yet appearing to be affected (that is, not red or dead). The Park Service takes down such trees before the beetle can move on, and when it's safe they burn them. (The potters I met in Montana said they use these downed pines in their kilns. Recycling.)

Much of my venture in South Dakota was guided by Becki's suggestions, although I did not visit the caves she suggested once I found out that they are, um, real caves. Underground and enclosed and claustrophobia-inducing caves.  That took care of Jewel and Wind Caves.

But I did go see Mount Rushmore. Here I followed Ray's idea of driving on Thunder Road and coming upon what you see in the next photo. After several significant S curves on this ever-so-winding road, I came upon this one-lane tunnel beyond which stood Mount Rushmore -- surprising, bright white, and literally breathtaking -- about 20 miles away. After that, I decided being onsite with crowds of tourists like me wasn't going to be able to improve on what I had just seen, so I headed north and then east to the Badlands. Let's not discuss my missing a critical turn.

 

The Badlands is as other-worldly and stunning as advertised. There's a 35-mile loop through the park, so I drove that. At times the scenery looks like a moonscape, but the color and the effects of the wind on the canyons are amazing. One photo from there. Always that huge sky. This was the first time I ran into significant competition for the road. Who let those tourists out?





Then it was time to head across the state 220 miles to Mitchell. I happened upon this burro by the side of the road, very interested in me, evidently used to being fed. Closed the window and drove on. Next I stopped by Wall Drug (in Wall, no less) so I could say I did. Check.

Arrived in Mitchell in time to worry about a tornado on the ground a bit north of here, but it moved east without coming close.

Tomorrow: kolaches, Anthony!