Wagoner, Oklahoma....

Our Location:  Walmart, Wagoner, Oklahoma

We both slept well after we fell asleep and didn’t wake up until after 7 am. Rare for me but I needed the rest I guess. We did a few little chores, which included me unhooking to fuel up the Dogsled. It’s easier to do it this way sometimes and the gas bar was tight quarters so I was an extra 10 minutes hooking and unhooking before we started off. Tomorrow we’ll do the same thing. 

The green is showing, I think spring might be coming soon.

 

We headed off on I-40 East once again and enjoyed our drive today. We actually enjoyed the slightly overcast skies and then some brief sunshine which was once again swallowed up by the clouds. We had no rain and a slight wind but nothing much and it was a nice quiet uneventful travel day. We all like those kinds of travel days.

We stopped a couple of times to stretch and check things over but all was good. We found that I-40 EAST in the stretch we travelled today doesn’t have a lot of rest areas, we stopped at the only two we saw. We may have missed one but I don’t think so. 

 

We passed through Oklahoma City this morning on our travels. 

  

Today we travelled about 250 miles/ 402 KM, most of it on I-40 E. The road was okay but rough in some places, humpy, bumpy and down right ugly in a few others. The roads in Oklahoma leave a lot to be desired.

We passed through numerous Indian reservations including Creek, Kickapoo, Cherokee and a number of others. They all seem to have a small casino in their midst. None were big splashy buildings just small dark structures that one could spend a great deal of time and money in if they so desired.

 

We passed by Tinker AFB and this is one of the many planes on display. 

 

At exit 264B near the town of Checotah, OK we hung a right on to US 69 North and headed toward Muskogee. We changed our minds about stopping there for the night and headed past to Wagoner, which is where we are now. It wasn’t too much past Muskogee and we’re closer to our destination tomorrow. We are both happy about that. I will say that US 69 N is rough in some places, grooved and not the best travelling but the towns are the worst. The rest of road seems to be no worse than others we’ve travelled but not great. However we aren’t doing it for long or far, so it’s not a big deal. 

 

We pulled in at the Walmart around 2 pm local time and parked near the end of the lot. We visited The Dollar Tree, an ATM, and Walmart just to pass some time and get a bit of walking as well. A call to my dad to let him know we are safe and off the road for the night. He was happy to hear from us. 

Near Tinker AFB. Not sure what the hat is on the yellow one.

 

Tomorrow we move on to our destination and meet up with our good friends. We are excited about that and are looking forward to it. We have less than 80 miles/ 129 km to go. 

 

Blossoms along the way today.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Don't ya love the name of this road? Haha. It was Lake Eufaula.

 

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Another short day on the road...

Our Location: Walmart, Checotah, Oklahoma
 

(yesterday's post)

We were the only sleep overs, besides a guy in his avalanche at last nights stop. It was quiet and peaceful. Great for sleeping, I slept with my vent open and didn’t hear hardly any noise until about 6 am when someone came by with the hip hop tunes blasting loud enough to wake up the dead folks in the next county. However Miss Riley didn’t hear it. ~laugh~ That woman can sleep through anything. 

 

Fall colours in Southern Ontario, Canada

This morning was warm, in the mid 60’s some where and foggy. We just kind of took our time before starting out and didn’t get on the road until just before 9 am. We wanted the fog to have a chance to clear. We took a wrong turn out of the Walmart parking lot and ended up taking some back roads, which wasn’t too bad but I was expecting a straight run to the interstate from the lot as I had read about being taken along back roads for 10 miles to go 4 miles, if you know what I mean. However we managed to find the Interstate and started once again trucking it west. The ride was great, nothing exciting, or eventful but I’ve discovered that all Arkansas rest areas have the same kind of truck parking. It’s so weird. ~laugh~ 

 

A cold, rainy day we crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas.

We crossed the half way mark of our westward journey today near the Arkansas/Oklahoma state line. It’s just about 1300 miles each way from there. Considering we aren’t in any hurry I think we’re speeding right along. We are enjoying the new country scenes as we’re motoring along. The fall colours aren’t brilliant like back home in Ontario, they appear to be more dull, almost a rust colour, or at least that seems to be the dominant colour. Granted it was overcast during most of our drive and that may have played a factor as well.

 

Some of the roadside bushes in Arkansas

The hilly country today seemed to be blanketed in a haze in the distance, much like the Smokey Mountains with the haze hanging over everything. In fact the countryside reminded me very much of our travels in the Smokey Mountains, it had almost the same kind of feel to it, rolling hills, twisting roads, stretches of patched, bumpy roads, and always trees, small fields, and billboards. There were not many long flat areas as I some how imagined there would be, or perhaps we just aren’t seeing them from the interstate. We still have a few hours left to travel in Oklahoma so perhaps I’ll see that flat land later on.

 

Some colour in the roadside trees in Arkansas

We travelled a total of 225 miles again today, in about 5 hours, we stopped often, at pretty much each rest area we found. The Oklahoma welcome center is very nice and for those that follow any history the Cherokee Nation history is very rich in this area. The Trail of Tears has been signed for a lot of miles the last couple of days. There is a great deal of Native history evident in this area, many famous leaders of the Cherokee tribes and their heart breaking tales. Perhaps we might stop longer in this area another time to explore some of this history but we decided not to stay any longer than over night this trip. That makes me feel there will be another one in the future. 

 

Fields in Arkansas, the sky is so huge!!

We arrived in Checotah, Oklahoma, again at a Walmart front yard. Nice store, good parking but I haven’t looked around for a spot to fill up yet. Our travel today took us about a 1/2 tank of fuel or about 20 gallons of diesel. Not bad. Diesel is running right around the $2.60 per gallon range. Of course like everything some places are higher and a couple are lower. I’ve seen  prices as low as $2.40 and as high as $2.95. We certainly can’t complain about fuel prices when diesel back in northern Ontario is running between $1 - $1.25 per litre. I’m still trying to figure out why diesel is higher than gasoline, it takes less effort to make diesel, so shouldn’t that be a cheaper price? ~laugh~ Yes, I know, I know…it is what it is. 

 

Splashes of colour.

We arrived here just around 1:30 pm to a very warm and humid 80F with bright sunshine and some what blue skies. A bit of a nice  breeze on occasion helps to cool things off. I’m guessing we’ll be sleeping with the windows open tonight!!!

 

I can't count that many silos!!

A late lunch, a walk about the store to pick up a couple of things, and back to the Igloo to rest and smash beetles. ~laugh~ I think we might be winning. I bought some ant spray with residual effects up to 6 weeks. I spayed all the screens and around the windows, vents and the door. We shall see how it works or not in the days ahead.

 

For my dad, look at those colours, pretty rusty looking, huh?

I talked to my dad last night for a few minutes, making note that there is snow flurries there, and some coldish temps, but also some nice days in the upcoming week. A text message from my sister this morning confirmed snow flurries in her area and of course I DIDN’T laugh.

 

I know some folks that would be right at home there, and they aren't from Oklahoma!!

With the humidity the new hair cut is making me look very much like I’ve gone a hundred miles on a bike with no helmet. It’s sticking up in every direction. ~laugh~ Can’t tame the waves, can you!!!!!!!

 

Oklahoma Welcome Center, they sure know how to make you feel welcome.

On that note, I’m going to sign off. I hope you’ve enjoyed my short post. Looking forward to having some things to chat about in the future. Until next time…be safe…take care….