Tulsa was dumb. There is just no other way to say it. I’m sorry if you have deep feelings of affection for this town, but really, it was just pointless. I will say it was nice to spend time in the library updating my blog, but other than that, nothing happened in Tulsa worth repeating.
That Monday night, we stayed in Walnut Creek State Park, just west of Tulsa. It was a huge park and we found an incredible campsite with absolutely breath-taking views of the lake, and made it just in time to witness a stunning sunset. While there were no working bathrooms anywhere near us, the next morning we drove a bit to find one. When I opened the door, I knew I was going to have to be really brave to get through this experience. This was by far the most disgusting shower situation I have encountered yet. You know those lovely butterfly gardens you can visit? I felt like I was at one of those except instead of butterflies, there were a million disgusting ones. As I stood under the “stream” of water (more like trickle) I had a large moth swoop in on me, a four inch unidentifiable bug dive bomb me, and several other bugs, including a few wasps circle my head. But, at least the water was hot, and I managed to get cleaned up.
Tuesday morning we headed to Oklahoma City where we stopped at the National Memorial. Its crazy for me to think that happened 15 years ago already. It was still a very powerful place to visit: seeing memorabilia hanging on the fence for loved ones and the field of chairs that stood to represent the 168 people lost in the bombing were very moving to see. There were even smaller chairs to represent the children lost, and that was definitely the hardest visual for me to see. After the memorial we just walked around the city a bit, and hung out at a park. We ate dinner at a Mexican place in the city and had some scrumptious enchiladas. I’m glad that Guy suggested a motel for the night, because it was definitely time for a break from the van. Plus, its amazing how nice it is to have a working toilet feet from your bed and not have to go outside!
Wednesday we left Oklahoma City to head towards Amarillo, Texas. We drove. And drove. And drove some more. I got a bit car sick, and during one of our gas station stops, some old men stopped Guy to talk. They were sitting at a card table in the middle of a gas station and asked him where he was from. They told him he “sure had a pretty daughter.” When Guy relayed this story to me I died laughing. He claims it’s a common saying, but I surely hadn’t heard it before, and really think its kind of creepy. Right around Amarillo, we stopped at this place along Route 66 called the Cadillac Ranch. Its basically a row of old Cadillac’s buried headfirst and covered in graffiti. Totally the type of thing you would expect to see on Route 66.
Though we had reached our destination for the night, we decided to keep going, so we could drive less the next day. We kept our eyes open for rest stops, and pulled into one just west of Santa Rosa. I couldn’t believe the line up of semis, trucks and cars at this place. I was worried we might get “busted” trying to sleep at one of these places, but obviously that was not going to be an issue. This morning we woke up and only had a two hour drive left to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I loved seeing the landscape change with the mountains and desert-like grounds and wide open sky that you could see for miles across. When we got in town all the adobe/spanish-style houses were so cute and bright colors were in abundance. Guy said he had a great place in mind for lunch, so I obliged. I indulged the most incredible huevos rancheros I have ever tasted and was in total and complete food heaven. From there we went to the “Old Town,” which is essentially, well, the old part of town. There we saw a beautiful old Catholic church and quaint little shops selling mostly pottery, jewelry, art and turquoise. It felt a bit like a tourist trap, but was pleasant either way.
Now here we are at our house in Albuquerque, staying with our first Couchsurfing host, Bob. (For those of you not familiar with couch-surfing, its basically a “service” done via the internet where you sign up to either stay at someone else’s house or host someone else at your own home.) He has a very typical Spanish-style house with beautiful landscaping and just a short walking distance to downtown Albuquerque. He took us to a delicious pizza place and then gave us a tour of downtown before heading home for the night. He has been an incredible host - totally opening us his home to us and even giving us a key to the house so we can come and go as we please while we are here. Now that’s trust!
Today we ventured out to Petroglyphs National Monument to view the ancient drawings made by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. It was certainly interesting, many images were very recognizable, others…not so much. That being said, there is presently much debate from Native America members what the interpretation of such images are, so who am I to begin to have a clue? The landscape was beautiful, weather outstanding, and overall it was a very neat experience. Later in the afternoon we headed to Asian Noodle Restaurant (which was rated the best noodle place in America by some food magazine). Yum! After that we took a walk to the downtown plaza and headed home. I am hopeful that we will home out once more to get some yummy dessert before calling it a night…
That Monday night, we stayed in Walnut Creek State Park, just west of Tulsa. It was a huge park and we found an incredible campsite with absolutely breath-taking views of the lake, and made it just in time to witness a stunning sunset. While there were no working bathrooms anywhere near us, the next morning we drove a bit to find one. When I opened the door, I knew I was going to have to be really brave to get through this experience. This was by far the most disgusting shower situation I have encountered yet. You know those lovely butterfly gardens you can visit? I felt like I was at one of those except instead of butterflies, there were a million disgusting ones. As I stood under the “stream” of water (more like trickle) I had a large moth swoop in on me, a four inch unidentifiable bug dive bomb me, and several other bugs, including a few wasps circle my head. But, at least the water was hot, and I managed to get cleaned up.
Wednesday we left Oklahoma City to head towards Amarillo, Texas. We drove. And drove. And drove some more. I got a bit car sick, and during one of our gas station stops, some old men stopped Guy to talk. They were sitting at a card table in the middle of a gas station and asked him where he was from. They told him he “sure had a pretty daughter.” When Guy relayed this story to me I died laughing. He claims it’s a common saying, but I surely hadn’t heard it before, and really think its kind of creepy. Right around Amarillo, we stopped at this place along Route 66 called the Cadillac Ranch. Its basically a row of old Cadillac’s buried headfirst and covered in graffiti. Totally the type of thing you would expect to see on Route 66. 
Though we had reached our destination for the night, we decided to keep going, so we could drive less the next day. We kept our eyes open for rest stops, and pulled into one just west of Santa Rosa. I couldn’t believe the line up of semis, trucks and cars at this place. I was worried we might get “busted” trying to sleep at one of these places, but obviously that was not going to be an issue. This morning we woke up and only had a two hour drive left to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I loved seeing the landscape change with the mountains and desert-like grounds and wide open sky that you could see for miles across. When we got in town all the adobe/spanish-style houses were so cute and bright colors were in abundance. Guy said he had a great place in mind for lunch, so I obliged. I indulged the most incredible huevos rancheros I have ever tasted and was in total and complete food heaven. From there we went to the “Old Town,” which is essentially, well, the old part of town. There we saw a beautiful old Catholic church and quaint little shops selling mostly pottery, jewelry, art and turquoise. It felt a bit like a tourist trap, but was pleasant either way. 
Now here we are at our house in Albuquerque, staying with our first Couchsurfing host, Bob. (For those of you not familiar with couch-surfing, its basically a “service” done via the internet where you sign up to either stay at someone else’s house or host someone else at your own home.) He has a very typical Spanish-style house with beautiful landscaping and just a short walking distance to downtown Albuquerque. He took us to a delicious pizza place and then gave us a tour of downtown before heading home for the night. He has been an incredible host - totally opening us his home to us and even giving us a key to the house so we can come and go as we please while we are here. Now that’s trust! 
Today we ventured out to Petroglyphs National Monument to view the ancient drawings made by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. It was certainly interesting, many images were very recognizable, others…not so much. That being said, there is presently much debate from Native America members what the interpretation of such images are, so who am I to begin to have a clue? The landscape was beautiful, weather outstanding, and overall it was a very neat experience. Later in the afternoon we headed to Asian Noodle Restaurant (which was rated the best noodle place in America by some food magazine). Yum! After that we took a walk to the downtown plaza and headed home. I am hopeful that we will home out once more to get some yummy dessert before calling it a night…
You making me Hungry Desert?
ReplyDeleteYou are cracking me up with your bugs in the shower story...Thanks for the updates!
ReplyDelete