2004-03-28
First Leg of the Journey
Day 1: got a late start, as usual. D-Dog and the Floofy One we got to their posh kennel by 1pm but the Floofy One howled and screamed and whined and whimpered as they led her away. This was not normal and gave me the willies. It must be akin to what a mother feels when she takes her kid to Kindergarten the first time and watches the teacher haul him off *sigh*.Anyway, the drive was uneventful throughout Missouri and Oklahoma for the most part. The Ozarks are beautiful but I grew up here so they are just woodsy hills to me LOL
We finally stopped just west of Oklahoma City to spend the first night. The motel was great, only 60USD and all the amenities. Quite unlike what I'd expected, given all the rubbish and litter I'd seen throughout southern Missouri and Oklahoma.
Missouri has horrible roads. Oklahoma has better ones, but they're usually under construction as well and the turnpikes are an expensive pain.
But both states have a really terrible litter problem.
All the human detritus of a throwaway society, splayed out along our roadways for all to see.
Oklahoma is not as bad as Missouri but there are cars and huts and buildings falling apart everywhere. Such eyesores! The country is wide and beautiful and people use it as a dump. *sigh* The plastic bags are the worst I think ... they encourage you to use those but they just don't recycle! they poof up in the wind, get stuck on EVERYTHING, and never go away. They just hang there waving in the breeze and looking, well, trashy.
We saw one really neat looking outbuilding that someone had painted on at least the 3 sides we could see into a mural ... but before we could get a good look at it, our view was blocked by a semi.
And that's another problem entirely: the ubiquitous truck. I know they're necessary and provide a great service but do they have to do it in the daytime when people want to view things?
Or am I wrong? People do tend to zoom along the freeways and everywhere else like there's no tomorrow. And the way we litter the roadsides and campsites and everywhere else there's open ground, I suppose maybe the trucks are just one more piece of visual litter in a refuse-filled world.
After dark we passed an area where they were burning off a bunch of grasses along the highway and up onto a hill. They do periodic burn offs there I believe. Not sure why, exactly, but they do have permanent signs saying ��do not drive into smoke�� so apparently it's fairly common. Looked pretty in the dark though.
Anyway, our hotel was nice, and the next day was much better
Day 2: Southwestern Oklahoma really is beautiful in a peaceful, bucolic way. The image that will forever stay with me is of multi-hued green fields: dark green, medium green and patches of a bright lime (almost neon) green, all variegated with yellow and brown with hills and mounds of red dirt. Dirt so red that the traffic cones along the roadside could disappear against it. These rolling hills of many colors went on and on and then we came upon one that was very impressive with swirls and colors, and atop it was one black cow, silhouetted against the sky. Awesome.
Then we drove into Texas.
What can I say about Texas? We only crossed the Panhandle, but that was enough. I don't like Texas much, but then I've only passed through this panhandle area twice. Texas seems grey and arrogant to me. The yucca plants start to pop up all over here, and the whole is rather barren to the eye, unless you look closely. There are "Don't mess with Texas" signs all over. Big surprise there LOL.
Another item blocked from a good view or picture by another semi: in the middle of a field we saw an old car, painted with psychedelic colors and looking quite dapper among the grasses. At least if you have to dispose of a vehicle you can make it interesting instead of an eyesore!
In and around Amarillo we saw a lot of signs advertising a 72 oz. steak for FREE (small print: if you ate it all in an hour) I mean, I know steak is cheap in the cattle state but how much would a five pound hunk of cow cost, anway? Because you KNOW very few people are going to wolf down five pounds of steak and all the trimmings in an hour. And you do have to order it in order to even try. I mean, if you're going to be sick afterwards, who cares if it was free? That's Texas for you though. It's all about big.
We saw a sign for "The largest cross in the Western Hemisphere" I don't know how big it really was but we could see it from quite a distance. We didn't get off at the exit to see it but as we passed we saw the sign at the intersection that said "Cross", and had an arrow pointing to it, like we could miss the thing!! There appeared to be statues and dioramas all about the Crucifixion and other similar crucifixions of criminals all around ... very grim and not a pleasant display, to be sure. I have no idea why it was there or its history.
These things pop up all over the Midwest US ... odd sights and things that people come up with to be seen and to make a buck.
Another thing that pops up and litters the landscape ... you drive along, enjoying the scenery, noting the simple nature of things, and suddenly you round a corner going into a small town and SPANGGGG!!! A Wal-Mart.
Don't even get me started on that one.
I noticed in Missouri and Kansas especially, if it's over 50 years old it's suddenly "Historic!" As in, "See! The Historic Barn!" "See! The Historic Cow Pond!" "Historic Smith House Ahead 2 miles! Souveniers!" You know ... being over 50 myself, maybe I should put up a sign too heh. I'm Historic!
Well, I'll do another entry for the rest of the trip. It was 9 days after all, and I will try to slip in pictures.
In the meantime, Walk in Balance
Mitakuye Oyasin
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