on the road

the gadlfy in...

texas & oklahoma
gadfly homepage on the road home notes on places last contact: TX 8/09; OK 8/09 first contact: 8/2005 for both

TX Trip Stats (6/10):

 

Counties visited: 11

Best county:   Jefferson

Town visited most: Amarillo

Places slept in: Amarillo

Most impressive town: Port Arthur

Least impressive town: Amarillo

Biggest town: Amarillo

Three words: Tell you what

State Animal: quarterhorse

Tourist Trap: Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo

Road Trips: Cowboy Trip (7/05), Motexarkiana (3/09)

 

Neighboring States: OK, NM, LA, AR

 

Passes: Crossed the panhandle west to east along I-40 over two days during the Cowboy Trip.

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OK Trip Stats (6/10):

 

Counties visited: 17

Best county:  Rogers

Town visited most: Tulsa

Most impressive town: OK City

Least impressive town: Tulsa

Biggest town: Oklahoma City

Most scenic area: forested savannah northeast of Tulsa

Three words: trashy, truck drivers, oil

Road Trips: Cowboy Trip (7/2005), Omarock (8/09)

 

Neighboring States: TX, KS, AR, MO, CO, NM

 

Future Plans: include passing through quickly, although I heard there's a good hamburger place along the Canadian River in the south

 

Heroes: I was not here very long, but saw a lot of places dedicated to country singers. The most notable being the bar in OKC owned by Toby Keith. OK's cowboy past is definitely not forgotten. Humorist Will Rogers is memorialized in the east near Claremore. OK is a hard-working, no frills state that honestly doesn't care what you think... so there!

 

First Contact: I first met Texas on I-40 near Glenrio as the sun was setting and could see little. I was very tired as Jessica raced through the Panhandle after a long day in New Mexico. We stopped at Amarillo for the night to catch some sleep. The light of the strip malls and fast food places along the sides of I-40 woke me up after the hours of the near complete darkness of the short-grass prarie surrounding town. Amarillo seemed to be some sort of horse-breeding heaven, but we left Texas as quick as we entered it. 

Deaf Smith Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the scrub and grazing land along I-40 during the night en route from Santa Fe to Amarillo during the Cowboy Trip. Jessica said she saw road runners.

Oldham Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the scrub and grazing land along I-40 during the night en route from Santa Fe to Amarillo during the Cowboy Trip.

Potter Co. (8/2005)

Amarillo. Stopped here to sleep. The hotel I stayed at had a life-size statue of a horse in the lobby and rooms for horses out back.

Carson Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the short-grass prairie along I-40 en route from Amarillo to the Ozarks during the Cowboy Trip.

Gray Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the short-grass prairie and grazing land along I-40.

Donley Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the short-grass prairie and grazing land along I-40.

Wheeler Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the short-grass prairie and grazing land along I-40.

Dallam Co. (8/2008)

Twice passed through the northwest corner in a Kiowa cornfield on US-56.

Bowie Co. (4/2009)

Texarkana. It was dark, but I am pretty sure I was not missing much.

Jefferson Co. (4/2009)

Port Arthur. A magnificent site. The city is full of refineries busy working on the oil pulled from platforms along the beaches in Louisiana and Texas in the Gulf. The few houses I noticed were dwarfed by the knot of industrial metal, pipes, wires, and smokestacks. Groves.

Orange Co. (4/2009)

Bridge City. Seemed to be on an island surrounded by the Neches River and Sabine Lake. The main drag was lined with the usual supermarkets and strip malls. Orange.

 

 

One of many palaces in the Port Arthur oil kingdom.

 

First Contact: Oklahoma is place that lives up to its nation-wide reputation. I imagine it is a place that might take time to get to love, but when I first met it I did not have time. I crossed the state west to east, entering in the prairie around Texola off I-40. Stopped for little on the way to Missouri and the Midwest. OK did not seem to encourage stopping.

Beckham Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the short-grass prairie and grazing land along I-40 en route from Amarillo to the Ozarks during the Cowboy Trip.

Washita Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the short-grass prairie along I-40.

Custer Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the short-grass prairie long I-40. Weatherford. Clinton.

Caddo Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the grazing land along I-40.

Canadian Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the grazing land along I-40. Crossed the wide Canadian River in the prairie.

Oklahoma Co. (8/2005)

Oklahoma City. The capital is a medium-sized city with what looked like an active downtown. Took the Turner Pike out of town.

Lincoln Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the forest-bordered towns and farmland along the Turner Turnpike.

Creek Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the forest-bordered farmland along the Turner Turnpike.

Tulsa Co. (8/2005)

Tulsa. This city has issues.  There were misspellings on road-side signs. (i.e. A restaurant was "accepting applactions" according to its sign. I have a feeling the job will not be hard to get.) The people seemed shady near the roadside, including a loud prostitute who was obviously enjoying some meth or something.

Rogers Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the savannah along the Will Rogers Turnpike.

Mayes Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the woods and grass along  the Will Rogers Turnpike.

Craig Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the woods and grass along the Will Rogers Turnpike.

Ottawa Co. (8/2005)

Passed through the hilly land along the Will Rogers Turnpike.

Cimarron Co. (8/2008)

Twice passed through on US-56. Boise City.

Texas Co. (8/2008)

Twice passed through on US-56.