Ooooo-klahoma

 

Ooooo-klahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain

Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

 


We left Oklahoma behind on March 27 as we traveled to Amarillo. I had many impressions of this wind-swept plains state.

  • We entered the state from the east after we left Hot Springs, AR. I was surprised the eastern part of the state was hilly, with green pastures, black cows, and orange soil.
  • Casinos at many highway exits. I’ve heard they let RVers park for free in their lots overnight.
  • Native American Nations listed on the map and on road signs. Original indigenous tribes, plus Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles which were relocated from the eastern US during the 19th century.
  • It was cold! And windy! The first night in OK I slept wearing 3 shirts. I’ve never heard the wind howl like this before, but it is an unforgettable sound. It howled all night as it careened around the camper, making the vehicle shudder on its stabilizers, sucking the heat from the camper on its way. We turned all the heaters to High.
  • Cows.
  • The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, about which I already blogged, showed the true spirit of the Oklahoman. This is a must-do if you ever go to OK City.
  • Tornado warning sirens along the back roads and at our campground, Lake Thunderbird State Park.
  • The lake was made from (what else) damming a river. Thank goodness we had no weather alarms, as I’m not sure where we would have found shelter. Maybe jumping in the lake behind our camper.  (NOTE: it turns out April is Tornado Season in Oklahoma. In that one month in 2024, fifty five tornadoes hit the state, the most for that month since record keeping began. Glad we visited in March!)
  • Great stargazing! It was so dark at this park I could see parts of constellations that previously I only knew from star charts. I could view Polaris and Ursa Minor for the first time in years, as the Ocala sky has too much light pollution to see them. Hey Pam! What stars form the shoulders of Orion? (I told you there would be a quiz…)
  • More casinos. They love RVers…
  • More cows. Seriously.
  • The North Canadian River, seen while driving through the snowstorm. Apropos.
  • The South Canadian River, seen after we cleared the cold front. So glad the weather warmed up from 31 to a balmy 35 degrees.
  • Even more cows.
  • Western Oklahoma was very flat, scrubby, and brown. The only tall trees were near farmhouses. One park ranger explained that lack of water caused the trees to be scrubby.
  • And windy! The wind was cold, and we shivered at a rest area walking the dog.
  • And a lot more cows.
 

 

Tornado siren, which fortunately we didn't need.

 

So what’s up with all the cows?

I mean there were TONS of them, and all I could think of was all that methane. Well, it turns out the state of OK is the second largest producer of cattle, after Texas. So THAT’s the cause of global warming! But it’s OK.

 

Sunrise over Lake Thunderbird

I sat at our concrete picnic table in the cold for about an hour until my cheeks were chipper,  shooting photos of the gorgeous and colorful sunrise over Lake Thunderbird. I've included a few of them for your viewing pleasure. 

 

Colorful sunrise over Lake Thunderbird

When I headed back to the camper to warm up my backside, I saw the sunrise reflected in the side of the camper. My backside could wait to warm as I took one more picture...


Our First Snow!

As we prepared to pull out of Lake Thunderbird State Park, we began to see little icy crystals of snow. However, the snow flurries turned into a full-blown snowstorm as we left OK City. Dave has never driven in snow; his best advice for this is “Slow down!” He also wasn’t thrilled about the signs, “Bridges Ice Before Roadway.” 

 

Our first snow of the trip. Dave was not thrilled.

Speaking of, here’s a little story from my youth. I grew up in north central Ohio with the curse of lake effect snow storming through on a regular basis. Before my family moved to South Florida our dear friends threw a huge going-away party. One of the gifts, from an Ohio DOT neighbor, was a “Watch for Ice on Bridge” sign that I’m sure he got with a 5-Finger Discount. My parents hauled that thing to FL and set it up on the canal bridge that bordered our driveway. Traffic, including golf carts, slowed down, drivers rubbernecking to avoid the ice, and my family laughing our suntans off as we peeked out from behind draperies. 

A favorite sign from childhood


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