DAY 4--Do you know where okra comes from??? OKRAHOMA!!!!

Any one that knows Sonny has heard that line any time the words "okra" or "oklahoma" is used in a conversation!  We started off this morning with a visit to the Will Rogers Monument.  All we knew about him was that he was quoted as saying "I never met a man I didn't like" so we didn't stay long but it's a beautiful museum on the outside.

We hit the road towards Tulsa and drove past several old motels and gas stations.  We passed the famous "Blue Whale" in an old swimming hole.  Took lots of pictures but didn't stop anywhere. Just enjoyed the scenery.  I reflected on the importance of staying in the moment and not jumping ahead to where you are going.  Don't miss out!!!

South of Tulsa we took a side trip over the BUMPY Ozark Trail section that crosses an old 1925 bridge, old drive in and thru a narrow railroad subway then another side trip through an old section running through Depew.  It was a ghost town!  All these cool old buildings and no one was there.

GHOST TOWN OF DEPEW

From there we went to Stroud for lunch at the Rock Cafe for a really good bacon cheeseburger and fries. This had burned down in 2008.  All that was left were the rock walls and Betsy the grill.  They restored it all a year later and Betsy is still in business. The owner, Dawn was a big inspiration for the character Sally the Porsche in the movie CARS.

On down the road in Chandler was a really old Phillips 66 station and a gorgeous stone national guard armory they turned into a route 66 museum.

In Arcadia was a large round barn and a large pop bottle that is neon at night.

The only specific place we wanted to see was the Oklahoma City National Memorial so we kept heading through countryside and small towns with lots of reminders of the past.
The view of the capital building filled the whole street coming into town. 

This memorial is a very serene place.  To find such a place of beauty where there was so much violence is remarkable.  There is so much symbolism in everything they did.  There is still one wall standing and the rest is a park with trees and a reflecting pool and a chair for every person that died in the attack.  It was quite moving.

AND JESUS WEPT

                                         A statue at St. Joseph's Church across from the Memorial

We got a little lost trying to find our way out of Oklahoma City.  We stopped for ice cream at Sonic and asked the car hop how to get back to 66.  She says "where do you want to go?"  I say "California" and she looked really strange.  She says "you know that goes through all those little towns don't you"  I say "yes maam" and she looks at us like we are crazy and says " WHY would you want to do that?"  Why indeed????  We got back on at Bethany and pulled into a roadside park along Lake Overholser and put the top down on the bug.  It was sunny and 70 so we figured it was time to enjoy!  We went through beautiful fields of hay and horses and cattle and trees and rivers.  I don't think we would have noticed all these things on the interstate. 

South of El Reno was a long section of 1930's concrete road with curbs that followed right beside I40.  We took this all the way into Clinton with very few twists and turns.  The road passes back and forth over the interstate at times but that keeps it interesting.  We crossed the Long Pony Bridge that crosses the South Canandian River.  It uses 38 pony (small) trusses

In the guidebook there is a motel in Clinton called the Trade Winds Motel. .  Elvis Presley used to stay there in room 215 on many occasions.  We decided to check it out to see if we could stay in his room.  Of course it was already rented but we decided to stay anyway.  It was only $56 and free WiFi.  It was a real challenge to my hotel snobbishness but I figured if it was good enough for Elvis it was good enough for us.  As we walked to our room, there were bunches of really seedy looking characters so I got a little worried that we were staying at a crack house.  When we got back from dinner they had all gone in their rooms so I felt better. It's not dirty but really old.

So we have travelled through 4 states and will be entering Texas in the morning.  We will reach the half way point there somewhere.  We are having a good trip!