I checked my weather apps and what do you know? A huge record-breaking storm was set to hit the heartland and flood Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. And it was forming right now.
Ummmm.... no thanks.
Poppy, get me out of there!
I wish I took screen shots, but this is about what it looked like five days after I planned to be there. It doesn't look much different from the forecast picture I saw on April 1; the storm was going to park itself over America's heartland and flood the place. You probably saw the news about the flooding, tornados, and hailstorms. Awful.
I quickly decided I had to skip my planned days in Arkansas and get the heck out of Dodge. I contacted a Boondockers Welcome in Oklahoma that evening and asked to stay there the next night, as I was outrunning the storm. The kind people on the other end answered thusly:
😳
They continued to kindly text me as I figured out a plan, giving me their cell phone to continue the conversation the next day. Super nice people!
I thought of all scenarios, making a mongo driving day all the way to Amarillo (11 hours?!), making a wide U toward Dallas (adding time but not avoiding much weather), or what? Finally I decided to drive to Oklahoma City and hunker down in a motel.
The next morning, the alarm was early at 4:00 a.m., and time to get Trish to the airport. We said goodbye at about 5:00 a.m., and I headed west on I-40, my home for the rest of the way to California.
It was a little tough before dawn, on little sleep in the dark and the rain; my body said, "It's still night! What are you doing?!" but when the sun arose, I felt better.
Unfortunately, the incoming storm meant heavy winds coming from the southwest, which meant buffeting around the travel lane, cramped hands, and tight shoulders.
I made it to OKC early afternoon. Ahhhh! Such a nice shower! I hunkered down in the motel room for the duration, with a short foray out to grab some food and bring it back for dinner.
Like a true Boomer, I watched the weather channel intently. There was indeed a tornado watch for the area, and there had been reports of large hail in other communities in Oklahoma. I scoped out the escape path to a lower floor's interior hallway and waited and watched.
Luckily, no harm came to me or Poppy. The tornado watch was cancelled before I went to sleep for the night, and though a fierce thunderstorm hit at about 5 a.m., no hail came to pock Poppy. I had a good night's rest.
We were back into the wind the next day, traversing the tail end of the storm. Every rest stop between OKC and Amarillo was utilized as I tried to unwind my muscles and brain for a few minutes before getting back at it. I did also make a few roadside attractions, too!
It was a short drive on the back roads to El Reno, Oklahoma where I visited the marker for the 98th meridian line and learned a bit of U.S. history.
After the government stole land from the native tribes, they opened up the land for a land rush and thousands of people rushed to stake a claim on Oklahoma Land.
And a little farther down the road I stopped in Weatherford, Oklahoma, the place I was going to stay for a night if I hadn't left Arkansas early. I will have to visit the Stafford Air and Space Museum there next time.
Instead I made a short visit to the Wind Energy Park, with its painted windmill blade and scaled-down replica of the Vietnam War Memorial.
Those blades are big! I counted off 55 paces and later learned it is 121 feet long. It was painted with different scenes.
Later on that day and the next day, I noticed several turbine blades being trucked to their future homes. I had never seen them being trucked before.
A little further down the road was McLean, Texas where I visited another museum, The Devil's Rope: Barbed Wire. I spent a little more time there than I had planned! There was a lot of barbed wire to see!
Come with me on my devil's rope journey.
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| It's free to visit; I left a donation in the hopes they'd use it to fix their gol-darn squealy florescent lights |
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| I shouldn't really be surprised that there is are fervent collectors out there who meet at barbed wire conventions |
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| Really, though, who would want to sit? |
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| Fitting: the museum is housed in a former brassiere factory. |
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| Demonstrating creative splices. Splicing was a entire subject of its own |
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| A splicing display |
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| There were patent wars |
I left with a newfound appreciation for barbed wire! It really was instrumental in "taming" the West.
I made it to Amarillo in time to drive a little south to Palo Duro Canyon State Park to dump Poppy's tanks and have a short hike. Tune in next time!
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