10-15-2021 Oklahoma City, OK

 

Yup, here we are in Oklahoma!  
This was right at the entrance to 
Roadrunner RV Park.

Here we are in Tornado Alley at a very nice rv park, Roadrunner, but it took 2 freeway go-arounds to get it right because it just suddenly appears and if you’re in the wrong lane, too bad.  Go around.  They have not one but FOUR storm shelters here!  Are you kidding me?! 

Storm shelter entrance

Rob in the storm shelter

Three of the four storm shelters

There are “instructions” for the storm shelter:  1)  No pets allowed.  Right, so you go off to the storm shelter and let Fluffy deal with the tornado alone.  2)  Things to take with you (except for Fluffy):  Water, beer and gin, flashlight, cell phone, radio/batteries, vehicle keys, credit cards, jacket/rain gear, RXs.  Just kidding about the beer and gin but they’re on MY list.  As for cell phones, do we assume that the tornado will leave the cell towers standing?  What’s a radio and who owns one?  Furthermore, if I had a Fluffy, she would go with me.  So would my laptop.  And I wouldn’t forget Cubby and Sunnie.  Would they throw me out?  Maybe.

 So, as I say, here we are.  It is 1AM straight up and it is not just raining.  This time, we get deafening thunder, sheet and bolt lightning, wind gusts up to 70 mph rocking the beast and nickel-sized hail!  It sounds like rocks are pelting the rv.  Nothing much to do but sit this out.  And unplug the computers… the ultimate surge protection.  At the moment, we are creating a “bug out bag” and waiting to hear sirens, our signal to head for the storm shelters.  This is not funny.

This morning:  A walk-around to assess the damage and it appears we survived the hail.  No damage to Noobee or the Jeepster.  The sky is blue and the sun is shining.  The first thing we did this morning was go find the storm shelters at the campground.  OK, OK, OK… hindsight and all that.  Who knew we were going to need to do the Dorothy and Toto thing?  Turns out the shelters are at least a quarter mile down the road.  How do you get there in a hail storm, wear a helmet?  Next time!

 In 1889, the government decided that anybody who could make a living for 5 years on a few acres of land out west would automatically own the land.  It was called the Unassigned Lands Act of Oklahoma, signed into law by Benjamin Harrison.  There was a rush called the “Centennial Land Run of 1889” that took place here.  People circled the thousands of acres that were involved.  When the flag dropped and the canon fired on April 22, 1889, there was a mad rush to stake a claim on a parcel of land.  People were trampled, horses fell and wagons collapsed in ruins.  It was a madhouse.  Some people cheated and ran ahead of the official drop of the flag to stake their claim.  Their nickname became, “sooners.”  And out of all of this mayhem, Oklahoma established itself and became a state. 

Will Rogers on the left, Paul Moore, the
sculptor, driving the wagon

Relative size as illustrated
by Lindy on the right

This horse tripped on a chest that
fell out of the wagon just ahead.

When the flag dropped and
the cannon fired, the race was
on to stake a claim.

Paul Moore created a monument and erected it in Oklahoma City to commemorate the Centennial Land Run of 1889.  It is the biggest bronze sculpture in the world and took nearly 20 years and $6.2M to complete. It is at least a block long.  The animals and humans are 50% larger than life and Paul Moore liked to feature a few familiar humans among the sculptures.  The one driving a wagon and team of horses is Paul Moore himself.  This became his signature on his sculptures.  To his right is Will Rogers.  On the horse just across the stream is his Mom and a couple of the children are fashioned after his grandkids.  Amazingly, Paul Moore had no formal training or education in art and, except for help from his sons, handled the entire project alone.

 

Oysters and toonies at
the Bourbon Street Cafe

Mickey Mantle was from Oklahoma
and Okies are sure to take credit.  

Mickey Mantle played for the
Yankees for 18 years.  He lead the
Yankees to 12 pennants and 7
World Series victories

The riverwalk in the evening

Jazz band at Bourbon Street Cafe

Riverboat

Bricktown is an inviting place in the heart of OKC.  It was an old, run-down area with abandoned ruins of factories grown over with weeds, just a mess in the old days.  Somebody got an idea.  What used to be California Street and a few areas beyond became a wonderful little man-made river and a riverwalk.  We boarded the small river boat and toured the area to learn more.  On both sides of the river, there are interesting attractions;  murals depicting the history of Oklahoma and the Indian tribes who originally inhabited the territory, bridges, shops and restaurants.  The trees that overhang the river are decorated with tiny lights.  It turned out to be a lucky find because right there on the river was Bourbon Street Café.  It features a wonderful bar with booths, a great bartender who knows how to make a dry martini, fresh raw oysters on the half shell (that makes 60 for the week) and many southern dishes such as gumbo, aytoofay and catfish.  And hey, how often does Lindy get alligator tails?  A jazz band entertained us.  Excellent.  It was great fun and a perfect rescue to a day that began with little sleep and a lot of stress.

 

We are now traveling on the country roads past acres of cotton fields, heading for Amarillo.  Soon, we will join up with highway 40 and drive along side of old Route 66.  Tonight, a limo ride to and from The Big Texan for a long-anticipated great big steak!

"Rob... is that a building
in the middle of the road, up ahead?"
The answer was, "Yes."  We had to
drive around the Washita County 
Courthouse.

Cotton fields.  It looks
like they are covered with snow.

This is not germane to any particular
subject.  I've just never seen a brahma
bull before.