Blogs from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, North America - page 4

We left Orlando early on Thursday headed back to OKC. Had a great afternoon and evening at Camp Gulf spending time on the white sand beach in Destin and enjoying the heated indoor pool and hot tub. Dinner was outside at the Whale's Tail, not known for it's seafood, but for the best view of the sunset around. Absolutely beautiful. We visited a Bonsai tree farm on the way to Destin, amazing! The oldest tiny tree was 103 years old. I had to buy a small one to try my luck. Friday on to Shreveport, LA to spend the night. We visited a National Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi ( spelled it out just to show you I could-ha), one of the largest battlegrounds of the Civil War. We arrived home late Saturday. Our neice, Kenda, and ... read more

We were on the road by 8:30 am...we thought...then realized we are in a different time zone and it was 9:30 am. By the time we got to the campground last night, it was dark and no one was at the office. Ken picked up an envelope with instructions for after hours registration. As we drove past the swimming pool, we saw a man and a women in it. There were no lights around the pool. We found a spot and as we pulled in a man on a golf cart was right there, making sure we were completing the envelope with payment. We didn't disconnect the RV from the truck; we aren't going anywhere. *When we passed the swimming pool this morning, there was no water in it. Makes me wonder what was going on ... read more

Today was a longish drive (280+ miles) from Amarillo to Oklahoma City. We decided not to try and leave super early, given the time change yesterday, so we did some laundry, rode bikes, played on the playground and left just before 10. We did not eat breakfast, other than a small snack, preferring not to cook in the heat. We thought that we would grab a bite at a restaurant right away. Turns out that our Route 66 path did not have a restaurant any time soon.. What the route did have is a few interesting diversions. At one point, they built an airport on top of the old route, so we had to go miles out of the way to pick the old road back up again. The road in this area is mostly original ... read more

Oklahoma views itself as the epitome of the American pioneer spirit. The state started out as Indian Territory, where tribes forcibly removed from other parts of the US were dumped. These included the Cherokee, at the end of the Trail of Tears (see ). Eventually, white settlers looked on the land as valuable, and pushed the federal government to open it. On April 22, 1889, they did. Any settler could claim 160 acres for free as long as they farmed it. This resulted in the great Oklahoma Land Rush, and major towns like Oklahoma City sprung up overnight. Naturally, some settlers cheated and snuck in early. ... read more

7/27/11 to 7/31/11 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma The drive from Roswell to Oklahoma City was a pretty flat and kind of dead 472 miles; lots of unwatered grass. Driving through the northern tip of Texas offered variety in the form of grazing horses and cows and the oh-so-unpleasant aromas that accompany them. I did get a little excited when I drove by a roadside marker noting the Chisholm Trail. “I teach about that!” I thought to myself. But there was nothing to show for it except a bent up sign and textbook details I couldn’t even remember. The highlight of this leg of my road trip was spending time with my cousin Shannon and her two amazing kids. Shannon and I last saw each other 25-30 years ago, but the initial bear hug when we first laid ... read more