Day 43 Clear and Sunny – High-81 Low-48
We haven’t done this for a while. Today was a ‘put the pedal to the metal’ day. We stopped to gas up, eat lunch, and change drivers. The gasoline was a dollar a gallon less than in California, and they’re the ones who are broke! We drove from Amarillo, Texas to Springfield, Missouri (545 miles). It didn’t seem too bad, but all along the way we looked for an excuse to stop and explore. We didn’t find anything that got our attention.
The weather was perfect for driving with clear blue skies along the entire route. The terrain was very flat with a few rolling hills just before we left Texas. We were surprised to see the red soil in Oklahoma; even the ponds and streams were red with the runoff. They were planting the fields and there were new crops just starting to grow. They were the rich, vibrant green of young plants that have just broken through the soil, so it must be more than just sand or clay. The large herds of cattle didn’t seem to mind, as they were happily munching on the vast grasslands.
The convoy of RVs continued again today. We figure we saw at least one RV for every 2 miles we drove. A few were the small, fifth-wheel type, 
but the majority was the large, luxury-bus type. They were also towing an SUV or large car. One unit even had two kayaks lashed to the top of the SUV. At our hotel tonight, there is one of these monster units parked behind the building. Now if you spend between $500K to $1 Mil for one of these, why are you staying in a hotel? Because you can! If you have that kind of money, you can do about anything you want.
Along Interstate 40, we saw more wind farms, but it makes sense as it was windy in Oklahoma. Maybe it’s always windy here, “where the wind comes sweeping down the plains”. We also passed three huge trucks each carrying one blade for a wind turbine. When they are on a 150-300’ tower they don’t look big. When you see each blade up close, it is enormous. We guessed that they were 75 feet long. The trucks were so long that they were in a convoy with escort vehicles in the front and rear with lots of flashing lights.
The city limit sign for Oklahoma City is about 20 miles from downtown. It is a BIG city that could easily take an hour to drive through even with no traffic. As we drove toward center city, there was every type of franchise known to man and some that haven’t made it national yet. If they didn’t have it, you don’t need it! Selecting an exit was difficult. Some of them allowed you to exit, but there was no way to get back on the highway and we didn’t want to get caught with no way to return. That would be a good addition to “The Next Exit” book; they should publish those exits that are easy off and back on.
Interstate 44 from Oklahoma City northeast to Joplin, MO is a toll road; it seemed very strange as there are very limited services. One thing that made us laugh, were the signs announcing one of the few rest stops or service plazas that included the phrase, “Free Restrooms.” It makes you wonder where the pay restrooms are. There was also a very heavy police presence; we saw several people get speeding tickets. To be fair, they did give you a warning with signs saying, “Minimum speed 50 Maximum 75 No tolerance.”
We might try to make it to Columbus tomorrow; however, it is 640 miles and, for us, that is pretty ambitious. We will do what feels right.
