Day 30: Oklahoma

First Stop out of Amarillo was the route 66 museum in Clinton, OK. A nice little museum that highlighted the history of the highway. From the early days where the road was the route used by the dust bowl farmers to flee to California, as depicted by John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, to the travel and automobile boom that followed after WWII. The road lost its luster in the 1960’s with the building of the Eisenhower Interstate system. The museum did a nice job of celebrating its importance and heyday.  One of the founders of the museum has a tattoo that says “It’s about the journey, not the destination” words I’m living by on this trip.

Next Stop was the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City. This museum was very impressive, with a huge art collection, short movies, and a mockup of a western town.  Significant for me were the paintings by Charles Russell and Fredrick Remington. When we were really young, Dad used to gather us kids around and go through pictures books of these two artists paintings.  He would quiz us on the names of the paintings. My favorite was “A Bronc to Breakfast “by Russell. That painting was not here but I did enjoy seeing his paintings.

 It was fitting that I saw both of these museums today as I’m done with crossing paths with route 66 and done with the American West.  Nice little recap.

In Oklahoma City, I walked over to the memorial for the victims of the bombing that took place in April 1995. Especially poignant is the field of 168 chairs, in 9 rows, representing the 9 floors of the building and the floor where each of the people died.  Very touching was the smaller chairs, representing the children. I like Oklahoma City, nice mix of old and new.

Song of the Day: Living on Tulsa Time, Eric Clapton and Running on Empty Jackson Browne (It was playing when I left the route 66 Museum)

Podcast: Smartless, Clayton Kershaw – ace pitcher for the Dodgers

Book on Tape:  The Reckoning

Beer of the Day:  Everything Rhymes with Orange, Roughtail Brewing C0

Total Miles: 300