July 19-20, 2005 Tulsa

A lot of these farm photos are stark, and, to me, that's a good thing. I like 'em.
Which is a good thing, because there isn't really anything else in this part of the country to look at along the sides of highways.
_______ County Raceway.
Construction.
Raindrops.
Nice rural houses.
Drizzle.
Carthage, Missouri. There's a Civil War Museum and battlegrounds to explore. Only, I spent a half-an-hour following signs to the battleground and I don't think I ever actually found it. Instead, I found this really cool railyard.
Carthage, Missouri.
Trains.
Union Pacific.
Those are dead bugs on my windsheild.
Miami, Oklahoma. Birthplace of Mickey Mantle.
This is an OTB site with a big room full of slot machines. Having been in the car for a few hours, I thought it'd be nice to get some free booze in my system and try to hit a jackpot. Not only wasn't there any booze, I lost $39.67 out of the $40 I walked in with, two cents less than I needed to pay the toll to get out of town. Thanks a lot, Miami.
What better way to drown one's sorrows than dinner at the World's Largest McDonalds. As much as I hate their food, it seemed like an interesting landmark to visit.
See, I wasn't lying.
I used to have an unhealthy obsession with equipment like crains and bulldozers. It's nice to see in almost twenty-three years nothing has changed.
The sky was blue.
...Again
The road into Tulsa.
Yes, I am drinking again. I broke the paper tissue dispenser to open the beer tonight. I might have also broken a lamp.
I got to Tulsa late in the day. I distinctly remember booking a hotel room in Dallas, going for a swim, drying off in the sauna (I had no towel), getting dressed, getting roaringly drunk, professing my love to a girl, and passing out in the wee twilight hours. Sadly, there wasn't much exploration during my brief stay in Tulsa.
This is the Arkansas River. That might be Tulsa I'm going past, but I'm not positive.
Oklahoma is a very green state. They have signs all along the highway (I-75) that read, "Keep Our Land Grand" and "Don't Drive Into Smoke."
The inherent racism in this photograph was not apparent to me until just now. This is close to Henryetta.
There's a house colored completely in magic markers on the side of the highway that says "HOBO HOUSE" in big letters. I couldn't take a picture quickly enough, so I thought this sign for a swap meet might be equally as interesting. I was wrong.
That's the house right next to "HOBO HOUSE" in Oklahoma. A second too late; a few miles per hour too fast.
Nice one, Evan. There was probably a billion dollars laying on the road in front of me, or a murder happening right next to me, but I didn't notice because I was too busy laughing at the name of a gas station.
There are antique shops and little places that line the highway in towns like Atoka and Henryetta. I stopped at one to stretch my legs.
Ford.
A bunny wedding.
Farms still makeup the majority of the landscape here.
This is Paul's Western Store in Henryetta (birthplace of Troy Aikman). I purchased a belt and buckle in this store. I also talked to Paul for about thirty seconds, but he wasn't in the best of moods because he couldn't figure out how to get the fluorescent lights working.
If I remember correctly, the maps took me to this highway that I wasn't supposed to be on, so I had to pull over and use the backup maps to steer myself back towards Texas. This road went towards Oklahoma City, and I wanted to be going towards Dallas.
When I pulled off the road to turn around I stopped to admire this abandoned farmhouse.
This was on the side of the road somewhere. I like this picture. It's a little overcast, though.
There are horses.
And lots of empty land.
I remember on a number of days thinking, "today I saw the most beautiful sky..." and then the next day changing my mind.
Oklahoma, as far as a scenic drive is concerned, is vastly underrated.
I wish I remembered what this was.