Where the Wind Comes Sweepin' Down the Plain

Today's drive to Oklahoma was indeed very windy but also beautiful and sunny, with just a few puffy clouds in the sky. By the time we reached Joplin, Missouri, the air temperature and speed limit were converging at 75. Of course, we were doing 80 just like everyone else, and the roads are so straight you feel like you're on a leisurely Sunday drive.

This blog has been so much fun for me to do while on the trip. I find that I'm more observant so that I can have interesting things to put into the blog for you to read and, having done that, when I read it back I realize just how much fun we're having. Kind of a nice feedback loop.

While driving along through Missouri,  we noticed that in addition to normal route numbers such as 44W, at many exits there were single letter designations, such as "J" or "Y". In 1952, the Missouri State Department of Transportation was assigned additional secondary roads to maintain. These are designated by single letters of the alphabet. The purpose of these roads is to have state-maintained roads no more than 2 miles from 95% of houses, farms, stores, etc.

Some billboards I've never seen in New England:

• Don't change your wife, change your life! (Counseling services)
• Don't drive into the smoke (wildfire hazard advisories)
• One day dentures only $295
• Vasectomy reversal services

And adjacent to each other in a strip mall:

• Big and Tall Shop
• Mini Bariatric Surgery

There were lots and lots of black cows - perhaps Angus - in the fields, along with many calves. Calving season must come early when the temperature's in the 70s in early March.

After drinking coffee all day, Bob stopped at a rest area, which turned out to be nothing more than a modern outhouse. No half-moon on the door, and the internals were fiberglass rather than wood, but otherwise just the same!

Yesterday we started listening to the book, "Under the Banner of Heaven", by Jon Krakauer. We are still listening to it today, and we won't finish it until tomorrow. I had read this book also a while ago, and once again I am finding it so much more powerful to listen to than to read. Krakauer is known primarily for his writing about extreme adventures. In this book he tackles extreme religion, specifically the fundamentalist branch of Mormons who still believe in and practice polygamy. We have found it both fascinating and appallingly scary. The comparison of this American-born religion with extremist Islam or any other radical sect is difficult to ignore. It keeps us awake!

As we drove into the hotel parking lot in Tulsa, there were pansies and daffodils to greet us. This is why we headed west.☺