Such interesting impressions of Oklahoma that I didn't expect to have. When I transitioned from the Ozarks back to the Central Plains I found a rolling verdant countryside and very red soil. The underlying strata must be all red sandstone. But the contrast between the green foliage and the red soil was very striking. In color theory, complimentary colors IE red and green, throw their color into the other color. So on a fall day we always feel like the sky is bluer and the trees are more orange and it is because the blue in the sky throws more orange into the trees and the trees throw more blue into the sky.) So here the red and green were doing the same thing. It had rained a lot and streams were full and red. There was an interesting snap dragon type of flower growing along the roadway and I finally had to stop to take a picture after a trucker advised me I could stop but stay way off the road but not into the red clay that was saturated.
Passed a cattle stockyard, so I was right about the beef cattle and at some point passed a slaughterhouse. Not a nice smell. Crossed the Old Chisholm Trail and saw what had to be the Guinness world record of McDonald's arches; a McDonald's spanned the interstate and the arch went over the whole thing! As I went farther and farther west I transitioned into the Great Plains and things got drier looking and irrigation was needed. I saw those huge irrigation sprinklers that go in big circles and until now, had only seen from a window of an aircraft.
The most disturbing thing was the sky. I am so not used to being able to see from horizon to horizon and see the sky. There were, what I hoped were only rain storms, all over the sky and I ran through a few but missed most. I am glad I didn't stop in El Reno because it would have meant putting up in the rain last night and taking down in the rain this morning. So I just kept driving and basically got past the storms, I thought, until just passing into NH. When I got to the motel in Tucumcari another woman traveler asked me to join her for dinner. She called what I will describe as Dust Devils. The wind picks up the dirt in little swirls like mini tornadoes and at one point I was about to drive through one when it started to rain. So I went into a blind situation of raining mud. It was only for a second but very disconcerting.
As I progressed into western OK and on into NM it definitely was more desert like and the colors changed from the verdant greens of spring in OK to the sages of trees and plants that can withstand low water situations. Small red sandstone mesas and buttes started to appear. I was so surprised after crossing into NM that all of a sudden I was going down a large hill that had a truck warning. After a day of uber flatness it was surprising.
Got a bad tank of gas (Phillips 66) and only got 41 mpg but then the next tank of Shell got me back up into the high 40's. I am sitting looking out into the morning fog at the old Route 66. Been seeing signs all along for museums and memorabilia sites.
So encouraged to see huge scale Wind farms. I passed one that went on for ever over the horizon and another running along the top of a bluff. I like how they look with their elegant design and are so much preferable to telephone poles and cell towers. We have gotten used to seeing phone poles so now we will probably get used to wind turbines. (I like the idea of clean energy better than gaseous diffusion plants.)
Exciting day ahead with going up in to the mountains and seeing Taos and making a minny base camp for a week. My cot is more comfortable than the Super 8 mattress last night! I need to load some pix for you all and will do when I have more time.
Have amulet, will travel!
No comments:
Post a Comment