Had a little sleep in this morning and after breakfast at the hotel I went to check out Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. It’s clear to me that folk love hunting around these parts and you can easily spend an arm and leg for the pleasure. The store is amazing – full of knifes, guns, hunting gear and houses some really nice water features.
The gun culture in the US amazes me. I was speaking with one local who said he carries a small gun around all the time just in case some shit goes down. “You guys cannot do shit if someone breaks into your property – if someone tries to break into mine – they getting’ shot”! It’s true – honest people in the UK have minimal rights.
I was getting lost a lot today. I finally found Paris Springs and a lovely gas station replica. An old guy called Gary built it and named it after his wife.
I then got lost again looking for Carthage. Finally found it and this is another “Back to the Future” type town – perhaps the best example yet. The locals did look at me as I took pictures of their courthouse and square (I have not shaved for a week so perhaps they thought I was casing it)!
Onto Carterville, I was keen to stop and check out a local’s 30-year collection of all things Superman. Unfortunately it would only open from 16h30 and I did not want to wait 3 hours so zoomed through Webb City and Joplin into Galena, KS.
If anyone wants to see the effect that the decommissioning of Route 66 has had on locals and businesses, look no further than the short 13-mile Route 66 road through Kansas. So many closed down stores, run down buildings. This part of the state was so busy and commercial in the early and mid 20th century. Baxter Springs is a lovely small town but bears a lot of scars.
I was entering my third state of the day – Oklahoma. It’s true that you just don’t know when you leave Kansas (I missed the “you are leaving Kansas sign” so zoomed back to get a picture…).
Route 66 then took me through the quaint towns of Quapaw, Commerce, Miami, Vinita and Chelsea (I got lost and did not find Afton) and then onto Claremore. I will stay here tonight at the Claremore Motor Inn. Can you believe that it is run by a Patel (common surname of people that come from the West of India). He told me that of the 8 motels in Claremore 5 are run by Patels. Again, it’s a nice clean place and cost $65.
As I mentioned before, I got lost quite a bit today but it wasn’t too bad as I was going through some dirt roads through some amazing countryside. You see a real community feel at each town you stop in. People know each other, the kids have close relationships with their parents and grandparents – it’s a real family feel and they are so proud of people from their towns that do good (military, sports and even beauty pageant winners).
I estimate I drove around 220 miles today – so about 750 miles in total. I have about 2,000 miles to go! The road today went through three states and I am seeing a lot of cattle now. Apparently Oklahoma State has more cattle than people! Tomorrow sees me drive to Oklahoma City, where I will stay with an old friend from when I was studying in Trier, Germany. It’s been 11 years and I am looking forward to seeing her and her family. It’s 150 miles to Oklahoma City from Claremore. Click here to see my journey so far...
Quick mention to all the ladies who are doing Karvachaud (Indian festival where wifes fast for their husbands) – especially Sandy. Also, thinking a lot about my mom and family - sending them all my strength and will be remembering my dad lots.
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