Day One

I had thought I was going to get up early Sunday and go for a short run, but I ended up writing until past 3 am, so I ended up sleeping until 8. With the petsitter coming at 9, I scurried around to take a shower and get packed.

The petsitter was great—a very nice, sensible woman who clearly loves animals. And Tidbit was right on hand to say hello and turn on all the charm! I felt very reassured at having gone with a service this year rather than hope my busy friends and flaky neighbors would do the job right. It’s worth the peace of mind to hire a professional!

We had hoped to be on the road by noon and made it out around 12:45, which I thought was pretty darn good. The trip north was uneventful, as trips via interstate tend to be. But once we got north of the piney woods and into the area around Dallas, we could see the signs of drought. Grass was dry and yellow, rivers were running low and with broad expanses of sandbars. There were even a few of what looked to be dry creek beds, although I couldn’t be sure since I don’t know the area well and we were zipping along at 70.

We were surprised at how hilly Oklahoma was, especially about half an hour after we crossed the state line. There were big granite hills and deep red gullies—everywhere we looked was read earth. The land became more like north Texas though, the closer we got to Oklahoma City.

By now it was 7 pm and we were anxious to get to our B&B in Arcadia. We missed a turnoff near downtown Oklahoma City, but it was an easy enough problem to correct and we were soon back on track.

We found our B&B quaint and charming. It’s rustic in style and full of antiques. Unfortunately, there is no food nearby other than the gas station store across the street. I declined their limited offerings, since we had plenty of goodies from home. But Dan wanted something that “felt” like dinner, so he had a pre-packaged pastrami sandwich and said it wasn’t too bad, considering.

Well, what can you expect after 8 pm on a Sunday night in a drive-by town in Oklahoma?

We ate on our little front porch and watched the traffic on Route 66. Then I walked up the road to take a look at the famous Round Barn. It was okay. I would’ve liked to have done a tour, but they don’t do tours on Mondays, of course. I’m guessing the principle of the barn is similar to the round Shaker barn at Canterbury, though. Only on a much smaller scale.

Everything here is cute and quiet and very peaceful. It seems to be taking forever for the a/c to cool our room down, but it’s starting to get better. Funny, temps were in the high 90s and even 100 up here today, but it didn’t feel all that bad. Not compared to Houston, where you feel mummified by humidity and your own sweaty clothing at a mere 85. It’s true what they say-- it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.

And finally, in the best laid plans category… I thought I was kitted out to keep blogging in any situation. Any situation that is, except no wireless and no phone, either. Oh well. When I’m on vacation, I’d rather have atmosphere, even if it means giving up a few modern conveniences.

I would like to go for a little run in the morning, but we want to hit the road early, so I have a feeling it won’t happen. Maybe tomorrow night in Tucumcari. We’ll just have to see.