Today was another race east, we clocked 585 miles.

The morning got off to a great start after a good night of sleep and a yummy complimentary breakfast which included waffles shaped like the state of Texas!! They do everything bigger and better in Texas including “the biggest cross in the western hemisphere”!

The hotel lobby had a sign in it inviting anyone to take this challenge: get chauffeured in a limo to a steakhouse and eat a 72oz steak for free if you could finish it in an hour!!
The weather was bright and sunny as we pulled away from Amarillo and headed east. We have noticed that gas is cheaper (in some cases $1.20/gal less), there is an abundance of country and gospel music on the radio, there are 3 pickup trucks to every car and there are bbq restaurants and waffle houses all along the side of the freeway. Amarillo left us with a great impression of Texas and the hospitality they are known for in this part of the country.

In between the gospel and country stations we found plenty of talk radio full of buzz about the election last night. People were calling in from all over the country with plenty of opinions and lots of praise for Barack Obama and his victory. We stayed up last night longer than we had intended watching the coverage on the news and the making of history. We both wish the best to this country that has hosted us and treated us well for the past two years. Now that we are on the road we can truly appreciate how vast and beautiful it really is here and that at the end of the day we are not so very different.

We crossed into Oklahoma around noon and noticed an immediate and drastic difference in the landscape. Western Oklahoma is GREEN! Farms and farms and more farms…oh…and some cattle and  hay bales too. We drove past Oklahoma City (surprisingly big city) and then noticed again that the landscape changed into hardwood trees turning to beautiful fall colours.

At this point I took the wheel to give Jamie a break. Somewhere about 2/3 of the way across Oklahoma I was clipping along to a very upbeat country song when I came over the top of a hill, saw a police cruiser lying in wait and I was busted!! 80 in a 70 zone. The cruiser pulled up behind me with his lights flashing and so I pulled over. Up to the window came officer ” hunk” who thankfully gave me a warning after checking out my license and insurance. I have been driving for 12 years and that was the first time I have been stopped!

Arkansas looks pretty and like a farming state. Much of the landscape was not visible to us on the way as it gets dark so early now. We’ll get a better idea tomorrow when we leave and start heading into the eastern part of the state. Our route tomorrow will take us across another state line and into Tennessee with a likely stop in Memphis before stopping for the night in Nashville.

More news and pictures tomorrow, keep visiting and LEAVE SOME COMMENTS (please).

Western Oklahoma

Eastern Oklahoma