It’s now say goodbye to Okmulgee and head to Tulsa which is about 25 miles away on route 75. Once there I spend considerable time lost in the downtown. Also, the museums that I was interested in are closed on Monday and as a result it was one of those lost days. I make a reservation for a motel that is just over the Tulsa city limits in the town of Catoosa. There is a huge towering Hard Rock Hotel and Casino there and many other lodging and dining options. I end up at Lilly’s Diner with a good (for me) comfort food menu. The place is a classic diner, filled with locals, about as podunk as it gets, but the food and service was great. !
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| This Hard Rock is spectacular on many levels |
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| How does John Lee Hookers guitar end up here ? |
July 15th - I venture back into Tulsa into the Blue Dome district where I park, not easy with these parking apps where you must scan the code, then set up an account, add your license plate number and payment info as you you can barely see the screen. This is new technology for me, but is pretty common everywhere now, still I still prefer a handful of coins to put in a parking meter. It’s the way of the world now, no getting around it.
I then walked around the Blue Dome district taking dozens of photos, mostly murals and then went uphill into the business area of Tulsa. It’s very hot, a very humid hot, something I’m not accustomed to since living in Tucson. I took many photos of the great art Deco architecture and as I was passing Jack’s Coney Island hot dog shop I heard live music, looked in and a real person was playing, image that. It was lunch time and I was hungry, so I placed an order, took a seat and listened to some decent real guitar playing.
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| The Blue Dome District gets its name from this old building |
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| Interesting no matter how you look at it |
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| Leon Russell was revered here |
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| A worldly view |
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| Downtown Tulsa mural |
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| Great architecture is everywhere |
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| Jack's Coney Island |
Next stop is the Tulsa history museum. It wasn’t as extensive of a museum collection as I expected. It was mostly about the horrendous Tulsa race massacre of a fairly prosperous black Tulsa community in 1921. It’s pretty amazing and disgusting how this happened in our country back then, but it’s even more disgusting that we continue to elect people in power who spread ignorance, hatred and division.
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| Pretty much says it all |
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| Was once the oil Capital of the World |
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| If you step out of line you could be hung |
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| The five Moons were amazing Indian dancers |
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| They screwed the Indians again |
I then checked out a few feel good Art Deco / Route 66 attractions in the area to improve my spirits, didn't help.
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| Lots of history about this sign and the saving of it |
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| This was almost destroyed to make way for a Home Depot |
It’s then back to Catoosa where I spend the night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino parking lot. This facility is huge and highly decorated inside with music instruments and rock / country star paraphernalia. I kind of wonder how they get all these guitars from these famous musicians to decorate Hard Rock Cafe’s all over the world, are they are real ? I wasn’t feeling lucky tonight and the machines must have known it, they were not cooperating, I mostly walked around checking out all the rock god material on display. I did a little research on the Hard Rock empire and surprisingly find that they are owned by the Seminole Indian tribe in Florida who are considered to be one of the richest tribes, good for them, stick it to the white man !
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| John Lee Hooker would be amazed |
July 16th - My destination today is Joplin, Missouri taking route 66 part way passing through several towns along the way. I start at Catoosa which is part of the Cherokee tribe reservation. The state of Oklahoma is predominately covered by Indian land and you are constantly going in and out of tribal lands. The town of Catoosa is on Route 66 and is a very nice town with two very impressive public schools.
I then made a stop in Claremore, OK to see the Will Rogers Memorial Museum which took way longer than expected due to its size. They have a huge beautiful building to and exhibits that document every aspect of his amazing life. I was impressed by the coverage they gave on the Cherokee tribe, of which his father played a vital role and his early life on the family ranch where he developed into a working cowboy. His life was amazing in so many ways, he did it all, becoming one of the most popular personalities in the country.
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| In his cowboy duds |
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| His father was leader in the Cherokee government |
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| He participated in Wild West Shows |
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| The end |
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| Downtown mural of Will Rodgers |
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| Downtown Claremore, OK |
I made another stop in Vinita, OK to wander around although I’ve been there a few years ago and there isn’t much change.
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| This building always amazes me |
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| A great Post Office |
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| Great mural inside |
I then took a series of roads off to the east to the "Lake of the Cherokee’s, where there are a series of large lakes with lots of boating, fishing and camping options, but not as scenic as I had expected. Eventually, I ended up in the Indian town of Seneca, MO which has a picturesque downtown main street with several shops and businesses.
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| Looking out at the Lake |
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| Seneca has a long history |
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| Main Street view |
My destination of Joplin, MO is next where I have a couple of safe overnight options, a Walmart that actually accepts overnight travelers or a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Walmart has taken over in all of these poor midwest towns, everyone shops there, they have everything and at better prices, it's tough for anyone else to compete. Joplin has a small prosperous section around City Hall but otherwise conditions are fairly depressed. I actually like the depressed areas to a degree, as they contain the historic houses that have somehow survived.
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| Several very nice murals |
July 17th - It’s cloudy day with a rain forecast so I decide to go to the library to clean up details on this blog. Actually it barely rained at all and then the sun poked back out in the afternoon. I decided to take a ride to the Grand Falls a few miles away that is pretty special but not as great as it’s advertised. The river is full, it must have been near flood stage a few days ago.
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| The Grand Falls |
On return, I decide to ride downtown on Main Street where I find Main closed off for several blocks for the third Thursday of the Month celebration. There is a pretty big crowd, lots of food vendors, civil organization exhibits, religious exhibits, kid games, misting hoses and a couple of music groups.
I’ll be leaving here tomorrow heading north towards Kansas City. There will definitely be a few explorations along the way.
I've often wondered if one of those 12v compressor freezers (to store food & make ice) & an ice chest would work well?
ReplyDeleteYou freeze a 2 liter bottle of water and use it to keep the ice chest cold one day, while it's doing that another 2L bottle is in the freezer for tomorrow... you just swap an unfrozen bottle for a fresh one and as long as you have enough solar you just keep this going.