Welcome to Tulsa. We spent the night here after our first stop in Terra Haute. Sorry Karl Duerr, I couldn’t call you to say hi because it was way too late and we were very tired. Terra Haute weather was pleasant.
 |
| St. Louis |
|
 |
| Oklahoma City Memorial |
Our second stop was Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa is located in Tornado Alley and frequently experiences severe weather. It is situated on the Arkansas River at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in northeast Oklahoma. So it got up to 109 today. I don’t know if I can take this kind of heat. I may be in car with Janet and Bill if things get worse. It got up to 104 degrees by 11:00 AM and stayed up between 104 and 107. At the end of the journey, we were pretty numb, this time from the heat. It was 109 on our last leg of the trip. Oh my God, that is very hot. We ended up in Moriarty, New Mexico. Ed and I walked in to our hotel room very late that night. The TV was on pretty loud. I thought “what the heck, why is the TV on?” I know I am tired but, geez, that is just wrong. The kicker was when I saw the Dr. Pepper can next to the bed…then I knew this just wasn’t right. Then --when Ed checked the bathroom to see if there was any damage in there, he about hit the roof. We ended up with a very nice big beautiful suite at that same hotel… it certainly was “sweet….
 |
| Janet, Mare, & Bill at The Big Texan |
 |
| Bill & Janet in Amarillo, TX |
|
 |
| Ed & Mare |
On Sunday we made it to Williams, Arizona. Here is a little history for Williams as we finally arrived at our first destination. It is a small town west of Flagstaff. It lies on the route of Historic Route 66, Interstate 40, and the Southwest Chief Amtrak train route. It is also the southern terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway, which will take us to Grand Canyon Village on Monday. Williams, Arizona would go down in history as being the last town to have its section of Route 66 bypassed. The original plan was to have the last section of the famous highway bypassed somewhere in Texas, but lawsuits that had been filed kept the last section of Interstate 40 from being built around Williams. After all was said and done, settlements called for the state to build three exits for the town, the lawsuits were dropped, and I-40 was built. In 1984, Interstate 40 was opened around the town and newspapers the next day reported the essential end of the famous US 66. The following year, Route 66 was decommissioned. Luckily for Williams, the ending of the famous Route 66 hasn’t hurt this city’s economy. With the train to the Grand Canyon, Williams is alive and well and lots of fun.
 |
| Bill at a rest stop near Moriarty, NM |
On a serious note: I have come across some awful heat this year. I now officially will tell you that I can’t take the heat anymore. At 109 degrees the other day, I got off of the bike and went in to Janet and Bill’s air conditioned car. My body was a mess inside and out and it wasn’t worth getting heat stroke, so I made a wise decision to get in to their car and cool off for a few hours. This was a big decision for me because I felt bad that I left Ed on the bike alone but I couldn’t chance getting real sick and ruining our trip just because I was being stubborn. I guess I could have sat at a rest area until I felt better and then start again, but that would have been extremely selfish when you are traveling with another couple. Ed seemed to do real well in that heat but I just can’t do this kind of heat anymore. I am sure there will be more parts of this trip that I will join them in the car. Thanks to the Pfeil’s for sharing their car and air conditioning with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment