Oklahoma!

Oklahoma! 
Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat
Can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain!

 

 

Slipped into Oklahoma before I knew it, but was crushed when I missed the welcome center, which had a gift shop.  I considered looping back to it, but then decided it was probably closed anyway.  Beautiful sunset behind clouds on one side of me as I angled southwest down 44, and a flickering, muttering thunderstorm on my left.

 

I feel a sense of welcome and relief as I come back into the west where I feel most at home, even in a place I've never been before.  I have roots here.  One set of grandparents were born and raised in Oklahoma and only came to California, bumping along on dusty roads, like a generation of others seeking something better than the Dustbowl and the Depression.

My plan was to make a stop in El Reno, but by the time I left Joplin I decided it was too far, so I aimed for the Sapulpa Walmart as a halfway point.