EPIC ROAD TRIP: Oklahoma and Texas

The whole point of the EPIC ROAD TRIP, other than to be awesome and have a great Girls Weekend, was so that Lisa could go to Oklahoma, a state she'd never been to before. It's her goal in life to visit one new state in the US every year, so of all the places we aimed for, we chose Oklahoma City. Because we'd spent more time in Wamego than we'd anticipated, we had to hurry up to OKC, and unfortunately didn't get to spend much time there. We all swore we'd go back again some day...which isn't something you'd think someone would say about Oklahoma. :p

On the way, we encountered MORE GIANT CROSSES!! What the heck, midwest! Why do you have so many crosses the size of skyscrapers?!

When we finally got to Oklahoma City, we found a cool city that was much more interesting than we'd thought it'd be. We were pleasantly surprised to be proven to be snobs about what an urban center should look like.

We spent the night scarfing food down and wandering around Bricktown, a really cool part of OKC that used to be a warehouse district. Now it's all nightclubs, restaurants, and a brand new stadium for the Oklahoma City Thunder, their NBA team. I really wanted to take a ride on a water taxi, but we didn't have the money or the time. I remember that the night was really warm and a little humid. However would we cool down?!

A monstrous drink, of course!

Not pictured: their quickly-rising blood alcohol levels.

Like true champs, we finished the whole thing. It was amazing.

Lisa climbing up a sign for Flaming Lips Alley like a little monkey!

After a night of walking around downtown Oklahoma City, we returned to our hotel room, tired but laughing with all the silly things we'd done. We had to save our strength for our trip through the Lone Star State, Texas!

Our main destination in the west Texas panhandle was Amarillo. I didn't really know much about it, other than it sounds a lot like "Armadillo," which would have been a MUCH better name, in my humble opinion. 

We didn't want to miss the sign, like we had with Oklahoma, so Nikki pulled over early.

Her first time in Texas!

Look at all that sky!

Climbing up the state line sign. It was not as sturdy as it looked though!!

We decided to take the historic (but sadly pretty abandoned) Route 66, which used to be a MAJOR highway that took you through the Midwest to California. You might remember that in the movie Cars, the hero Lightning McQueen breaks down in a little town that used to be on the main route but was later bypassed for a new highway, leaving Radiator Springs to fade away except for its steadfast residents. We found a similar place on our way to Amarillo.

So begins the weird procession of signs leading into town...

Going east...

...or going...

...west...

...Route 66...

...does it best! (Everyone loves a good rhyme!)

Corporate sponsorship keeps the signs looking fine!

The town we were in was McLean, Texas. It was eerily quiet for a Sunday morning. Then again, mostly-abandoned towns tend to be eerily quiet. We started exploring once we hit the town line.

OBVIOUSLY my favorite part of town! An armadillo driving a convertible! If only I had one.

Here are some photos that Nikki took of the various abandoned/historic buildings in McLean:

We went to a gas station that wasn't this one so we could fill up, buy snacks, and go to the bathroom.

Nothing says "fun vacation" like a picture next to a broken-down car!

The main historic strip. We didn't have time to walk around it, as we had to get to Amarillo in time for lunch, but it was super creepy and would have made for some interesting investigating.

So that's the end of our trip TOWARDS Amarillo/Armadillo. I'll leave you with two random pictures we took at another gas station somewhere in Texas. They're...special.

DISCLAIMER: Please do not give your toddlers soda!

Missouri: An Abbreviated Part Two

Because of my love of football, I insisted that we stop off at Arrowhead Stadium, home to the Kansas City Chiefs. LeRon McClain, formerly of the Ravens (*SNIFF!!*), will be playing here in the fall. (We didn't see him unfortunately.) We also stopped by and took pictures of the Kansas City Royals' stadium because it was right next door.

 I'm a rebel.

 Kauffman Stadium. That day, the Royals beat the Orioles mercilessly. At this point, playing Baltimore is probably like beating a Little League team of 5th graders: unsatisfying.

Click on the picture to enlarge. Then you can actually see me!! (I blend in really well with the posts.)

On our way out of Missouri, we saw yet ANOTHER giant cross! I wonder how many of these are scattered throughout the Midwest. I also wonder if you can climb steps to the top. That'd be cool.

Before we left, we stopped off at a rest stop for a stretch and a bathroom break. Nikki thought that giving Tasha a stretch break would be a good idea too. Tasha didn't really agree.

Next up, KANSAS! All we've been hearing from anyone who's driven through the state is that it's flat and boring. I can't imagine that it's that much worse than Illinois....

The Midwest Beckons...I Yawn

The second day of our journey was much better than the first. We spent a good amount of time in Ohio. I...don't really have much to say about Ohio. I spent a lot of the driving time in the backseat of the car, while Tasha (undrugged) wandered around between the front and back seats. 

Here are two things I remember about Ohio: seeing a sign for "Baltimore" and being told we couldn't stop there...and leaving Ohio.

 I guarantee you that Baltimore, OH is not NEARLY as big or as gangsta as Baltimore, MD.

You're welcome!

We ended up in Indiana after that. I was pretty stoked about this because Indiana is the home of the Colts, which is the team that runs around on the field while Peyton Manning wins football games. I'm a big football fan in general, a Ravens fan in particular (Nikki wouldn't let me be anything else), and I adore Peyton and his giant forehead. After much whining on my part, Steve got us to the stadium using the GPS.

 The Man, the Myth, the Forehead

 Tasha HATES being in big cities. I think it's because she finds the long, steady-speed highway drives to be soothing, whereas there's so much going on in a city that she quickly gets overstimulated. She grew up in the 'burbs; what do you expect?

 Didn't see Harold, Kumar, OR Neil Patrick Harris! Pity.

Finally!!! Lucas Oil Field - Colts Stadium!!

That was all we did in Indianapolis. We couldn't do lunch, since we had the cat, so we just kept on driving. Sadly, the city was the high point of Indiana. I can't even write a blog entry about Illinois; Nikki and I slept through it. Right before I passed out, I remember thinking, "DAMN! That's a lot of corn!"

A couple more pictures from Indiana:

 This terrifyingly large cross is bigger than the buildings around it. It's not an illusion brought about by depth of field or anything. People in Indiana apparently LOVE Jesus.

Man with INCREDIBLY unfortunate last name buys TEN billboards in succession, which will be seen immediately upon entering the state of Indiana. Nikki and Steve kept giggling about it and making references to them the entire rest of the day.