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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Daniel Kalal on May 03, 2017, 10:51:43 PM

Title: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: Daniel Kalal on May 03, 2017, 10:51:43 PM

(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/map.jpg)

Riding across Oklahoma.  Primarily, I wanted to ride OK-132 and OK-76 south to the Red River, skirting just west of the congestion that is Oklahoma  City.  Neither of these highways is much used, yet the two of them make a  fairly straight route from top to bottom.  I'd see very little traffic.
 
My return route would depend on the weather.  There was less chance of rain to the west, so that's where I went.
 
There is nothing spectacular on this route; but, there's an unchanging sense of the place that is its own attraction.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateOK.png) Oklahoma
 
When the winter wheat is tall and green, you can almost imagine what the vast prairie once looked like.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0001.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0002.JPG)
 
These unexpected turns around an unseen obstacle might seem to be a joke played by the highway department.  Actually, though, it has to do with the fact that the earth is a sphere, and you cannot just survey a grid of square sections and townships and expect it to work.  The perfect squares would all bunch up as you move north, so something must give.  The needed correction results in the section lines having to jog a bit.  Naturally, as the highway follows the section lines, the highway will also need to jog a bit.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0003.JPG)
 
Nash, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0004.JPG)
 
Enid, Oklahoma.  Many of these towns (especially the larger ones)  reflect the boom-and-bust cycles of the oil patch over the decades.  You  can identify the good times by the dates on the nicer buildings (which might now  be empty).
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0008.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0012.JPG)
 
Drummond, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0013.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0016.JPG)
 
It's another dog-in-pickup for the collection...
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0015.JPG)
 
It's a gamble that never seems to end.  Drill for oil, prices plunge, stop drilling for oil.  Repeat.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0017.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0018.JPG)
 
Hennessy, Oklahoma.
 (http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0019.JPG)
 
Kingfisher, Oklahoma is named for a man named King Fisher, and has nothing to do with the bird (No doubt King Fisher's parents had a sense of  humor when they named their new son).
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0020.JPG)
 
El Reno, Oklahoma.  First, the town was just plain Reno, but that got confused with the better-known town of the same name in Nevada.  So, this town became El Reno.  I'm sure they smiled when they solved that problem.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0023.JPG)
 
Minco, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0025.JPG)
 
Tuttle, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0026.JPG)
 
We're done with OK-132 and are now riding OK-76.
 
Lindsay, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0028.JPG)
 
I ordered a BLT sandwich with chips.  But, I got a melted cheese and ham sandwich with tater-tots.  The All-Star cafe in Lindsay might not deserve its name.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0032.JPG)  (http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0031.JPG)
 
It's a little bit hilly in the south-central part of Oklahoma.  Just a little bit.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0033.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0034.JPG)
 
Healdton, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0035.JPG)
 
Wilson, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0037.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0039.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/map1.jpg)
 
Leon, Oklahoma.  OK-76 reaches the small town of Leon and continues south for perhaps a mile, but then gives up.  That's the Red River you see (above), and there is no bridge across; there's no going any  farther.  Perhaps a hundred years ago there was a ferry.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0040.JPG)
 
This was a fair size school that Leon once had.  It's clearly been closed for many years.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0047.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0042.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0044.JPG)
 
The highway has turned into a gravel driveway, and that's it.  Not far beyond those trees is the Red River and Texas.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0046.JPG)
 
Rubottom, Oklahoma.  I'm riding west to the next bridge over the river.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0049.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateTX.png) Texas
 
The Red River lives up to its name.  Twenty or thirty years ago, all the narrow bridges over this river were steel truss bridges.  Now, there are very few left; they're all being replaced by reinforced concrete  (as is the one I'm standing on).
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0051.JPG)
 
County roads through Texas.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0053.JPG)
 
Nocona, Texas.  This is an unexpected attractive and vibrant place.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0054.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateOK.png) Oklahoma
 
Crossing back over the Red River, and I'm back in Oklahoma.  The weather is showing quite a bit of rain east of Oklahoma City, but not much  on the west side of the state, so that's where I'm heading.
 
Terral, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0056.JPG)
 
Ryan, Oklahoma.  I like these red brick Main Streets.  They don’t last if there is much heavy truck traffic.  I notice that Ryan directs the grain trucks away from this street.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0057.JPG)
 
Waurika, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0059.JPG)
 
It's not exactly flat, but it's not hilly, either.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0062.JPG)
 
The wheat ripens first in the southern part of the state.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0063.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0064.JPG)
 
The Wichita Mountains are not mountains so much as unexpected hills of granite that rise up out of the flat plains.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0065.JPG)
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0067.JPG)
 
Rocky, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0068.JPG)
 
Cordell, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0071.JPG)
 
Clinton, Oklahoma is on old Route-66.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0072.JPG)
 
The dirt is red.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0075.JPG)
 
Waynoka, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0076.JPG)
 
Hopeton, Oklahoma.
 
(http://www.dankalal.net/2017trip11/photo0077.JPG)
   
Yes; Oklahoma does have some interesting areas--even spectacular when taken in context.  But, this is what Oklahoma looks like.

Title: Re: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: nighthawk on May 04, 2017, 07:13:45 AM

Thanks again Daniel

Title: Re: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: timonbik on May 04, 2017, 07:27:50 AM

Love the small towns with wide streets and angle parking.  Nice, very nice!!!

Thanks, Tim

Title: Re: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: LowRyter on May 04, 2017, 10:43:04 AM

great little trip.

I might add a couple of stops in the general direction.  First, cut over the Red River at Illinois Bend to St Jo on TX 677 (Nocona is west of St Jo).  Then head south of town to VolkswagenHendge.  (BTW- the FM roads around there have a few curves to them and are entertaining.
 
(https://g3.img-dpreview.com/ACA4D7C445BE4B87A47137500B64FFC6.jpg)

then back to the Wichita Mountains to get a famous Meers Burger.(https://g4.img-dpreview.com/DC1397AE94CF4F0E957DD434CE966579.jpg)

 

Title: Re: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: PJPR01 on May 04, 2017, 11:32:18 AM

Perfect timing...may be on some of these roads in the next days on the way to/fro Cedar Vale.

Title: Re: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: darkstar1269 on May 04, 2017, 12:52:20 PM

Nice post. Looks like a nice trip with some good weather. My softball glove is made right there in Nakona TX. they are very proud that they still make these gloves there buy hand, some day I would like to go there and tour the factory. Thanks for the pics!

Title: Re: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: Pisano on May 05, 2017, 10:30:58 PM

Thanks for sharing your ride with us Daniel.   

Title: Re: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: Muzz on May 06, 2017, 04:19:52 AM

I wish I had your eye Daniel. Great thanks, as per usual. :thumb:

Title: Re: ...north to south; a ride across Oklahoma [mostly and many photographs]
Post by: jcctx on May 06, 2017, 11:20:06 AM

:>)