Most of the day was spent on the road again. Today, I drove almost 300 miles and set camp just south of the Kansas/Oklahoma border at a state park. At this point, I think I'm making this roadtrip a great one by spending a lot of time outdoors.
This morning, I woke up and went to use the restroom and take a shower. I saw some Swazitkas drawn on the bathroom walls and that didn't help me to feel too comfortable. Apparently, I had left my travel-size shampoo bottle at home; so I couldn't clean my hair.
Last night it was cold and windy. I'm glad I staked down the tent. I had to run outside to take a whiz and nearly froze to death. Not really. I was shaking all over the place though. I'm glad I brought along my thermal shirt because I'll be using it tomorrow night when I head up north, where it should be even colder.
I left the park at approximately 10:30 am with 51,822 miles on the odometer.
Stopped by a Fina gas station to fill up on gasoline. Then found a mailbox in front of the city Annex and mailed off the 4 postcards I filled out last night. I hope the people I sent the cards to enjoy them.
Stopped by a Wal-mart right before Oklahoma, and purchased a camera case (for my digital camera), a bottle of travel-size shampoo, and a gallon of water. And then I headed off to Oklahoma. I bought a can of peanuts, and I gobbled all that up by then end of the day. Those peanuts have a lot of fat, so gotta be careful.
Curiosly, there was no "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign on Interstate 44. And once in Oklahoma, there was a $1.00 toll at the Ghram toll plaza. I decided to take Highway 7 and see the scenic route which was suggested in the Reader's Digest Handpicked Tours of North America. The view was okay, but I decided to just head north. That's when I saw a sign for the city of Anadarka, an authenic Indian city; I couldn't miss out on this opportunity; so I made a left going west at Highway 62.
The only place I really visited was Anadarka, Oklahoma, which is known as the Indian Capital of the Nation. I visited the Indian Hall of Fame information center which has over 30 sculptures of famous native Americans. This place is not the actual museum itself. Pocahontas was one of the first sculptures on display. (I didn't realize Will Rogers was a Cherokee...his sculpture is on display there.)
Before leaving, I signed the guessbook, purchased 4 postcards, and spoke with the receptionist, who was an Indian woman named Carlada Carley (last name may not be spelled correctly). Carlada was very nice and knowledgable about her heritage and Indian culture. We spoke for about 15 minutes, and before leaving I took a picture of her next to a hand-drawn picture of her grandfather (whom she seems rather proud of) with the digital camera. She said she was flattered that I asked to take her picture. I recall she told me about the Doll Act which gave Indians 160 acres of land (and when oil and gold was found on the land, the government took the land back; hence the term "Indian giver").
I then went over to First Indian USA City (constructed with the help of Oklahoma University) to take a 45 minute tour (for $7.50) of the place. My guide, Standing Bear, was an elderly short man who spoke English very well. I was surprised at some of the Indian "technology." One of the amazing things he showed was the Pawnee house, which was rather cool inside while outside, the Oklahoma weather was hot and windy. I'm not sure it was worth 7.50 to see the place, but it was worth it knowing that the money will go to the native Americans.
During the tour, Standing Bear told me how Anadarko used to be a very busy city where you couldn't walk down the main street without bumping into someone. Back then there were 5 movie theatres as well as a drive-in theatre. But all that has passed, and now the city was slow. He also said that about now was when the touring season gets busy.
After that I stopped by a local park and wrote on the 4 postcards, and sent them off at a mailbox in front of a church. Then I headed north for the next 150 or so miles until reaching the Great Salt Plains State Park in northern Oklahoma. Here I set up my tent to spend the evening.
The park office was closed, but the park ranger found me setting up a tent at one of the campsite, and I payed my $6 to stay here for the evening.
