Oklahoma

9/26/25 - Since my guidebook mentioned the special cashew chicken made in Springfield, Missouri, we decided to stop at the recommended Leong's Asian Diner when we went through. It was made with deep-fried, instead of stir-fried chicken, so of course it was delicious!!

Our route also took us very close to the southeast corner of Kansas, so we made a slight detour in order to color "KS" green on our map. We couldn't leave it as shown above!! This detour also allowed us to drive on historic Route 66 for a few miles.

9/27/25 - Pat wasn't really interested, so I explored Tulsa, Oklahoma, on my own.

I visited the Greenwood Cultural Center to learn about "Black Wall Street" and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

From the Internet: Oklahoma’s Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street, was one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the United States in the 1920s. The Tulsa race massacre was a two-day riot May 31 & June 1, 1921, where mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses. The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood and killed 39-300 people (the number still hasn't been confirmed).

I walked around the "Deco District" to look at some of the buildings. I didn't see anything too spectacular but the city was nice.

There were several murals. This one was my favorite.

Pat and I went for a short run on the Katy Trail. I had wanted to visit it in Missouri but we didn't have time. It turns out that the one in Oklahoma is different, although they both follow the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT or "Katy") corridor.

9/28/25 - We had a short drive (~100 miles) from Tulsa to Oklahoma City. Pat prepared for our upcoming houseboat trip, I did laundry and food shopping, and we watched the Lions (win) and Packers (tie) games.

I drove by the American Pigeon Museum. This would be a quirky place to visit if Pat & I had enough time!

I also talked to Max in the lobby of the RV resort

9/29/25 - Our first stop was another beautiful capitol building in Oklahoma City.

The building was finished 1917. The dome was added 85 years later when they had more money!

It was gorgeous inside! This is a view from the entrance up to the 1st floor and into the dome.

There was amazing art everywhere. This is a large painting. It felt more like an art museum than a capitol!

Our next stop was a place my guidebook mentioned: the Museum of Osteology ("America's only skeleton museum"). It had hundreds of skeletons. We learned so much!!

I never thought about how many bones a snake would have!! We learned that humans have 1) the same number of neck bones as a giraffe, 2) one more bone than a horse, and much more.

Our final stop was nearby Stockyards City for dinner at a guidebook-recommended steakhouse.

They had several stores in town to supply the local cowboys

Tomorrow, we start "high-tailing" it west: long drives through Texas and New Mexico to reach Page, AZ, on October 1. We are meeting friends from our community for a 5-day houseboat trip on Lake Powell. My next post will probably be after that, when we arrive in Sedona AZ for a few days before driving home.