Oakley, Kansas: Travel From Tulsa to Oakley, KS

As we ate dinner tonight (Subway subs from the Hayes, KS Walmart), I took a picture of the rainbow just outside our doorstep.

Today was a classic bittersweet day.

On one hand we had to take Scott, Kasey & Jenna to the Tulsa airport and say goodbye to them until late fall. It has been terrific spending time with them however they need to head back to school and work. We dropped them off at 10 am for an 11:20 am flight.

Saying goodbye took a while however as soon as we pulled out of the airport we sterted to feel pretty good since we no longer had any scheduled activity in front of us.

When we left at the beginning of June we knew all along we had to be in Tulsa the week of July 20th. As of this moment we don't have to be anywhere at any specific time. We have a lot of places we want to go to but none we have to go.

So, after a somewhat tearful goodbye at the airport MLA & I went back to the Expo Center to pack up the RV. We pulled out of our spot there at 11:19 am. Seemed appropriate all of us were getting under way at the same time.

Of course, travelling had it's challenges for both the kids and for us. For the kids, their connection in Cleavland was delayed 3 hours due to mechanical problems. One thing I learned during all my years of travel was never to complain when the airline said they were fixing a problem with the plane. In fact, I always told them to take as much time as they needed to do an excellent job. That's something you don't want them to fix.

The picture above shows an RV with a most unuasal 'toad' personal use vehicle.

As an aside, many of you know I practically lived on an airplane for my last 5 years at HP, flying almost every week, usually to several destinations. I have not been on an airplane in the last 16 months! And I don't miss it a bit; travelling is no longer what it once was, and it was never great.

In any case the kids are home as I type this, safe and sound, if somewhat tired from a long travel day.

The travel gremlins visited MLA & I as well, although they left quickly when, instead of getting upset, we just treated it like another adventure. The highway we were travelling on was shut down about 30 mile west of Tulsa and the highway patrol diverted all traffic of the highway at an exit. No explanation, no directions, etc.

So MLA and I headed North and West for about 30 miles until we found our way back onto the highway. Some of the roads were so bad it just about shook the RV apart . The signs said the speed limit was 45 mph but the bumps said the speed limit was closer to 30 mph. Later on in the day I noticed one of our outside compartment doors was flipped open, flapping in the wind as we drove down the road at our gas saving speed of 63 mph. No place to pull over so I just blocked a crossroad for about 45 seconds while I shut the door. Crazy latch was still locked! I'll need to figure out a way to tighten that whole mechanism....

Tonight we are in Oakley, Kansas staying at the High Plains Campground. We've been slowly gaining altitude all day and our current elevation is 3055 feet and much cooler. Our elevation tomorrow will be about 5500 feet and cooler yet. Can't wait; we have been in this heat for the last month and I'm looking forward to a few cool nights of camping up in the Rockies.


Oh, on the back roads of our Oklahoma adventure I took this picture of the oil well & pump. My buddy Skip T's family owns a couple of these in Oklahoma. Not sure if this is one of his but you get the idea. He's one of the few people I know who smiles every time the price for a barrel of oil goes up in price. I figure I better be nice to him just in case diesel gets a little scarce....

See Ya!