DAY 24: ALBUQUERQUE—> OKLAHOMA CITY

On the road again. I frequently sing this little tune either in my head or out loud. I think I have my friend Liz to thank for this. But this morning, I could also hear my Dad singing the drawn out name, “Ooooooklahoma!,” the start to the musical number, since I was headed for just that place.

I‘ve never been to Oklahoma before. To be honest, it’s weighted somewhere similar to Lincoln, NE in my level of expectations and excitement. But, I’ve always said that I can have fun anywhere.

I was up at 7am - minutes early to avoid the alarm sound, and stayed on the couch in my sleeping bag to finalize my post. Luke and Valentine joined me in the living room, asking if I was still planning to leave by 8am and I laughed. They were only trying to figure out what time to start breakfast, but it was already after 7:30am when I started to pack up and get ready. Thankfully, when I loaded up, the wet blanket and towel from the hot spring were mostly dry. They had been spread out on my car overnight.

Luke and Valentine didn’t skimp on a pre-departure breakfast, and I had to ask them if they always ate this gourmet. It seems like they do, more or less. #lifegoals. We sat around the kitchen table one last time, drinking French Press coffee, and bone broth, enjoying conversation and sourdough waffles with blackberries and syrup, scrambled eggs and spinach. Good fuel for the road.

I was on the road by just after 9am, saying thank you and goodbye and hugging them both before hopping into the car. It would be an eight hour drive to Oklahoma City area, and I didn’t really have a plan.

The GPS was set to Lake Thunderbird State Park, to camp overnight. I was looking forward to one last night under the stars. I’ve loved my time spent with friends and family during this trip, but I have also really looked forward to time alone and solo adventures.

So, I drove out of town, on I-40, the same road we’d taken on Saturday to the Sandia Crest. I would be on I-40 the whole day. The drive was easy and it was a nice day, allowing me to stretch my remaining wardrobe with shorts and a tank top. Side note: I am sitting outside at 9:30pm, and it is still comfortable enough to wear a tank top. Pretty epic for November!

I listened to music and tried my best to stay on course and bang out the drive. My regular tour of interstate rest stops was interrupted, when many New Mexico rest stops were closed, so I pulled off around 11:30am to refuel and pit stop. The one stop in our drive, where I nearly bought a Jamocha shake from Arby‘s, but didn’t.

The miles ticked down to Texas, with Amarillo not revealing much in the way of an exciting lunch stop, I continued on, digging my way through my car snacks. The new music I’d added to the playlist last night added some excitement to the day, since I hadn‘t heard many of these songs. Eventually, I did listen to some of my Audiobook, The Rules of Magic, which I like better than the book version of Practical Magic.

The drive was fairly boring and, again, one of the main moments of excitement came when winds blew a storm of tumbleweeds across the road. They bounced so cheerfully in the wind, and I actually hit a pretty big one. I think that’s okay? Doesn’t seem to have done any damage.

It was my first time in Oklahoma and I missed the state line sign, thanks to the truck in the lane next to mine. The only detour on my drive was onto Route 66, when something had shut down a portion of 40 and police and fire crews were on site.

I booked a hotel on Expedia during the drive, deciding that, since none of the Oklahoma camping looked especially interesting, I would spend a classic hotel night like when I was a kid. The kind of night where the pool, hot tub and relaxing in the room are the main attractions.

When I finally pulled into the Super 8 in Norman, OK, signs in the lobby indicated that the pool was closed after a recent big storm in the area had damaged the roof. The front desk attendant asked if I was in a smoking room, and then said that with a dog that is the only option. I tried two rooms and the smell was so terrible I had to leave. I‘m okay with a cheap hotel not being the greatest, but I’m not going to pay to suffer through smoke all night.

Frustrated, I tried to call Expedia to cancel but was having trouble getting through their automated phone system. The front desk guy had been so helpful, telling me it shouldn’t be a problem to get a refund, even on a non refundable rate.

In a huff, I started driving out to Lake Thunderbird, twenty minutes out of town. I’ll camp there and burn the rest of my wood, eat a good camp meal and call it a night. Reviews of the site had warned of “seed” ticks being bad, but I’m not sure what a seed tick is. Plus, I’m not letting tick fears stand in my way! I got the refund for the hotel while I drove.

The park was dark, with a lot of deer on the roadsides and a few crossing the street, along with a scampering raccoon as I made my way toward the campground. The gates to the tent camping road were closed, but the RV campsite was open. You had to book online, with no on site pay stations. It did look like there were other tent sites available, but that was another twenty minute drive around the lake.

I considered my options, and then bugged out, booking another cheap hotel on Expedia and heading back to town. I‘d had no plan for the day and now this is my, “should’ve bought a squirrel,” moment. There had to be one.

I drove the twenty minutes back to Norman, cutting through the University of Oklahoma campus and passing sorority/fraternity row with big stately houses like you would imagine one of these houses to be. Some were decked out in white lights for Christmas (probably the sororities).

It looked like there must have been a really big storm. Tree branches were piled by the sides of the roads everywhere in the neighborhoods I drove through. I arrived on Main Street in Norman, getting a bit of a Scranton vibe as I drove down the street. I had found a brewery that allowed you to bring in food and was dog friendly outside.

I parked in front of Beer Is Good (BIG) Brewing Company, I liked the name. This block seemed to be a bit more busy and artsy with murals and colored strings of non holiday lights strung back and forth across the street.

I stopped in the brewery and then took Portland around the block to let him stretch his legs and check out food options. There was a Nashville chicken sandwich place next door, pizza, tacos, but I decided on pasta from Victoria’s Pasta Shop - lasagna rolls stuffed with cheese, spinach and shrimp, covered with more melted mozzarella, marinara and Alfredo sauces, a big piece of garlic toast on the side.

While I waited for my takeout, I set up across the street with Portland on the patio at BIG. There was a gate that could be closed for dogs, and I looped his leash under the table. I ordered a “Schrute Bucks” sour with cherry and vanilla, noting the irony of The Office theme and my comparison of this town to Scranton. I fed Portland his canned dinner and a dog bowl of water was brought out to him.

Everyone made a big fuss about Portland, stopping to pet him, and the girl from the chicken sandwich place next door brought him Milk Bones, which he sat for and took nicely. Things were picking up pretty magically in this place, and I ran across the street to get my dinner, coming back to life once I started to eat. The Office had been on the TV inside Victoria’s. I laughed.

I ordered another beer after dinner, trying two strong, dessert-like stouts, but I had to continue the theme with the Pam Beasley and Jim peanut butter and blackberry stout. I picked up a t-shirt, too, and the bar patrons inside asked me about my travels, having heard some of my story at the beginning.

I hung around on the comfortable patio and Portland seemed content to wait. I started to blog, having to slowly type on my phone today. So, if anything looks off, that is why.

We went to our hotel, the Travelodge right across from the original hotel, just up Main Street from the brewery. On the way, a spur of the moment art crawl, just for fun. You can always find fun, anywhere you go. BIG had been enough to sell me on Norman. The service and beer there was just great.

Check in at the hotel was a little strange and I felt the urge to run again, but stuck it out. There was a sign saying to declare pets for an additional charge, but that didn’t seem necessary based on the condition of the lobby and the trouble the front desk guy had checking me in.

Finally, in the room it wasn’t so bad. The kind of place where I was thankful for cheap flip flops so I didn’t have to touch the carpet, but honestly, I’m pretty easy and not picky. The bed seemed comfortable and clean and I settled in to blogging from my phone until sleep arrived.