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| Rush hour traffic on the TAT in Oklahoma |
One of the advantages doing the TAT is that you can stop and start anywhere; get off do a northern spur or southern for that matter. Getting back on the TAT is a breeze, as we did from our side trip to Honey Creek State Park. Fueling up, grabbing some coffee we hit the road in the cool air of the morning as we left Honey Creek State Park. Our plan was to connect with the TAT as it went through Salina, OK. But first we had to cross some very pretty country called Cherokee Nation. There were plenty of lakes connected to rivers that flow into other lakes Spavinaw, OK was just that place.
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| RED Rooster Cafe Salina, OK. |
Winding roads through valleys and rises we caught the view of the lakes from twisting roads in the morning light. What a brilliant morning drive as we landed in the small quiet town of Salina, OK.
We stopped for "breaky" at this great little spot called the RED Rooster. Here we signed the book of travelers and were greeted graciously by the staff. This is a must stop on the TAT as you get into Salina, OK. From here you go across the River by the Hudson (Markham Ferry) a newly built bridge. The view encouraged us to "ooo"and "aaaah"'. Just on the other side you take the second right and you are back on the TAT. Heading north our journey took us through country farms, ranches and homesteads.
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| Oklahoma Bridge over Arkansas River |
Gravel, dirt and dusty trails headed us up and over main highways and through little one horse towns. Now the trails lose their names and after a while we were off the TAT. Suddenly, we found ourselves crossing the Oklahoma border into Kansas, so our GPS told us. No worries we kept a western direction and hit small towns not on our TAT map. After a short pow wow with Trixie we chose to push on. The Trails were pretty impressive as we entered a valley with large creeks running through it. If
it only had some rain these trails would have supported some
exciting water crossings. But none the less we found it a exciting place
to wheel as desolate as it was. Our GPS told us that the Oklahoma border was just ahead and we tried to confirm our location on or near the TAT.
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| Arkansas River |
We continued through some pretty wonderful country called
Osage. Wandering west with occasional northward direction we found ourselves back over the KS border. Once again we found our way back to OK heading on a road that paralleled our charted
TAT map. Getting late and temps staying hot we hit
Medford OK. elevation 1094ft. We jumped on state road 64 heading west as we cruised down the highway to shake the dust off our tail feathers. We rolled into
Alva OK. as the sun started to go down and the temps started to cool. A cheap hotel for the night had two things going for it- free coffee and a pool. Trixie was in heaven as she unpacked and clamored into the pool to soak
off the long, hot dusty trail of the day's journey. So far
Oklahoma was an unexpected beautiful place as we traveled through it's back roads enjoying the surprising views.
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| Out for a stroll |
In the morning we packed up early in search of "breaky".
Alva OK is a big Christian College town with its well worn, old buildings making way for the newer strip mall mentality. Any breath of fresh air was noted from the few food trucks dotting the town 's empty spaces to the friendly gathering at the visitor's bureau. What seemed to be the only game in town, not being a fast food chain, was the local Bowling Alley.
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| Old water crossing |
When was the last time you stepped into a real old time Bowling Alley for breakfast, exactly!! It was hopping!. Trixie was the only woman in the place besides the ladies working behind the counter. Leaving, we could not pass up the small herd of goats across the street. Moms and baby goats were taking it slow before the day's heat as we crossed the street for a closer look.
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| Oklahoma Farmland |
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| Rolled Alfalfa |
Here we caught the
TAT right outside of town across the rail road tracks through cattle country. We started to climb in elevation as we traveled through yet another wonderful part of
Oklahoma called the
Cherokee Outlet. Hills and open grazing ranges, the landscape certainly opened up and we spent the afternoon exploring. Crossing livestock grates herds of cattle were free to roam, Bison as well.
Making our way west we entered into what is called the
No Man's Land- the panhandle of
Oklahoma. That's what it pretty much was
No Man's Land. Going south on state road 283 we connected onto 3 and skidded west on the southern part of the handle of
No Man's Land. Traveling through
Lake Optima Wildlife Refuge, we stopped in
Guymon OK for a late lunch-Tacos Carnitas and Taquitos. Here we called a good buddy of mine living in
TX., a transplant from
California, and connected.
Crossing the
Oklahoma Border we travelled deep into
Texas with road temp 103 degrees!!
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| Merging Cattle |
See Y'all on the trail...
🚙..........
