Tuesday, 3 Apr 2012 - Tulsa, Oklahoma

Looking for the Gene Autry Museum in Gene Autry, Oklahoma

We left Ft Worth/Dallas about 10 am and the skies were dark, the temperature had dropped, and the whole atmosphere was ominous...you could actually smell 'something' in the air. By the time we crossed the border into Oklahoma a couple of hours later, the tornadoes had started forming and soon did some real damage. This is our second close call with hurricane and tornado weather and I don't mind saying I'll be glad when we are out of it.

We got off the Interstate not long after we got into Oklahoma and travelled along the original Route 66 until we were a short distance from Tulsa. Some of the smaller towns along the way have tried to capitalize on the old history and you can see some old buildings along main street. For the most part, it was just a nice drive (when it wasn't pouring rain) through rolling hills and mega horse farms.

We saw the signs for the town of Gene Autry, which of course hosts the Gene Autry Museum and we had to make a detour for a short visit. We kind of suspected there might be a problem when a dilapidated sign pointed us to a dirt road and another more dilapidated sign sent us down another, more narrow dirt road. We ended up in the town of Gene Autry and saw the Gene Autry Baptist Church but never did find the museum. The 'town' is definitely on it's last legs and clearly, Gene didn't leave any of his estate to maintaining his namesake. We did find out where everyone works though. Just up the road in Ardmore, is the H-U-G-E distribution centre for Dollar General. It also has an airport where Wayne says the planes from China land with all the Dollar store stuff.

It was raining too hard to stop and make lunch so we did everything in reverse...ate supper at noon and lunch at supper in the hotel. We were lucky to find a restaurant as the towns were few and far between and some weren't much more than a gas station. At it was, the place we stopped closed at 2 pm.

Again, this is a really beautiful part of the country and reminds me somewhat of Virginia. There are lots of trees (they call Oak but nothing like our Oak trees), and rolling green hills. The wildflowers have disappeared and I still can't believe how lucky we were to have been there when they were out.

That was our day. We are both tired tonight; Wayne was up early to get the van to the garage and it turned out to be the battery so no big deal. We'll be in bed early and try to get an earlier start in the morning although the blackout blinds keep me asleep until at least 8 am. Hope all is well there.

Happy Birthday to Sandra...she get to celebrate every year in Barbados. Until next time, love and hugs to all.