As promised, I’ve got some more thoughts and stats about Day 3. Between a lack of internet and sheer exhaustion, I’ve gotten behind on this blog. Luckily, I took trip notes.
I-40 went on forever… and ever…
Left Springfield and made it to Oklahoma within the first hour or so. I was immediately surprised by the speed limits on many of the state routes and highways. I don’t believe I’ve ever driven on roads were the posted speed limit was 75 mph. (I have, however, driven I-85/I-285 in Atlanta hundreds of times, and while the understood speed limit was at least 75, it wasn’t, exactly, legal.) My mileage was definitely affected by going this quickly, but it was completely worth it.
As I mentioned before, Oklahoma looked nothing like I expected. I think we get this impression growing up on the coasts that the “middle” of the country is just open, brown, and boring. Oklahoma was anything but boring. Rolling hills out of the Ozarks morphed to wide open spaces full of trees. I only really got to the prairies I was expecting toward western OK going into Texas. Tulsa was kind of a weird city to drive through. Both kind of cooly modern while simultaneously weirdly dappled with casinos.
Me and my Aunt!
Stopped in Shawnee, OK to have lunch with my awesome Aunt T. She’s my aunt in the sense that she is my mom’s oldest friend/maid of honor. While the trip that day wasn’t particularly long mileage-wise, it was nice to have the break in the middle to catch up (I hadn’t seen Aunt T. since high school) and have some Pho at the brand-new Shawnee Pho (I’d link to it, but that’s how new it is). Got that selfie in for Mom (how adorable are we?) before hitting the road again for Amarillo.
Leaving Shawnee began the long trek across I-40/Route 66. Once I passed Oklahoma City, the road completely opened up and it began to get flatter. The cross into Texas was exactly what I expected. Lots of oil fields and refineries. The largest free-standing cross in the Americas (complete with matching late 90s style website!). The prairie got more scrubby and desert-like as I went. Absolutely stunning.
Got to Amarillo right before sunset for my second night of Couchsurfing. While I still completely recommend it, I was a little wiped by the time I got there. I get unusually (for me) introverted when I get tired/stressed, so as lovely as Angela and her family were, I found myself struggling to be sociable. Luckily, she and her kids seemed to get it and let me sit there watching Full House and Fresh Prince with them without expecting all that much interaction with me. Went to sleep relatively early, as Angela needed me to get out of the house by about 6 a.m. (kids had to go to school), which gave me the opportunity to get going on my longest leg of the trip pretty early.
At this point in the trip, I’m at 1514 miles, so over halfway. Definitely going to need an oil change once I get to California.
More posts coming up in the next few days. Don’t want to rush this. Luckily, all of the tech I used on this trip (and the actual handwritten notes I took) are allowing me to reconstruct this pretty well.
Genius playlist based on “Everlong”
Trip Stats:
Starting OD (Springfield, MO): 214830
Ending OD (Amarillo, TX): 215407
Stop 1: 277 miles (Shawnee, OK)
Stop 2: Some Miles (Somewhere near Texas?)
Stop 3: 299.3 Miles (Amarillo, TX)
Gas:
Fill-up 4: 12.263 gallons @ 2.36/gal – $29.05
Fill-up 5: 10.217 gal @ 2.37/gal – $24.20
MPG Day 2: Tank 1: 27.23 mpg. Tank 2: 27.11 MPG. 75 MPH highways had a lot to do with this.
Music:
Walk the Moon – Talking is Hard
Genius Playlist based on Foo Fighters “Everlong”
Jimmy Eat World – Futures
Kongos – Lunatic
matchbox twenty – Yourself or Someone Like You
MuteMath – Armistice
Holly A. Jordan 