Oklahoma Heat

Oh my gosh... the heat continues. Today, I believe is the only day that did not get into the 100's. It was only 96 degrees.

The breakfast ride to Claremore caught me unawares..... Dan, one of the Gold Wing Riders suggested the bacon and eggs breakfast... (some day I will get even Dan). This was probably the BIGGEST breakfast I have ever seen. There was a pound of bacon on top of a pound of fried potatoes and 3 scrambled eggs. It was a sight to behold.

We have extended our stay in Bartlesville until July 2. We have had made a number of trips to various repair facilities.... Bell's RV, Tates Tires, Truitt's Brakes, back to Bells and on our way out of town we are stopped at Bell's one more time.

In between visits to the above establishments, we were treated to more Oklahoma hospitality.
Matt and Annie let us borrow their pickup, which allowed us to get around in air conditioned comfort. Dave made Indian fry bread for breakfast TWICE !!! The Weldon family have taken us in, shown us all the sights and fed us incredible meals.

We traveled to Woolaroc, Frank Phillips' ranch, just a few miles outside of Bartlesville. There is a huge museum of western art, a wildlife park and the original lodge. Bill and I spent the better part of the day exploring the place.

The group of Gold Wing riders that the Weldons belong to allowed our Harley to join them on their Friday night dinner ride. We rode to Owasso, passing by Garth Brooks ranch, and had dinner at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Then we had a leisurely drive back through the countryside and no one complained about that loud motorcycle near the rear of the pack.

We had a breakfast and a dinner at Western Wishes. This is located in Bowring, OK, which is the smallest place to be called a town that I have ever seen. But the restaurant was a kick, great food and fun western decor.

We had a small BBQ at our campsite for the Weldons and Ronnie, Carrie, Hunter, Heather Hatheway (Bill's cousin and his family). The kids, Hunter and Heather, went swimming while the rest told family stories. I now know where Bill gets the idea that anything over a day old in the fridge is "bad".

After having the electric gremlins looked at again at Bells and breakfast we left OK in a slight "Seattle-like" rain.

We drove through Kansas with Bill trying to educate me on the proper pronunciation of the towns, like Neodesha, Osawatomie and Bucyrus. Who knew Kansas had their own language?

In Neodesha, we discovered the steps, on the outside of the coach, had not retracted when we left Bartlesville. So we had driven about 50 miles with them extended. Thank heaven we didn't hit anything. Bill spent the next 20 minutes forcing it back in, tying it up with rope and introducing me to another language-----he said he learned it in the Navy.

We arrived in Kansas City safe and sound. We are camping at the Worlds of Fun RV Park. We can watch the folks on the roller coaster and hear their screams.

We spent Thursday night with Diane Schmid (Bill's sister), her friend Ray Davis, Bill Briscoe (Bill's nephew) and his daughters Claire and Rainey.

Yesterday, we visited the Steamboat Arabia Museum. This boat sank in the Missouri in 1856 with over 200 tons of cargo destined for towns upriver. It was rediscovered in 1988 and the cargo has yielded the most pre-Civil war artifacts and information regarding frontier life ever. It was a great tour.

We spent our afternoon touring a couple of casinos and the evening was spent learning a new card game with Diane and Ray.

Last night we were treated to an amazing thunder and lightning show. The rain came down in buckets. We watched a small tent trailer near us, and thanking the stars that we were here and not there.

Oh by the way, the retractable steps, that Bill worked so hard tying up, decided to start working yesterday. No reason was given, no repairs were attempted... they just started to work.

Today we are going to a Liberty, Missouri for their Fourth of July Festival. Bill Brisco ( Bill's nephew) will be playing his bassoon with the "Liberty Summer Band".